Josh Whedon need we say more? Yes, a
lot more!
The script had a concept for a powerful
new type of female superhero, a mix of dark humor with comedic
tongue-in-cheek horrific stylings thrown in, focusing more on
personal relationships than a plot or a point. A genius has a
vision, idea, a tremendous leap forward in entertainment marvel for
the masses. But, its too far from the normal cookie cutter movie
formula for anyone to understand it, much less foster it into life on
the silver screen. Yeah, don't listen to the guy who came up with the
concept...
Looks like the problems on the film
started once the Kuzui's jumped on board to get the movie made. Joss
Whedon sold the rights to Sandollar with Fran and Kaz coming in to
help put the financing together for the film. Then Fran was given the
director position. Her only other director experience came from
'Tokyo Pop' (1988). A small art semi self biographical film that got
some critical acclaim. In the end, she didn't 'get' the material nor
could she reign in the actors. The casting agent completely nailed
the casting. But all the actors did their own thing. Giving the movie
a disjointed feel. The feud between Whedon and Donald Sutherland has
been well documented, leading to Whedon leaving the production. A lot
of people liked Paul Reuben's over the top zany performance but it
takes the viewer out of the scene due to the tone being completely
different. Seth Green getting left on the cutting room floor is a
direct slap to pop culture nerdom in every way possible. He already
had created a strong body of work and recognizable to most moviegoers and horror fans (he was in 'It' (1990)). Re-watching this,
maybe the only actor or person who got the concept, outside of Whedon, was Luke Perry.
People will point to Wonder Woman
(1975-1979) as a man hanging back as a girl does the fighting. But
Steve Trevor didn't know Diana Prince was Wonder Woman. He had no
relationship with Wonder Woman. Most of the time a superhuman
goddess comes out of nowhere solves the case beats up the mere mortal
bad guy laughably easy, tells a bewildered Colonel Trevor what
happened and who to arrest than disappears before he gets the stupid
look off his face and has a chance to hit on her. After which old
Stevo has to go back to the nerdy Diana who has this hot Liberian
thing going on.
Pike, on the other hand, learns Buffy is
the chosen one. Not being emasculated by Buffy being an army-of-one.
He hangs back dutifully holding her purse and occasionally handing
his better half a stake before scurrying back to where he can get a
nice safe view of Buffy's backside. Perry played this role with a
soft touch, the end one believes the heartfelt moments, and he
doesn't have any alpha male issues boiling under his sweet smile.
Kristy Swanson was born to play Buffy! Unfortunately, they had her
play the character dumb. She's isn't mentally challenged, she is just
a typical teen focused on going to prom, then Europe, and then
marrying a famous actor, and then dying.
Letting Whedon leave production is akin
to someone firing Steve Jobs from Apple, or turning off Stephen
Hawking's computer, or locking Albert Einstein in the bathroom during
a meeting, or publishing Stephen Kings script for the Stand after
only a thousand pages, or letting a studio head green light a DC
movie that isn't Lobo, or ending Games of Thrones before the last
book is published. Just shows a little bit more how clueless
Fran Rubel Kuzui was. She didn't recognize Whedon's utter total
reality smashing genius or how this game-changing script worked.
Further proved by the tv show being a huge hit.
