This
installment of my 2020 plot pattern extravaganza bends the
definitions of “classic” or “favorite” a wee bit. There may
be a film or two on this list which you hardly remember or have never
seen. However, Part 3 has been dedicated to the two
“Antagonism-Centered” families of plot patterns: The Unstoppable
Beast and The Infecting Agent. Since some of these patterns occur
more rarely than others, I have included some lesser-known titles for
the sake of illustrating the various patterns’ structural norms.
Predator (1987)
Due
to numerous commonalities, the Predator franchise is often
associated with the Alien franchise. Both properties are owned
by Twentieth Century Fox. Both center upon nearly-unstoppable alien
killing machines (albeit one is animalistic and the other is a
humanoid armed with technology). And both operate in the horror vein
of science fiction with packs of humans hunted to the point of
extermination. Yet the two franchises have even more in common. The
first installment of both franchises also follow the same plot
pattern: Type 7a: The Infecting Being.
Now,
if Alien and Predator are viewed back-to-back, one
might be forgiven for assuming that the story of Predator has
much less in common with the suspense thriller Alien than it
does with a film like The Terminator (1984), a prototypical
Type 6a: The Destructive Beast. After all, Predator and The
Terminator both feature an unstoppable, heavily-armed killing
machine who stalks the human protagonists with single-minded
malevolence. However, Predator does not demonstrate the same
structural pattern of attack/escape, attack/escape endemic to the
Destructive Beast (as explained below in the section on Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie). Though it takes an
over-simplified form, the plot of Predator is a structural
match with Alien and the Infecting Being.
As
best exemplified by Alien (which I consider the most
prototypical of all examples), but also found in films as diverse as
Jaws (1975), The Dark Knight (2008), Casino (1995),
The Usual Suspects (1995), and Halloween (1978), the
Infecting Being centers upon some malicious agent which, like a
virus, attaches itself to the protagonist’s environment and
proceeds to corrupt, ruin, or destroy everything around it. In Act 1,
initiating events prompt the protagonist to unknowingly enter the
vicinity of this malicious agent; or alternatively, the agent is
brought into the protagonist’s vicinity. (In Alien, the
Nostromo crew descend to a desolate planet’s surface in response to
a distress signal.) End 1 ends with the agent permanently attaching
itself to the protagonist’s environment. (The alien facehugger
literally attaches itself to crew member Kane.) Characters,
distracted by other concerns, ignore or underestimate the agent’s
threat in Act 2A, allowing it to grow stronger and entrench itself
even deeper into the environment. It is not until the Midpoint that
an event finally alerts the characters to the enormity of this
threat. (The alien xenomorph bursts out of Kane’s chest and is now
loose on the ship.) In Act 2B, the characters take escalating actions
intended to subdue or eliminate the agent. Yet the agent has grown
too powerful and always remains one step ahead of its opponents. At
the end of Act 2B, the characters reach a point of such desperation
that they have no choice but to take the most extreme action
imaginable to hopefully rid themselves of the agent for good. (The
surviving crew members conclude that their only option is to destroy
the Nostromo with the alien on board.) [Not to get political, but it
is hard not to notice real-life parallels with this plot pattern in
the United States’ national response to the COVID-19 crisis. It’s
human nature to ignore a quiet threat until it is too late.]
Predator contains
a very simple narrative, so the pattern becomes clear as soon as one
knows what to look for. In Act 1, Major “Dutch” Schaefer (Arnold
Schwarzenegger) and his team of commandos enter the vicinity of the
Predator agent when they are sent on a (narratively tacked-on) rescue
mission against paramilitary insurgents in the Central American
jungle. The presence of the agent is foreshadowed by an encounter
with the skinned corpses of other soldiers hanging from the trees.
After the team completes its mission, the viewer, for the first time,
is presented with a point-of-view shot in thermal “Predator-vision,”
indicating that some otherworldly thing is now following the
characters. This marks the end of Act 1: the malicious agent has
attached itself to the characters’ environment. The commandos, of
course, are ignorant of this threat, and thus do not know what to
think or how to react when a series of mysterious encounters takes
the lives of two of their members in Act 2A. The team believes they
are dealing with more insurgents, and thus take ineffective measures
to defend themselves. After a disastrous night where their camp
defenses again fail to protect them from the agent, the commandos
finally come to understand the true nature of this threat: they are
being methodically hunted by some inhuman thing far deadlier than
anything they have ever encountered (the story’s Midpoint event).
