When an opening, sadly, trumps the film

On rare occasion I’ve found that opening sequences (be it title credits, a montage, or simply a set-up scene) can trump an entire film. Some argue that the same can be said about critically acclaimed films; the storming of Normandy in Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan; the single-camera, no-break tracking shot at the start of Paul Thomas Anderson’s Boogie Nights; or the wide-angle POV scene which begins Antonioni’s Blow Up. But these are universally loved films, respected as much for their palate prepping openings, as for what’s to come. In certain, less well-regarded films, a superbly executed opening sequence can have the sobering effect of raising hopes, only to have them knocked down as the film progresses.

Take, for example, Richard Kelly’s follow up to his cult classic Donnie Darko, Southland Tales. The film was universally panned at Cannes in late 2006, where Kelly claims he sent a three hour, unrefined cut, at behest of the studio. No matter how you had cut this movie, it would have been a failure. It probably could’ve been trimmed to a tighter, more intelligible film. As it stands, it’s an interesting disaster. The movie is a hodgepodge of ideas, clumsily thrown together, that fails to satisfy, and only mystifies. Nowhere is this more evident than in the casting (i.e. Sarah Michelle Gellar, The Rock, Mandy Moore, Christopher Lambert, and Jon Lovitz. Really?). The film is riddled with interesting ideas (a near-future dystopia, mega-corporations, an over-reaching Homeland Security), and had they been synthesized more concisely, or had Kelly edited himself more precisely (see The Assassination of Jesse James for another film that could’ve been great, but was sadly undermined by its Director’s arrogance), the film might have succeeded in some respects. Overall, Southland Tales was a disappointment. The below opening scene, which terrifyingly depicts a nuclear blast in suburban Texas, emphasises Kelly’s talent, and grandstands the entire misfire of a film.

In Zack Snyder’s (300, Watchmen) remake Dawn of the Dead, it’s a bit of different story. Here’s a movie that’s not trying to be great – it just wants to be a serviceable horror movie. It succeeds admirably, and in some respects, even manages to surpass Romero’s classic. The intro embedded below, cut by the same genius who gave us the title sequence to Fincher’s Se7en, uses Cash’s 'When the Man Comes Around' to terrific effect. It turns out to be a high point in a pretty damn good zombie flick.