The Megahit Movies

by Richard Stefanik

  As Shrek drowns his sorrows at The Poison Apple pub, along with Donkey and Puss In Boots, King Harold goes into the back room for a secret meeting with the Fairy Godmother and Prince Charming. Shrek overhears their plans to make Fiona fall in love with Prince Charming. The Fairy Godmother gives King Harold a potion to give to Fiona. Once she drinks it, she will fall in love with the first man she kisses. The Fairy Godmother spots Shrek, Donkey, and Puss. She sends the Knights after them. They are captured and put in jail. This is the moment of desperation for the protagonist, for the antagonist has control of the love interest and is about to gain possession of the Kingdom (the unique object).

  King Harold brings the magic potion for Fiona to drink which will make her fall in love with Prince Charming. But when they meet and speak, he realizes that Fiona really does love the old Shrek. King Harold is hesitant to give Fiona the potion. The audience is unsure whether or not he gave her the potion. This ambiguity is needed to make the climax scene where Prince Charming kisses Fiona more dramatic.

  Back at the castle, the wedding party for Fiona and Shrek (Prince Charming) has begun. The Red Carpet has been rolled out and the celebrities are introduced. During a television commercial for “The Knights” TV “Cops” Show, the Fairy Tale creatures in Shrek’s house watch the capture of Shrek, Donkey, and Puss on television. They realize that Shrek is in trouble.

  Shrek, Donkey, and Puss are in jail. The Gingerbread Man, Pinocchio, the Three Blind Mice, and the Fairy Tale gang bust them out. Pinocchio is lowered down from the ceiling, but in order to release Shrek, he must tell a lie to make his nose grow. Pinocchio tells the lie that he is not wearing woman’s underwear, which he really is. Shrek, Donkey and Puss are released. They plan to storm the castle. Shrek has the Muffin Man create a monster gigantic gingerbread man called Mongo.

  With the musical song “I Need a Hero” playing on the soundtrack, Shrek rides Mongo into battle against the castle. The guards launch milk at Mongo, but Shrek still manages to get inside the castle and lowers the drawbridge. They are in the castle and charge forward to save Fiona.

  Inside the banquet hall, Prince Charming is trying to kiss Fiona. Shrek bursts in to stop him. The Fairy Godmother attacks him with her powerful wand, but Shrek dives out of the way. The Fairy Tale creatures fight to gain possession of the wand.

  Fiona realizes that she has been tricked and that the handsome man who has just arrived is the real Shrek. But before she can do anything about it, Prince Charming forces a kiss on her lips.

  A victorious smile spreads across the Fairy Godmother’s face. To Shrek’s horror, Fiona steps back and lovingly takes Prince Charming’s head into her hands. She then rears back and head-butts him so hard he crumbles to the floor. Shrek and Fiona run into each other’s arms. The Fairy Godmother is angry, and with the wave of her magic wand, directs a bolt of energy at Shrek. King Harold jumps in front of Shrek and takes the blast full-on. The wicked magic deflects off the King’s shiny metal armor and bounces right back at the Fairy Godmother. It hits her and she disappears in a thunderous explosion.

  King Harold is now a frog, the original Frog Prince. But Queen Lillian still loves him, and accepts him. This foreshadows what will happen with Shrek and Fiona.

  The clock strikes midnight. Puss reminds Shrek about the message on magic potion bottle.

  “Fiona, is this what you want? Kiss me now, and we’ll stay this way forever,” says Shrek.

  “You’d do that for me?” says Fiona

  “Yes,” answers Shrek.

  “I want what any princess wants, to live happily ever after.” He bends to kiss her, but she stops his kiss with his hand. “…with the ogre I married.” This is Fiona’s big decision. This is the story climax: she decides to accept Shrek for the ogre that he is.

  “Whatever happens, I must not cry!” Puss bit his paw as tears welled up. “You cannot make me cry!”

  This comment from Puss suggests how the audience should feel at this moment.

  The last chime of midnight sounds. Fiona and Shrek hold each other tightly as the transformation begins, lifting and spinning them high into the air. Strange light shoots out of their bodies. The crowd stares as Donkey is also lifted up and changes. When they all land, they are back to their former selves, Shrek and Fiona as ogres and Donkey as a donkey.