In Act 2B, the commandos make a series of attempts to capture or kill
the creature while making haste to the extraction point. Yet these
actions continue to underestimate the capabilities of their alien
stalker, leading only to the deaths of more team members. Act 2B ends
with Dutch as the only remaining survivor. Finally getting a close look
at the monster, Dutch realizes that the most extreme actions will be
necessary if he hopes to survive. So, in Act 3, Dutch constructs a
series of obstacles and traps which he will use in a desperate
attempt to outwit and eventually defeat the Predator in a one-on-one
battle. Dutch succeeds, finally eliminating the deadly agent.
Hellboy (2004)
Guillermo
Del Toro’s first Hellboy film
might not have as large a following as Predator,
but (as one of my personal favorite fantasy genre films) it may be
used to further illustrate the Infecting Being plot pattern through a
story with a differing tone and premise. For those who have not seen
it, Hellboy is set at
the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense: a secret
government agency tasked with protecting the world from supernatural
threats. Our team of heroes consists of the elderly Professor Broom
and three meta-humans: the demon Hellboy, the fish-man Abe Sapien,
and the pyrokinetic Liz. The drama begins with the release of Broom’s
old enemy Rasputin from his cosmic prison. Rasputin and his followers
then enact an elaborate plan to distract and manipulate the heroes in
order to bring about a Lovecraftian apocalypse which will awaken the
old gods and destroy the world.
Hellboy
can be clearly recognized as an Infecting Being by the fact that the
heroes are left unaware of Rasputin and the magnitude of this threat
until the story’s Midpoint. In Act 1, the malicious agent
(Rasputin) enters the heroes’ environment, releasing a hellbeast
from a stone statue. When the heroes respond and Hellboy slays this
first beast, the event is assumed to be an isolated incident and the
heroes leave their guards down. Yet little do they realize that,
through this event, Rasputin has successfully established the first
foothold of his master plan (the malicious agent permanently attaches
itself to the environment). Since the heroes remain unaware of any
major details concerning Rasputin’s threat, they become distracted
by other concerns and fall prey to further tricks and manipulations
in Act 2A. This ignorance results in disaster: several agents are
killed, Abe Sapien is injured; and, at the Midpoint event, Rasputin
murders Professor Broom to retrieve an item essential to his
apocalypse.
It
is not until this Midpoint that the heroes finally come to understand
the threat which has been brewing under their noses. In Act 2B, the
remaining heroes respond by taking actions aimed at stopping
Rasputin’s master plan. However, like Keysor Soze in The
Usual Suspects, Rasputin is too
smart for the heroes. Ignorance continues to be a factor, and the
heroes are unwittingly led to do exactly what Rasputin wishes. As it
turns out, Hellboy has always been an essential element of Rasputin’s
plans. Everything has been contrived to lead Hellboy to a specific
place at a specific time so Rasputin may use Hellboy to initiate the
apocalypse. With the door to the dark cosmos opened at the end of Act
2B, the heroes find themselves in a most desperate situation. And,
like in most Infecting Being stories, the characters really have no
one to blame but themselves for their own past ignorance. Once again,
the characters are put into a position where only the most extreme of
actions have any possibility of eliminating the agent before it can
achieve absolute destruction.
Se7en (1995)
It
is fairly easy to trace the development of conflict in an Infecting
Being, as the source of the dramatic threat is always located in a
flesh-and-blood individual (human or otherwise). Yet the corrupting
influence found in its counterpart, Type 7b: The Infecting Idea, can
be slipperier and harder to identify. As the pattern’s name
suggests, the malicious agent found in an Infecting Idea tends to be
far more abstract. Rather than a physical entity infecting a
character’s environment, a disturbing idea, fear, or suspicion
infects characters’ minds. This idea may then spread from one
character to another like a virus, creating panic, paranoia, and
increasingly irrational behavior. Prototypical examples include
Reservoir Dogs (1992), a story where a group of criminals
suspect a traitor among their ranks. Fear and accusations cause the
characters to turn on each other, with bloody consequences. Another
example is Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River (2003), where the
murder of a teenage daughter tears a neighborhood apart with
suspicion. The film ends with the father erroneously killing a
childhood friend in revenge.
Due
to its abstract nature, the Infecting Idea plot pattern follows a
looser structure to accommodate all of its possible manifestations.
For this reason, I will start off with David Fincher’s Se7en, a
film where the infection has the most tangible source and clear,
physical consequences.
