So, yeah…the baking soda volcano, cool as it is, actually served a higher purpose in the context of the experiment.
And it’s obvious enough, isn’t it? I don’t think I have to explain how a baking soda volcano is a logical and plausible requirement for creating a holographic connection to somebody in a different dimension/otherworldly fantasy realm. Or at least I hope I don’t have to explain it, since I really don’t know how I’d ever do that. >_> But inexplicable science is a staple of B-movies, so I should be okay here…
Then there is a slight bait-and-switch, with the protagonists showing an appropriately shocked reaction to the re-appearance of the throne-sitter. Which, in a way, gave away the bait-and-switch right away, since they never showed that sort of shocked reaction at that guy’s (many) real appearances in the plot. Over-exaggerated shock always indicates something sneaky in a B-movie plot, since B-movie protagonists tend to under-react – there are just too many absurdities in a normal B-movie plot, the protagonists would be in a permanent state of shock if they were in the habit of reacting appropriately to every one of them.
So, yeah, it’s not the throne-sitter, it’s just the Professorian. Actually it shouldn’t be easy to confuse the two, given the difference in age and size – but in movies, hoods have special powers of concealment. Kind of a theatrical convention – the hood exposes enough of a characters face to make them recognizable for the audience, but it is tacitly understood that it hides them completely from people standing just next to them on the stage…
Anyway, the experiment seems to have been a success so far! Nothing exploded. I’ll leave it to you whether you want to put that down to Nolan’s wisdom in sticking with the kiddie experiment, or Mopey’s wisdom in turning of the mistake function.
More on Monday.
Volcano = holographic messaging? Reminds me of when I was a kid and would do common things, then expect extraordinary results. I shaped a leaf into the bat signal, then held it up against the full moon believing it was calling me to action. I was a weird kid.
Well, weird kids grow up into the best adults.
And anyway, I think appealing to the kind or level of logic that a kid uses is not a bad thing for a movie script. Given the restraints of the medium, it’s hard to make any higher level of logic work, so better stick with the basics. I don’t support the increasing use of this approach for political arguments, though…