  Resolution Scene

  The celebration party begins. It’s a Fiesta. They all get up on stage and sing! It is a happy, joyous event.

  Shrek is a fun movie filled with music and joy that the whole family can enjoy. There is plenty of humorous material for both children and adults. The credits roll with another rendition of the song,

  “I Need a Hero” on the soundtrack.

  After part of the credits roll, Puss, accompanied by two beautiful women, discovers Donkey alone on the stage. Puss invites Donkey to join them, but he turns Puss down. Suddenly, Donkey is surprised by his Dragon love, along with all her little flying mutant donkey-dragons. He is happy to see them, but now Donkey has to get a job, and we have the premise for Shrek 3: Shrek, Fiona, and Baby Shrek. Is the swamp really the best neighborhood to raise the children? What’s the educational system like?

  THE END

  SPIDER-MAN Protagonist: Peter Parker (Spider-man)

  Protagonist-Supporter: Uncle Ben (Mentor) and Aunt May Love Interest: MJ – Mary Jane Watson

  Antagonist: Norman Osborn (Green Goblin)

  Antagonist Supporter: Harry Osborn, J.J. Jameson (Newspaper Editor)

  Protagonist Empathy Scene: Peter runs after the school bus. The other students and driver laugh at him. He is publicly humiliated. Inciting Event: A spider bites Peter while he is on a field trip to a museum. This changes Peter’s life:

  1. Peter is stronger. He no longer needs glasses.

  2. He becomes amazingly agile. He can run super fast.

  3. He can shoot webbing from his wrist.

  4. He can cling to walls and climb up the sides of buildings.

  Peter loves MJ. He decides that he can use his new superpowers to make money to buy a car. That would make him popular. He enters an amateur wrestling contest. The ad says that he will win $3,000 if he stays in the ring for three minutes. He must also be a colorful character. Peter designs a costume for himself: red hood mask with a spider’s web design. Blue pants and red shoes.

  Uncle Ben drives Peter downtown: “You are feeling this great power, and with great power comes great responsibility.” Peter wins the match, but the owner will not give him all the money: only $100 instead of $3000. When Peter complains, the owner says “I miss the part where that’s my problem.” This is the first plot twist. Peter accomplishes the subgoal, but does not get what was expected. A thief then breaks in and steals money from the owner. He runs past Peter and into the elevator. Peter does not try to stop him. When the owner complains, Peter says “I miss the part where that’s my problem.”

  But it becomes his problem because the thief steals Uncle Ben’s car and shoots him. Peter finds Uncle Ben dying on the street. He runs after the killer. Peter rips off his clothes and wears only his Spider-Man costume. After a wild car chase Peter corners the thief in a warehouse. After a fight, the thief accidentally falls out of a window to his death. Norman Osborn wants to turn men into super-soldiers by altering natural evolution. His company, Oscorp, is being funded by the DOD. Yet, the army will cancel the contract funding if Osborn can not produce a successful test experiment that validates his theories.

  Osborn decides that it is time for a human trial. He will be the test subject. The test goes badly, and Osborn kills his research assistant. Spider-Man uses his powers for good:

  1. He captures criminals.

  2. He rescues innocent people.

  3. He foils bank robbers.

  4. He protects the community from danger.

  Spider-Man becomes famous. He takes photos of himself in action and sells them to the newspapers to make money. The newspaper editor, J.J. Jameson, is a corrupt sleaze, but he believes that
pictures of Spider-Man sells newspapers. Jameson writes exploitative headlines: “Spider-Man: Hero or Menace!”

  The love interest in this story is MJ (Mary Jane). She has lived next door to Peter since he was six years old. MJ moves into the city to become an actress. Peter meets up with MJ one day and discovers that she is working as a waitress. He also discovers that she is dating his best friend, Harry Osborn, the son of Norman Osborn.

  The Board of Directors of Oscorp decides to sell the company to their competitors. They remove Norman Osborn as CEO of the company. He vows revenge!

  Peter is taking photos downtown on the World Unity Day Celebration. Suddenly, the Green Goblin appears, flying through the sky and wreaking havoc on the celebration. He throws bombs onto the ledge and kills the Oscorp Board members. The balcony collapses, and MJ clings on the ledge for her life. Peter changes into Spider-Man and fights with the Green Goblin. Peter damages the Goblin’s flying machine, then saves MJ’s life. He flies away with her and leaves her in a garden on top of a skyscraper.

