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May 27, 2011
J.J. Abrams Is The Most Overrated Director of Our Time
The director of Super 8 and co-creator of Lost loves mystery boxes with nothing inside them.
By Scott Von Doviak
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for Super 8. It's one of the few big summer movies that's neither a sequel nor a comic-book adaptation, and its initial advertising campaign was low-key and intriguing. But Super 8's latest trailers make the Steven Spielberg-produced film look like a fan-made mashup of Close Encounters, E.T., and The Goonies. That just makes it all the more obvious that director J.J. Abrams is no Steven Spielberg.
Abrams isn't completely talentless; it's more like his reputation as a brilliant creator is inflated all out of proportion to his modest achievements. Only Joss Whedon is more ardently revered as a guru of geek culture. But when you examine Abrams' body of work, it's hard to fathom exactly how he attained this aura of creative genius. Like so much of his work, Abrams' popularity is a mystery without a satisfying answer.
It's certainly not based on the screenplays he wrote early in his career as "Jeffrey Abrams." You'd change your name too if your credits included sentimental dramas like Regarding Henry and Forever Young, and laughless comedies like Taking Care of Business and Gone Fishin'. If you don't remember those movies, well, yeah. One you probably do remember is Armageddon, the Michael Bay asteroid movie. Abrams wrote the script, and it's pretty surprising that any self-respecting geek could take him seriously after that profitable but inane film.
Abrams' television work represents an improvement over the Jeffrey years, but he mainly demonstrates a knack for getting as many plates spinning as possible before leaving the help to clean up the broken pieces. Abrams-produced shows like Alias, Lost, and Fringe have all followed a similar pattern. They start with high-concept hooks and tantalizing hints of a complex underlying mythology, but then give way to convoluted storytelling and increasingly muddled attempts to explaining the inexplicable. (When in doubt, time travel and alternate universes are always handy plot devices.) It's a neat trick, really: Abrams will always get credit for directing the Lost pilot everyone loved, but he was gone by the time the widely reviled finale — which tried and failed to tie up the threads he left dangling — aired last year.
That leaves us with his career as a film director, which so far consists of one sequel to a movie based on an old television series (Mission: Impossible III) and one reboot of a movie franchise based on an old television series (Star Trek) — not exactly evidence of a boundless imagination at work. Abrams' approach to both films is to bounce from one action set piece to the next so frenetically that audiences don't notice the gaping plot holes in his undernourished scripts.
In the case of Star Trek, this mostly works, thanks to an engaging cast and our fondness for the long-established characters — and while Abrams resorts to time travel and alternate universes yet again, it's forgivable in this case, since those are tried-and-true elements of the series. M:I III, on the other hand, is a joyless ride weighed down by a turgid romance between Tom Cruise and Michelle Monaghan and an over-reliance on those ridiculous look-alike masks. Characteristically, Abrams revels in plot twists and narrative double-crosses, leaving the characters underdeveloped.
So while I'm hoping for the best from Super 8, I'm worried that a gushing homage to the golden age of Spielberg will bring out the worst in Abrams. Spielberg and Abrams both understand the power of mystery; they love leaving big reveals to the imagination. But the difference is that at his peak, Spielberg cared enough about craft to put together tight narratives. His stories made sense, so you didn't feel let down by the questions he refused to answer. With Abrams, you just feel like he's cheating.
Commentarium (126 Comments)
OMG seriously thank you for posting this. I have SO hated this guy for so long. I just don't get what people see in his work - just hollow, aimless crap.
the people that like his work think they are as complex as his stories...lame
overrated indeed
Couldn't agree more.
And that photo... As a dork myself I shouldn't talk, but Jesus Christ.
If you showed that picture to a graphing calculator, it would probably want to beat the shit out of him.
After Lost, *I* want to beat the shit out of him.
He's good at what he does in terms of don't-think-too-hard big-budget action projects. But yeah, it's not very hard to set up an interesting puzzle if you don't bother to come up with the solution.
Director or writer? or both?