Act
1 begins with an event which first plants the infecting idea into the
minds of one or more characters. (While investigating a grotesque
crime scene, Detective Somerset (Morgan Freeman) notices that the
murder has all the hallmarks of a serial killer: the most terrifying,
nihilistic, socially-destructive force imaginable in a modern urban
environment.) At first, however, characters resist or try to deny
this idea. (Both Detective Mills [Brad Pitt] and their supervisor [R.
Lee Ermey] dismiss the idea. The first murder is merely a strange,
yet isolated incident.) However, further developments force the
characters to accept the reality of the idea at the end of Act 1.
(Somerset finds evidence linking the first killing to a second
bizarre murder. As Somerset predicts, they can expect five more
murders. The detectives accept the idea: They are indeed dealing with
a serial killer.)
Following
the acceptance of this idea, Act 2A begins with the characters taking
rational, level-headed actions to resolve the problem through
familiar methods. (Somerset and Mills chase clues using good
old-fashioned police work.) However, these efforts lead to nowhere
but failure and frustration. (A hot clue leads the detective straight
to the next crime scene, just as the killer had planned. It is clear
that the killer is toying with them.) As new developments cause
tensions to mount, characters start to give in to more desperate
impulses, sometimes switching to extreme or unorthodox methods.
(Mills’ behavior becomes increasingly reckless and angry. The
by-the-book Somerset starts to bend the law with some
ethically-questionable methods.)
The
Act 2B of an Infecting Idea may then develop in one of two ways. In
the most common course, the Midpoint finds one or more characters
becoming fully “infected” by the story’s mental virus. The
infected characters then start to act irrationally, causing infected
and non-infected characters to turn on each other. (In Mystic
River, childhood friend Dave [Tim Robbins] starts to act
strangely, causing Jimmy [Sean Penn] and Dave’s wife [Marcia Gay
Harden] to suspect that Dave is the killer.) Alternatively, the
Midpoint event may finally reveal the source of the infection. This
is the path taken by Reservoir Dogs, where Mr. Orange (Tim
Roth) is revealed to be an undercover cop. Se7en also follows
this route. (Somerset and Mills find the apartment of the killer John
Doe [Kevin Spacey] and have their first direct encounter with Doe.)
Act 2B then traces the roots of the infection. This however, does
little to curb its continuing influence. In fact, the infection
spreads quicker and deeper, pushing characters to increasing levels
of desperation. (Knowing the police are hot on his trail, John Doe
picks up the pace of his actions so he may complete his murderous
masterpiece before time runs out.)
Act
3 also allows two options. The End of Act 2B Turning Point may
implement one or the other, or a combination of both. In the first
option, Act 3 begins with a “hint of truth.” This revelation
suggests a possible answer to all the madness. Yet the conflict
intensifies as characters continue to fight over or deny this truth.
(In Reservoir Dogs, the boss Joe declares Mr. Orange to be the
traitor, an accusation Mr. White [Harvey Keitel] furiously denies.)
As a second possibility, Act 3 begins with an infected character
committing an irrational action or initiating a plan that, unless
quickly reversed, will lead to an ultimate destruction. The Act 3 of
Se7en begins with John Doe suddenly surrendering himself to
the police. Yet this makes no sense. Why would this psychotic genius
give himself up before completing his masterpiece? This inexplicable
action follows the Infecting Idea’s second option. As the story’s
most infected character, the “Patient Zero” of the infection if
you will, Doe’s surrender is a key part of his warped master plan
that will bring the story to its grim and brutal end.
Yet
no matter which option the story uses in early Act 3, the infection
is now at the height of its power and events spiral dangerously out
of characters’ control. Whether the climax results in total
destruction or a last-second redemption, the full truth or
consequences of all previous events are finally revealed. As the
smoke clears, characters find the fear, panic, or suspicion has left
their world in shambles. (In Se7en, the detectives believe
they have Doe’s evil safely contained. However, they discover
themselves to be pawns in the killer’s game yet again. Taken to a
remote location, the situation spirals into annihilation with the
discovery of the severed head of Mills’ wife and Mills repeatedly
shooting Doe in his rage. In the end, the infection destroys Mills as
well.)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
To
provide a contrast with Se7en, Close Encounters of the
Third Kind presents a very different take on the Infecting Idea
plot pattern. Here we find a rare case of a Celebratory Infecting
Idea where the “infection” is ultimately revealed to have a
benign source and characters are rewarded for following its impulses.
Encounters
is also a rarity among Hollywood films in that the story is
intentionally designed to create narrative gaps which are never
filled and prompt questions which go unanswered. Encounters
seeks to instill a feeling of wonder through its spectacle rather
than give the usual “mystery-solving” experience by way of a
causal chain of questions and answers. Nevertheless, the course of
the “infection” which consumes the protagonists is quite clear.