  When Peter is in the newspaper office selling Editor Jameson SpiderMan photos, the Green Goblin attacks. He is looking for the man who took the photos. Peter changes into Spider-Man and fights the Goblin. But the Goblin sprays knockout gas into Spider-Man’s face and takes him up to the rooftop. The Green Goblin wants Spider-Man to become his partner. Together they can rule the city. But Peter decides to protect the city from crime.

  Aunt May is cooking a Thanksgiving dinner for Peter, MJ, Harry, and Norman Osborn. Peter is late. When he finally comes down to the table, Aunt May notices that his arm is bleeding. Peter says that he was clipped by a bike messenger. Norman does not believe him and realizes that Peter is Spider-Man. Norman Osborn walks out of the dinner, followed by his son Harry. Norman then degrades MJ and tells Harry to get rid of MJ after he has had his way with her.

  That night the Green Goblin attacks and terrorizes Aunt May. This was his way to get at Spider-Man; attacking those that he loves. Aunt May is sent to the hospital. Peter visits her. Peter realizes that the Green Goblin knows who he is. Peter calls MJ, but it is too late. The Green Goblin laughs at him over the telephone. This is the second major empathy scene that most megahits have before the climax scene. It helps to get the audience to emotionally support the protagonist and his desire to destroy the antagonist.

  Spider-Man rushes to save MJ. She is being held captive by the Green Goblin on the top of the Roosevelt Tower Bridge. The Green Goblin gives Spider-Man a choice: save MJ, the woman he loves, or save a tram filled with children. The Green Goblin releases both MJ and the cables at the same time. Spider-Man saves them both, even while he is being attacked by the Green Goblin. He safely lowers the tram and MJ onto a barge that is floating up the river.

  Spider-Man fights with the Green Goblin and finally appears to defeat him. The Green Goblin reveals himself to be Norman Osborn. When Spider-Man lets down his guard, the Green Goblin activates his glider in an effort to kill Spider-Man. But in the last moment, Spider-Man jumps aside, and Norman Osborn is impaled by glider! With his last dying death, Norman begs Peter not to tell Harry that he was the Green Goblin. Again, this type of climax scenes is standard in megahit movies. The antogonist is killed not by the protagonist, but by actions he initiated in his attempt to kill the protagonist boomeranging back and destroying him.

  The final scene takes place in the cemetery at the funeral of Norman Osborn. Harry Osborn says that he knows Spider-Man killed his father, and that he will spend the rest of his life hunting him down. MJ tells Peter that when she thought she was going to die, the face that came to her was Peter’s. She realizes that she loves Peter. But Peter, though he, too, loves her, cannot tell her. He cannot tell her because he is afraid that doing so would place her in danger. So he walks away from the tearful MJ, with the thought echoing through his mind that “with great power comes great responsibility.”

  This is not your happy ending. It takes place in a cemetery, never a happy setting. The hero is not integrated back into the community. His best friend pledges to destroy him, and he rejects the love of the woman he loves. Yet, the movie still grossed over $404 million dollars. Some say that this ending was okay with the audience because they knew a sequel would follow with a happier ending for all the characters. Perhaps. But this closing still breaks all the rules of the standard Hollywood ending.

  The last scene of the movie are the exhilarating images of Spider-Man swinging among the skyscrapers and above the streets of New York City, giving the adolescents in the audience a vicarous joyful experience.

  THE END

  SPIDER-MAN 2 Protagonist: Peter Parker (Spider-Man)

  Nothing comes easy for Peter Parker. He is forced to balance his studies as a college student at the city university, a part-time job delivering pizzas, and his freelance job as a photographer for the Daily Bugle newspaper. He is always late or sometimes does not show up at all. But he is the only photographer in the city that can get photos of SpiderMan. Peter is always short on money. While attending a demonstration on genetically engineered spiders at a museum, Peter was bitten by one of the spiders. He then under went a transformation and became Spider-Man. Peter is madly in love with Mary Jane Watson, the girl next door.

  Protagonist-Supporter: Aunt May

  She lives alone in Queens. She has always acted as Peter’s mother. Peter works hard to keep his secret from Aunt May, and to keep her out of harm’s way. Peter always has the fear that Aunt May could become a victim of his enemies. In the two years since Uncle Ben’s death, things have gotten tougher for her. She lives on a fixed income and has trouble paying her mortgage.

