I was originally planning to write a review for The 355 but quite frankly, I couldn’t think of enough material about it that could make for a full review. So before I go into details about why we shouldn’t look at the underperformance of this movie in the way most people likely will, I will just give you my brief thoughts on this early January flick.
Short version, it’s not very good. Yet another example of a movie relying strictly on star power and charisma hoping it can make up for completely illogical plotting and bland characterization! It tries to do it’s own spin on the Bond and Bourne franchise without even having the slimmest idea as to why either one of those franchises were able to work in their own right! This would certainly be a Netflix rental exclusive at best if it wasn’t for it’s incredibly talented cast attached to it. Simon Kinberg seems like a likable man but should seriously just stick to producing and leave writing/directing out of it. It has some fine performances and serviceable action scenes but this is the exact definition of a “January movie” and one that you can skip. I’d probably give it 1.5 out of 4 stars if I were to give it a star rating.
However, the overall quality of The 355 is not the topic for this piece but on the general consensus that seems to imply that the film’s bad reviews and low box office results is yet another example on how female-lead action movies or just female-lead movies in general don’t sell and Hollywood should just stop making them. I always found this to be a rather preposterous take that makes me groan like a cow every single time this is brought up.
Here’s the thing, folks! If it was truly the case that women can’t carry cinema, then Hollywood would have stopped doing it a long time ago! Regardless of the politics behind the cameras, at some point, there will come a breaking point and they would just stop doing it all together. There’s only so many times where they will try to do something while losing so much money as a result. Although, if we’re going by certain research from a few years ago, movies starring women DOES in fact make more money than movies starring men. Don’t believe me, just check out this article from 2018!
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/12/12/movies-starring-women-make-more-money-than-movies-starring-men.html
And yet we still have this same tired talking point every single time that these certain type of movies staring a certain type of gender never makes big bank and how it must be because of that certain gender. Even when you do bring up a movie or franchise that has actually been successful with that certain gender, it’s always seen as an exception or comes with a “Yeah, but…” claim.
You bring up the success of Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel and the counterpoint is always, “Yeah, but they’re superhero movies that’s part of a male-dominated sub-genre!” (Which of course didn’t help in the slightest when Elizabeth Banks brought that exact point up). You bring up the success of Twilight and The Hunger Games and the counterpoint is always, “Yeah, but they are based on books!” You bring up the Resident Evil or Tomb Raider movies (at least the Angelina Jolie ones) and the counterpoint is always, “Yeah, but that’s based on a popular video game franchise!” You bring up the rose gallery of movies centered around Disney princesses and heroines that have stood the test of time such as Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Cinderella, Mulan, Tangled, Frozen, Moana, etc.. and the counterpoint is always, “Yeah, but they’re movies aimed for kids and families!” For whatever reason, there are certain folks out there (and I’m not just talking angry Youtubers who would certainly make constant videos about why Ellen Ripley or Sarah Connor is a Mary Sue if the original Alien and Terminator came out today) that are still in that same, stubborn mindset that a women-led property just can’t succeed on it’s own merits and if it does, then it’s just because it’s attached to a brand that is so dominated by males that it would make it impossible to fail.
What’s even more baffling is how nearly every single counterpoint brought up could easily be backed up with another movie just like those that didn’t do so hot at the box office regardless of gender. There has been just as many female-lead movies that have succeeded as there are many female-lead movies that have failed.
If Wonder Woman and Captain Marvel were successful just because they’re superhero movies, then why didn’t audience go see Dark Phoenix and Birds of Prey (No, Covid is not an excuse for the latter! That movie was underperforming even before the pandemic happened!)? If Twilight and The Hunger Games were successful just because they’re movies based on popular books, then why did audience eventually stop showing up for Divergent and Maze Runner (Y’know, the latter which is a MALE lead series!)? If Resident Evil and Tomb Raider were successful just because it’s based off a well-known video game series, then why didn’t audience support Doom, Max Payne, Street Fighters, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, and Assassin’s Creed (Again, all male lead series!) If all those Disney princesses/heroine movies were successful because they’re movies for kids and families, then how do you explain all the other numerous “kid/family” movies out there that parents didn’t take their children to see like say The Black Cauldron or Treasure Planet?