In fact, with the story’s focus on character reactions instead of
narrative facts, the Infecting Idea pattern becomes painfully
obvious.
Encounters
contains two characters who may be labeled protagonists: Roy Neary
(Richard Dreyfuss) and Jillian Guiler (Melinda Dillon). At the
inciting incident, both protagonists have a strange encounter which
first plants the infecting idea in their minds. (On an isolated road,
Roy’s truck goes haywire as some overhead object blasts him with a
blinding light. Jillian wakes when every electronic item in her home
becomes animated, an event which causes her young boy to run off into
the woods.) The protagonists, of course, do not immediately leap to
the conclusion of alien visitors. As rational persons, they respond
in the same way anyone might. (Unsure what just happened, Roy tries
to follow the light. Jillian chases after her son, too preoccupied to
give anything else much thought.) Act 1 then ends with an event which
confirms the reality of the idea. (Roy and Jillian together witness
three spacecraft up close. Suspicions have been confirmed. They have
definitely been visited by advanced extraterrestrial beings.)
There
are other witnesses of the spacecraft as well. This splits the
townsfolk into two sides in Act 2A: those who did witness and believe
the strange events (the infected) against those who did not and
refuse to believe (the uninfected). Both sides, at first, take
rational attempts at quelling the discord, but neither are able to
convince the other to their point of view. Recourse to civic
institutions also proves pointless. Halfway through Act 2A, signs of
“infection” begin to show in the witnesses. (Roy begins to act
oddly, preoccupied by the mental image of a mound-like structure.
Jillian’s son also seems to be mentally absorbed by the image.)
Ensuing events then cause the fear and panic to escalate. (Mostly
limited in Encounters
to a single, albeit terrifying, event: The alien visitors return to
Jillian’s home and abduct her son.)
As
stated in the previous section, the Midpoint event provides two
options for the Infecting Idea. While Se7en
follows the second option, Encounters makes
use of the first: the protagonists both become completely “infected”
by the Idea, triggering highly irrational behavior. (Roy appears to
have gone certifiably insane, tearing up his lawn in some sort of
mania. Meanwhile, Jillian is a basketcase, drawing picture after
picture of the mound-like structure.) As usual, this mental break
causes infected and non-infected characters to turn on each other
(Roy’s wife packs up the kids and leaves him. No one will believe
Jillian’s story about her son.) The infected characters then pursue
an increasingly irrational plan of action (Roy and Jillian both
identify the Devil’s Tower National Monument as the structure they
have envisioned and go there in spite of a full military evacuation
due to a “nerve gas.”) These escalated actions create more
conflict with the uninfected. (Roy and Jillian are arrested by the
military).
Yet
Roy and Jillian remain obsessed with the Idea, and launch Act 3 with
an extreme act of irrational defiance. (They escape military custody
and attempt to run to Devil’s Tower on foot.) In most films, this
turning point would initiate a downward spiral toward ultimate
self-destruction, but as I have mentioned, Encounters
presents a unique deviation where the protagonists’ “infected”
impulses are eventually proven correct. The aliens are benevolent,
and their “infection” was actually a subliminal invitation to
join them. The non-believers are proven wrong, and Roy is rewarded at
the climax by being allowed to board the alien ship to learn the
wonders of the universe.
(For
an even more abstract take on the Infecting Idea, I encourage you to
consider Sofia Coppola’s first feature, The Virgin
Suicides (1999). This story
traces the tragic dissolution of a family and its five teenage
daughters, starting with a suicide attempt by its youngest. I have also discovered
Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow
(1999) to be a more literal example of an Infecting Idea. But since I
don’t think many people actually like this movie, I won’t spend
any time discussing it.)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie (1990)
Call
it childhood nostalgia, but I think the original Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is an
underrated family classic. It was way ahead of recent genre trends by
having the guts to take its source material seriously. Its style was
“darkgrit” way before Chris Nolan’s Batman Begins.
And, most impressively, it puts real effort into developing its
characters and theme. It is not all sight gags and set pieces, but a
story about the bonds of brotherhood and the love between fathers and
sons. Now, I’m not suggestion it is some kind of hidden
masterpiece. I’m simply saying it deserves more respect than it has
received.
