Fantasy is a genre that caters to audience of all age groups if done well. We’ve seen how the behemoth Disney has come to be what it is because of its fantasy stories and content. They’re good summer movies, good fall movies and even good musicals. But when not done well, there isn’t a genre that can go as bad as fantasy. It seems like Netflix has gotten a little too much into the genre now to the point that they’re dropping mid and formulaic content every week.
The streamer dropped a Halloween monster comedy titled ‘The Curse of Bridge Hollow‘ just a week ago to mixed and negative reception. Fresh off the boat is ‘The School for Good and Evil’, another monster fantasy outing from the streaming giant this week. To top it, the film boasts of a fabulous cast as well. Imagine having the likes of Charlize Theron, Kerry Washington, Laurence Fishburne and Michelle Yeoh on-board and still managing to make a terrible product? The streamer doesn’t have a healthy track record of good fantasy movies to begin with. Some of the titles it acquired inclue The Witches, Nightbooks, The YinYang Master etc in the last few years. It seems like the streamer has still not learnt its lesson when it comes to fantasy movies.
However, Netflix aces the game when it comes to fantasy shows. Be it Locke & Key, Stranger Things, Sweet Tooth, The Witcher, Shadow & Bone, The Sandman etc, the streamer edges against its rivals. Its got an impeccable track record when it comes to acquiring fantasy korean and Chinese dramas too. The streamer’s library boasts of some of the most revered drama titles like Goblin, The Tale of the Nine Tailed, My Love from the Star, The legend of Blue sea, Ashes of Love etc. The trouble brews when it comes to its English fantasy films precisely.
The streamer needs to respect the genre and its audience. To begin with, by putting equal efforts in acquiring better movie titles. Rather than trying to sell half-baked CGI cringe-fests with top tier star-cast, Netflix should rather invest on better fantasy feature film stories and rope in directors who are better off in larger than life fantasy realm to helm the stories. Let us hope if Guillermo Del Toro’s Pinocchio would make things better for Netflix in this regard. Honestly, that seems like the only promising fantasy film they have in their line-up.
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