Even when a female-led movie comes along that doesn’t make it’s money back, there’s usually always another one that comes right around the corner after that’s able to be a big hit no problem! It happens so often in fact that I’m stunned people still chose to stick to a certain narrative just because.
When Ghostbusters: Answer the Call couldn’t make enough money, next year came the likes of Wonder Woman and Atomic Blonde that were notable successes to prove those misogynistic claims wrong. When Ocean’s Eight didn’t make nearly as much as the other Oceans movies, there came Incredibles 2 that had Elastic Girl front and center which became a billion-dollar smash hit! When Terminator: Dark Fate and Charlie’s Angels failed to break even, there came Frozen 2 which eventually became the most successful animated film of all time that didn’t involve a soulless remake of a beloved Disney property. When Birds of Prey couldn’t gain an audience pre-Covid, The Invisible Man was able to become that one last big box office smash hit just before theaters closed! Heck, I guarantee once The 355 fails to break even, we’ll have Scream to come to the rescue this weekend and show how the world is still in love with Neve Campbell despite being released in January!
These examples I bring up are not exceptions! They are the REAL deal! They are undeniable proven facts that people will go see movies with women if the movies look appealing to them.
And that’s not even bringing up the horror genre! Y’know, a genre in which there are multiple film franchises driven swiftly by women! A genre that has seen enormous successes such as Halloween, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream, Carrie, Black Christmas, and Hellraiser along with more recent hits such as You’re Next, The Babadook, It Follows, Split, Happy Death Day, A Quiet Place, Hereditary, Us, Ready or Not, and The Invisible Man! Sure, you can argue that it’s the male villains in those that make those movies/series iconic such as Michael Myers and Freddy Krueger but it’s mostly the female characters that are driven force in them and the films themselves always tells the stories through their perspectives. Audience wouldn’t go see the new Halloween if they didn’t think they could get behind Laurie Strode or was at least worth following to get to Michael Myers!
What’s most ludicrous is how there’s a perfectly valid non-sexist reasoning for just about every single female-led movie that isn’t successful that could simple apply to male-led movies that suffer the same fate? When Dredd, Blade Runner 2049, and Rambo: The Last Blood were the box office bombs that they were, was there ever any article around the time those movies came out about how male-led films don’t sell and Hollywood should stop trying to sell masculinity to the general public? No, because there was always numerous examples that show that is simple not the case. And that also applies with female-driven films as well.
Ghostbusters: Answer the Call didn’t underperformed because of women, it underperformed because people were turned off by the trailers and it didn’t look like the Ghostbusters movie they’ve been waiting for all these years (also it’s 144 million dollar budget didn’t help either). Ocean’s Eight wasn’t the least successful Ocean’s movie because of women, it’s because it was a series that was running of gas and couldn’t live up to the original (each Ocean’s movie made less money than the last, mind you). Terminator: Dark Fate and Charlie’s Angels didn’t tanked because of women, they tanked because they were both part of franchises that had been run into the ground and/or audiences were just no longer invested in. Birds of Prey didn’t find an audience because of women, it didn’t find an audience because of it’s lack of marketing and including a rating that wasn’t suitable for it’s target audience.
All in all, we have got to stop having this same discussion over and over and over again about how women-led flicks are the Achilles heel to cinema and need to be stopped at all costs! It’s all just so very exhausting, tiresome, and contain plenty of evidence that prove otherwise!
The 355 is a dud and (most likely) will be a flop at the box office but I promise you it’s not because of the reasons that internet assholes will have you claim. It’s because it’s an early January movie! It’s because people most likely went to see Spider-Man: No Way Home a third or fourth time instead! It’s because of the rise of the Omicron variant that could potentially lead to theaters shutting down again! Or quite frankly, it’s because it’s something that most audience either don’t know about or feel that it’s not worth investing their time in!
And I sure hope we don’t have to have this exact same discussion next week after the box office results come from the new Scream! Help us, Neve Campbell! You’re our only hope!
Adam's Blog 