TMNT
is, of course, aimed at a younger audience with a fantasy premise to
boot. As such, it follows the same wisdom used in films like the
original Star Wars, The Matrix, or
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring:
the more fantastic the story premise, the simpler the storyteller
should keep the plot. Here then is the plot of TMNT: The Foot Clan, an underground army of runaway
youths-turned-ninjas led by their master Shredder, has targeted
reporter April O’Neil for investigating their activities. The
Turtles also become targets of the Foot after Raphael rescues April
from an attack. The Foot invade the Turtles’ home while the heroes
are away (a battle which takes place off-screen), ending Act 1 with
the kidnapping of the Turtles’ “father” Splinter. In response,
the heroes find refuge in the home of April, where tensions escalate
between the brothers. Midway through Act 2A, the Foot again surprise
the heroes with an escalated attack, leaving Raphael unconscious and
April’s home in ashes. The heroes escape and are forced to make a
tactical retreat to an old country house at the story’s Midpoint.
At this sanctuary, the heroes heal and regroup. Strengthened both
physically and mentally, the heroes return midway through Act 2B—to
be soon found again by Shredder’s Foot Clan. Yet the heroes are now
prepared to fight rather than flee, creating an intense Act 3 battle
which culminates in the heroes facing, disempowering, and defeating
the Shredder; reuniting with their father Splinter in the process.
This
plot breakdown reveals that TMNT closely
follows the pattern of Type 6a: The Destructive Beast, a story
variety discussed in full detail in this previous article.
Not only do the sequences of escalating attack and escape occur at
the same points as prototypical Destructive Beasts like The
Terminator
or The Bourne
Identity (2002),
but so do the sequences dedicated to developing the character
relationships between the hero(es) and the “Sole Companion”
character April O’Neil. Furthermore, the heroes’ tactical retreat
to the country farmhouse is a dead giveaway of the pattern, as this
type of event occurs at the Midpoint of all prototypical Destructive
Beasts.
Yet
of course, TMNT
also seems quite different from Terminator
or Bourne
due to its use of a few alternatives and deviations. First of all,
TMNT
features not a singular protagonist, but a group protagonist made up
of all four brothers. Second, the protagonists are not the original
target of the “Beast.” The Shredder initially targets April
O’Neil for destruction. The Turtles only become targeted by
association when they come to April’s aid in late Act 1. Thus, the
roles of the targeted “protagonist” and the Sole Companion
character(s) are initially flip-flopped. However, this deviation is
corrected after Act 1, when the Turtles become the Beast’s primary
target. Finally, the Beast found in TMNT
does not present the figure of constant menace found in Terminator
or Bourne
(or, for that matter, other Destructive Beasts like Punch-Drunk
Love [2002],
The Incredible Hulk [2008],
or The Contender
[2000]).
TMNT
instead prefers to keep the Beast in the story’s background to
dedicate more time to the development of the character relationships
between the brothers, April O’Neil and comrade Casey Jones. While
the Destructive Beast is one of the Antagonism-Centered plot
patterns, TMNT
presents
the alternative of formulating a protagonism-centered
Destructive Beast.
Collateral (2004)
This
film may be little more than a blip in our memories now, but at the
time of its release, this Michael Mann thriller made quite a splash
with its combination of a tight, fast-paced plot, an A-list cast, and
an uncharacteristically lo-fi, indie-style aesthetic. Most of the
criticism against this film, however, came from the many perceived
similarities to 2001’s Training Day – causing some to
label it a pale imitation. Since Training Day operates as a
prototypical Type 16b: The False Friendship, I initially followed the
critical consensus and assumed Collateral to be a False
Friendship as well. However, upon a recent viewing, I was proven
completely wrong. I have included Collateral on this list of
better-known films because it presents a great example of one of the
most rarely-produced (and one of my favorite) plot patterns: Type 6b:
The Covetous Beast.
For
a detailed discussion on the Covetous Beast, I recommend you read this previous article. The Covetous Beast, of course, belongs to
the same family of plot patterns as the Destructive Beast. However,
in this case, the “Beast” does not wish to destroy the
Protagonist, but to possess, control, and/or enslave the Protagonist,
as best exemplified by the prototypes Sunset Boulevard (1950)
and Fatal Attraction (1987). As described in the article
linked above, the narrative of a Covetous Beast can be best described
in terms of a contract forged between Protagonist and Beast. The
Protagonist first enters into this arrangement willingly, believing
it to be simple and short-lived. Yet at the end of Act 1, the
Protagonist learns this contract has highly-unwelcome strings
attached. In Collateral, the drama begins when cab driver Max
(Jamie Foxx) is hired for the night by client Vincent (Tom Cruise).
