Movie Research: Carry On

 

What elements of the genre that you chose to base your final task on does this movie have?

    The movie “Carry On” fits within many conventions within the thriller genre. It includes high stakes, such as the antagonist threatening to shoot the protagonist’s girlfriend and the risk of a bomb exploding if not handled properly. There’s also a tracking shot as the protagonist tries to get a raise from his boss. It shows how the protagonist is eager to achieve this goal of his. And later becomes crucial for the story, as it motivates him to change posts at the airport, leading to him being targeted as the conflict. Often, thriller films begin with an innocent premise which goes wrong and adds suspense. 

What elements of the genre did the movie have that you like?

 

    One of the conventions I liked in the movie was the high angle used on the protagonist to portray the antagonist’s perspective. The antagonist’s constant surveillance is one of the main struggles the protagonist must get past. It adds to the tension commonly found within thriller films. I also appreciated the costume design for both the airport staff and the antagonist. This made the characters’ roles easy to identify for the audience, and served as a plot point as the antagonist’s appearance led to his identification within the film.  I really liked that the movie combined internal and external conflicts to create suspense. For instance, internal conflicts within the main protagonist is in the form of him struggling to make difficult, high stakes decisions. There also exists an external conflict, that being the main protagonist against the main antagonist (the bomber). These parallel plots are more effective when combined in this way. 

What elements of the genre did the movie have that did not appeal you?

    This movie had elements that made it unappealing to me as well as other people that have watched it. One of the conventions used was the point of view shots that made the movie seem more unserious as the “bad guys” were supposed to do surveillance and entry into the homes. I also felt that that the plot was rather unrealistic, which detracted from the immersiveness of the movie. There were many instances throughout the movie that would be near impossible to occur in real life. Additionally, the beginning 20 minutes of the movie developed very slowly. This made the first portion of the movie rather boring, and thus did not appeal to me. The end was also painfully predicable, which can be a common problem in thriller movies. Many movies follow the same formula to try and achieve success, such as this one that was strikingly similar to Die Hard. I did not like this, and would try and be more original when preparing for our project.