WillOkjabe this summer’s big phenomenon that everyone is waiting for? Quite possibly we’re looking at the nextStranger Things, which took last summer by storm. If Netflix’s dominance in the streaming, home media entertainment market wasn’t enough, they are now going after long held studio concepts. By this, I mean they are trying to make event television with their original feature films. Actually, they are trying to make ‘tentpole TV’. You know, those shows and movies that are more than just the sum of their parts. There can be sequels. There can be spin-offs. TheseNetflix Original Moviescan be just about anything you may think of. And they are talked about all summer long. That certainly rings true ofOkja, Netflix’s first attempt at a Hollywood summer blockbuster. And they’ve succeeded!
Believe it or not, there was a time when movies in theaters didn’t come to us from comic books. There was a time when big movies weren’t sequels to previous blockbusters. There was a time that a movie could open, not be the most anticipated film, yet (gasp!) it would not die on the movie distribution vine. In fact, like the bigger movies playing in theater, this film could play all summer and beyond. We would continue talking about, dissecting it and we would see it more than once. Nowadays, the biggest movie will be number one for two weeks and then be forgotten before it starts its third. And that’s after breaking all kinds of pumped up records at the box office.
Last Summer,Netflixwowed us withStranger Things. This piece of throwback, 1980s nostalgia, was a mid-summer offering that took the internet and the world of TV (and movies) by storm. Viewers tried to figure out the meaning behind this oddball, 80s mashup. They tried to look for clues to make sense of its ambiguous ending. The conspiracy theorists saw this show as a metaphor for all the ills that our government is slyly laying upon us. In short, it was everything to all people andStranger Thingswas a bonafide phenomenon. It was the talk of the summer and continues to generate excitement as its second season looms.
So this summer, Netflix gives us the (somewhat) equally high mindedOkja. This story follows Mija. She is a young woman who is trying to protect avery lovable animalcalledOkja. A large company wants to takeOkja, mass produce this animal, and turn it into food and whatever else humanity can use from its innards. This Netflix Original film is billed as an action, adventure, drama. Based on the trailer there’s alarger political message. This message is so overpowering it almost seems likeOkjais a dark comedy. Making this more amazing is thatOkjais being marketed as a kids' movie. It literally is this summer’sE.T.,The GooniesandGremlinsall rolled into one.
The big question is, can this offbeat tale (which features an odd yet adorable new animal, a very different looking Tilda Swinton, and an almost unrecognizableJake Gyllenhaal) be this summer’sStranger Things? Can it resonate with audiences in the same way and a have a life far beyond our HD TVs? Will we see Super Pig Monsters at Comic Con and other fan fests?
Honestly, for as weird asOkjalooks, it upholds the classic elements of 80s cinema while being its own thing. It also carries that cool factorStranger Thingsheld so dearly. Sure,Okjais bizarre. At the same time,Okjais a bold film. It is actually, in many ways, a 21st CenturyE.T.. It’s just a lot, lot darker.Stranger Thingsplayed on nostalgia to drive it’s story. As good as it was, it followed the A, B, C’s of 80s movies quite routinely.Okjaturns that notion to its advantage, and becomes this wholly original beast. You’ve never seen a creature like this on the screen before, nor this type of story wrapped around it. This is another way Netflix is bringing back the old time, moviegoing experience, yet, they are doing it in our homes and not at the multiplex. Ironic that that this forward thinking company is actually using an old business model…And succeeding.
Stranger Thingswas only really odd if you were new to that genre of filmmaking. For the people, like myself, that came of age in the1980s, this show was awesome because of how well it seemed like it could have been from that time.Okjais tamping on similar ground. The plot is interesting, spreading a solid message about the sanctity of life and the vagaries of greed. It is a film filled with imaginative ideas. It is also a film filled with grand adventure and enthralling action. It’s the kind of spirit thatStranger Thingsreveled in. Though,Okjadoesn’t quite have time to build in the same way asStranger Things.
Stranger Thingswas basically an 8 hour 80s movie.Okjais just about 2 hours in length. No matter how muchOkjacould cram into it’s nearly 2 hour time frame, it doesn’t have the canvas thatStranger Thingsdid. In fact, as most of you know, that canvas is expanding as the second season ofStranger Thingswill have 9 episodes instead of 8.Okjadoesn’t have the room to explore the ideas thatStranger Thingstakes on, sure. Also, because it only has two hours, by designOkjacan’t be filled with as many ideas as it would like to be. What we have here is an issue between dueling mediums. And in this race, TV is going to win this marathon every time. But on that note, it takes less time to devote toOkja, and it truly upholds the notion thatStranger Thingstried to kick forth. In essence, it’s the type of movie thatStranger Thingswould have stolen from had it been released in the 80s instead of 2017.
Which is what makesOkjaso impressive. It doesn’t really need to expand beyond its self-contained story. This is a Netflix Original film. Even though it is like other movies from back in the day, it is very much of this day and time. This brings us to the question of fairness? Is it even right to compareOkjatoStranger Things? Are we settingOkjaup for failure by even doing so?
Well, the reality of this situation is that ifStranger Thingsdid not exist, we probably wouldn’t be scrutinizing Netflix’s summer offerings how we are. However, the genie is out of the bottle. Netflix has been such a powerful entertainment juggernaut, that we have come to expect greatness from it. It’s very similar to how we expect similarly solid programming from HBO and AMC (after the mega-success ofBreaking Bad). And Netflix has made fans and viewers quite happy in this regard. And all of this goes back to the freedoms that writers, producers and directors are afforded by companies like Netflix.
Talent loves Netflix because they can literally do anything they want. It sort of reminds one of how studios dealt with the changing Hollywood system in the 1970s. The studios back then didn’t know what to do. They were desperate. They didn’t know what audiences wanted. Then suddenly independent films started to appear. Studios had to start taking chances because people wanted something new and fresh. As a result we gotEasy Rider,Dog Day Afternoon,Mean Streets,A Clockwork Orangeand a host of other unforgettable films that continue to be talked about years after their release. People also remember that studios who released them, too. There was no Netflix or Amazon Studios in 1975.
In 2017, the only studios with any real guts, with any real desire to release movies (not TV) that aren’t from the same cookie cutter mold we have all seen before are places like Netflix and Amazon Studios, and smaller low budget production houses like Blumhouse and A24. They are creative dens where iconoclastic directors like Bong Joon Ho can make films likeOkja. Directors of this ilk can make the movies they want without the studio interference of the homogenous “development process.” It’s why so many directors are flocking to these alternative places to make their films. The reality is that the big studios are slowly becoming what they were in the 1970s. Clueless places of content that were ultimately usurped by the creative types they would have to give free reign. And because of this, we’re getting one of this summer’s coolest, best blockbuster movies on a streaming service. But perhaps there, it will have more time to be discovered and become the true summer phenomenon it deserves to be.
Of course, Netflix could always become an unwieldy behemoth. And if that happens the power will shift again as it shifted back to the studios in the 1980s. Ultimately, this led to the Blockbuster/McMovie mentality that has ebbed and flowed throughout various decades. Netflix is a shrewd company. They have an unholy amount of content. They’ve afforded many creative types a wide birth. Something tells me that in addition toOkja, the show that is really going to be this summer’sStranger Thingsmay not even on our radar yet. Or, is it? IsOkajthe brilliant film that will save and uplift the summer? Only time will tell but the deck seems strongly stacked in its favor.Okjais a one of a kind in a sea of faceless blockbusters. We have a feeling people will be talking about it well into September.