Vincent offers Max $600 for six trips, a pretty attractive deal for a
cabbie in need of funds to start his own business. Yet this simple
contract takes a dark turn at the close of Act 1 when the first stop
ends with a dead body falling onto Max’s cab. Max learns that
Vincent is an assassin, hired to kill five people that night. Max
wants out of the deal. But Vincent makes it frighteningly clear that
Max will fulfill his agreed-upon duties or else the next
bullet will be for Max.
With
this, the Protagonist regrets the contract and begins Act 2A trying
to complete its terms as quickly as possible and/or searching for
a reasonable way to get out of the arrangement. However, in the
following sequences, the Beast tightens its grip on the Protagonist,
demanding that the Protagonist cede more and more personal control.
Through two incidents in Collateral’s Act 2A (a
narrowly-escaped potential bloodbath when the cab is pulled over by
police, and a robbery by thugs after Max calls out to strangers for
help) Vincent constricts the bond between he and Max. Vincent makes
clear that they are no longer client and driver, but partners. Any
more attempts to squirm out of the arrangement may result in the
deaths of more innocent people. Though Max continues to offer
resistance, these efforts become futile. By the end of Act 2A, it has
become abundantly clear that the Protagonist has become the
contract’s PRISONER.
Things
reach a breaking point at the Midpoint of a Covetous Beast. The
Protagonist declares the contract null and void and attempts an
escape. (Max takes advantage of a momentary distraction to grab the
case filled with the information on Vincent’s remaining targets and
makes a run for it.) Yet this does not last long. The Beast has too
strong a hold on the Protagonist and forces a reunion. (In
Collateral, this period of escape is briefer than in most
Covetous Beasts. Unable to outrun Vincent, the best Max can do is
chuck Vincent’s case off the side of a freeway overpass.) With
this, the Protagonist must admit his/her helplessness and surrender
to the contract, dragging him/her even deeper into its imprisonment
in Act 2B. (Vincent is not happy. He gives Max a choice: either help
him retrieve another copy of the lost information or die. Max
surrenders and is pulled even deeper into Vincent’s world when
Vincent forces Max to impersonate him in a meeting with Vincent’s
employer, the crime lord Felix [Javier Bardem]. This has an added
complication: the federal agents monitoring Felix now believe that
Max is the assassin responsible for the people Vincent has killed.)
However,
along with the Protagonist and the Beast, the Covetous Beast contains
a third crucial party: the Wedge character. The Wedge is an
individual with the goal of separating the Protagonist from the
Beast. (In Collateral, this is LAPD detective Fanning [Mark
Ruffalo].) While the Wedge may have been little more than a
background player up to this point, he or she attempts to directly
interpose him/herself into the conflict in Act 2B. (Vincent and Max
enter a nightclub in search of Vincent’s fourth target. The feds
have orders to shoot Max on sight. Fanning, however, believes Max is
innocent. He finds Max and extracts him from the nightclub in the
ensuing chaos.)
This
opens a new conflict between the Beast and the Wedge—a tug-of-war,
if you will, for control of the Protagonist. The story then makes its
turn into Act 3 with the Beast taking an intolerable action against
the Wedge. (Like the Midpoint event, this new line of action is
uncharacteristically short-lived in Collateral. Vincent shoots
Fanning and recaptures Max as soon as they exit the nightclub.)
Disgusted by this action against the Wedge, the Protagonist finally
musters the guts to turn the tables on the Beast. The Protagonist
realizes that the Beast clings so tightly to him or her because the
Beast desperately needs the Protagonist. The Protagonist thus
recognizes that he or she has some power in the relationship and uses
this power to finally tear him/herself away from the Beast. (Max
intentionally wrecks his cab to prevent Vincent from reaching his
final target.) But the Beast will not go away quietly. Though the
contract has been broken, the Beast refuses to give up on its
original goal, causing direct conflict to continue in escalated
fashion. (Vincent takes off on foot in pursuit of his final target.
Max learns that this target is the woman he met earlier that night
[Jada Pinkett Smith], compelling him to follow.) The film then
climaxes with a direct confrontation between the Protagonist and
Beast, an event which only one (or possibly neither) party will
survive. (Max saves the target and kills Vincent.)
* * * * *
Stay
tuned for the fourth and final installment of Scriptmonk’s Plot
Pattern Extravaganza! Films to be covered: Unforgiven, Butch
Cassidy & The Sundance Kid, Dead Poets Society, Beetlejuice,
and more!
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