Offering old tripe for the young at heart

Of the five top-grossing films in China this year, four of them are Hollywood productions, led by Furious 7. This seems to indicate that there will be a phalanx of flashy, explosion-filled action films marching across the Pacific like giant kaiju (Japanese for "strange beasts") in the next few years at least.

We constantly hear the assumption that such blockbusters are made for and consumed by adolescents - boys mainly. That is why they abound with bloodless action, special effects and cartoonish characters. I am not so sure. Nevertheless, what does this target demographic actually make of these films allegedly aimed at them? I recall some youngsters telling me a few years ago about the films they'd just seen - stuff like Iron Man 2, The Avengers and The Green Hornet.

It was heartening how often the word "cheesy" came up. They also professed to getting bored by the repetitive action and bloated running times. It seems to me that some folk, including filmmakers, are too ready to think that young people like their movie fare shallow and stupid.