The best directors in the business all have their own distinctive styles and aesthetics, and there’s no mistaking the work of Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, Steven Spielberg, and countless more. However, and we ask this in good faith, what the hell is “a Shawn Levy movie”?
Whatever it is, Kathleen Kennedy wants one for Star Wars after the filmmaker revealed her remit on his in-development project set in a galaxy far, far away was “I want a Shawn Levy movie. I want a story and a tone that reflects you and your taste and what you bring to your movies — with a Star Wars story.” That’s fair enough on paper, but it’s opened the doors to a lot of people either wondering what exactly that’s supposed to mean, or whether or not such a thing even exists.
For the most part, Levy makes crowd-pleasing blockbusters that play it safe and don’t even try to reinvent the wheel. His collaborations with Ryan Reynolds on The Adam Project and Free Guy – which will hopefully encompass Deadpool 3 as well – are among his best work, but looking at his back catalogue hardly makes it come across as the work of a singular visionary with an unmatched level of artistry and ambition.
Big Fat Liar, Cheaper by the Dozen, the Pink Panther remake, the Night at the Museum trilogy, Date Night, and The Internship could have been made by just about anybody with a decent grasp of the fundamentals, and it’s not unfair to say there’s nothing about Levy’s work that sets him out as being ahead of the curve, pioneering, groundbreaking, or trailblazing.
Kennedy wants “a Shawn Levy movie,” and she’s likely to end up getting one, but the rest of us are simply going to have to continue wondering what that even is.
Published: Oct 24, 2023 12:19 pm