  Protagonist-Supporter: Uncle Ben

  He was killed in the first movie. His death cause much guilt for Peter. Love Interest: Mary Jane Watson

  She has a dream of becoming an actress. MJ was given a modeling job for a magazine, then ended up on the billboards throughout the city as the face of Emma Rose Parfumerie. Next, MJ got the job of playing Cecily Cardew in an off-Broadway production of The Importance of Being Earnest. Mary Jane always liked Peter Parker, the boy next door. Often she wondered if Peter felt the same, but Peter always seemed too busy. MJ is dating a young astronaut, John Jameson.

  Antagonist-Supporter: Harry Osborn

  He was born into a life of wealth and privilege. After the death of his father, Norman Osborn, Harry became the head of Special Projects at OsCorp. Harry blamed Spider-Man for the death of his father. Harry considers Peter Parker to be his best friend and Spider-Man to be his enemy.

  Antagonist: Doc Ock (Dr. Otto Octavius)

  Dr. Octavius married his loving wife, Rosie while they were in college. Dr. Octavius’ latest research is being funded by OsCorp. The Doctor’s research caused him to handle dangerous radioactive material. Because these materials are too dangerous to handle with bare hands, Dr. Octavius created a mechanical harness containing four metal arms. Using these arms, he can handle any kind of dangerous material safely. But the experiment goes wrong and he becomes a monster.

  Antagonist-Supporter: J. Jonah Jameson

  He is the publisher of the Daily Bugle newspaper. Jameson is cheap, blustery and grouchy. Jameson hates Spider-Man, and runs stories characterizing him as a menace. Peter Parker works for Jameson at the Bugle and takes photos of Spider-Man.

  Minor Character: John Jameson

  John is the son of Jonah and Mary Jane’s new boyfriend.

  Minor Character: Dr. Curt Connors

  Peter’s college professor who is a friend of Doc Ock

  Minor Character: Robbie Robertson

  Bugle’s Editor-in-Chief. He believes that Spider-Man is a hero.

  Minor Character: Betty Brant

  Jameson’s secretary at the Bugle who pays Peter for his photos. Opening Credits:

  Cartoon images of Marvel Comics and Still Images from the first Spider-Man movie. This allows to audience to remember the important events from the first Spider-Man movie.

  Voice over of Peter Par
ker. “She looks at me every day.” Peter sits on his motorbike in NYC. In front of him is a huge billboard of Mary Jane, her eyes literally gigantic, gazing out. The logo reads, “Emma Rose Parfumerie.” “With me she was always in danger from those who fight against me. Without her, I travel a lonely road. My story will always be about the loss of a girl.” Peter believes that he has lost the girl of his dreams. This produces sympathy in the audience for Peter. Peter drives his motorcycle up to JOE’S PIZZA. The manager, Rahi Aziz, was very angry.

  “In eight minutes I am defaulting on Joe’s twenty-nine minute guarantee.” Peter is told that this is his last chance. If he fails to deliver the pizza, he will be fired. Peter is placed in danger of losing his job.

  Peter rides through the traffic of NYC. His motorbike stalls out in the middle of traffic. He puts on the Spider-Man outfit, then, having webbed the pizza boxes together, he fires a web-strand to an overhanging ledge. It snagged on the underside. An instant later, he was drawing himself up the web-line as fast as he can go. The audience admires his abilities.

  Spider-Man saves two little children (boy and girl) from being hit by a truck. This scene generates sympathy for Spider-Man. A man on the street below thinks that Spider-Man has stolen the kid’s pizzas. A man tries eat some pizza left on the ledge. Spider-Man grabs it from him.

  Peter Parker, back in his regular clothes, emerges from a janitor’s closet. He struggles with the mops and brooms. This is a bit of humor showing him to be incompetent as Peter Parker. Peter holds the pizzas aloft and called out, “Pizza Time!” The receptionist stared up at him like a dead fish as he brushes away strands of web. She says nothing but simply glances in the direction of the clock over her head. It read 2:03. “You’re late. I’m not paying for those pies. Peter leaves them with her. The audience feels empathy for Peter because they know how hard he tried to get the pies delivered on time.