Meh. Once I saw how any celebrity after their career in acting is waning turns to directing, I figured any peroson can direct a film, so long as they aren't a total dunce.
http://googledisappointsme.blogspot.com/
Yes, directing is so easy, anyone could do it.
Not much of a cinemaphile, huh?
please "overrated director", to a guy who made only three movies, if exist a overrated director in our time that is C. Nolan, a man who seems to use the same script for all his movies. with all due respect, this article seems written by a fan disappointed by the end of Lost
Uhm... who WASN'T disappointed by the end of Lost?
I more or less like the guy, and the reasons why are actually couched directly in this article.
- Lost did start out excellently. Unfortunately, it's television, made by committee on a tight schedule, and he can't have a hand in all of it. It's too bad that whoever was at the helm towards the end flubbed it, but I don't see how it's his fault. People still bust a nut over David Lynch despite Twin Peaks' atrocious latter half, so what gives?
- MI3 and Star Trek were totally excellent. They were both stylish, high-impact action films that, if you take a look around, are actually a lot more rare than you'd think. I don't think pointing to the fact that they were established properties or had strong casts is a fair detraction, either. There are plenty of remakes and ensemble cast films that are total disasters.
- Have some respect for how hard it can be to get good work. As a writer just starting out, he got some crap gigs, sure, but anyone who's done even a little research should be able to figure that "Gone Fishin'" probably wasn't his brain child.
Totally ... totally agree.....though Star Trek was actually a lot of fun...... I'm reminded of that quote I think from the German film director Wim Wenders who said something like "I can come up with 10 brilliant first 20 minutes of a movie before lunch.... it's coming up with the rest of the movie that's difficult"
but cloverfield was really fun.
I do agree. Although I revile and urinate on Lost, I did quite enjoy Cloverfield.
He neither directed nor wrote Cloverfield.
Abrams produced Cloverfield.
I'm glad somebody finally said this, Scott. I have also been baffled by Abrams' reputation, especially when there are so many directors out there with better chops: Raimi, del Toro, even Whedon. JJ is a hack.
Whedon's a terrible director whenever he gets any money to spend. He is, however, a very, very good writer. I think JJ Abrams is a better director but not much of a writer, and critically, not nearly as good a writer as he thinks he is. JJ Abrams should direct a miniseries that Joss Whedon writes. This was also Chris Carter's problem. He was a terrific director with great influences, but he kept thinking that X-Files was great because of his actual narrative ideas.
"If you showed that picture to a graphing calculator, it would probably want to beat the shit out of him."
Thanks. I'll be using this for the rest of my life.
Also, wasn't Shamalayan similarly billed as being overrated a few years back? Has that changed? And do we let Peter Jackson ride the (glorious and deserving) LOTR coattails forever?
peter jackson had a lot of good work before Lotr, most cult gore movies but all very different and even a solid documentary. has a weird costume of doing one project to get founding for another. He is widely known for Lotr but loved for previous projects. And lovely bones was a decent movie.
LOTRO sucked. Well, alright. The Fellowship was exceedingly good, despite the omission of Tom Bombadil. But the next two, well, come on. Taking license from Tolkien turned out to be an ass-raping. For that I will never forgive him, and die a bitter and hateful old man. So there! Take that, Jackson.
I think Dongles is trolling.
Shamalyan isn't really overrated anymore since everyone thinks he sucks now. The Last Airbender pretty much put the final nail in his career's coffin -- although he's still getting directing jobs, so that's weird.
Who, me? Never!
Oh my FUCKING God! He must have his taste buds in his asshole. I've seen German 'Schizer porn' with more redeeming value than the crap this loser puts out. (On the other hand, he's exactly what the young people in this Country deserve for being such happy-go-lucky limp-dick whimps.)
BAM! You hit the nail squarely on the head.
you are an asshole i hate when people call other people overrated but dont know shit. do you know how to direct a movie? i think people who call other people overrated are losers who need something to bitch about in their lives
Attn 14-year olds: This is not Cracked. Please go away and die in a hole if you can't leave smart comments.
Great point gyp, THANK YOU.
You are an asshole. I hate it when people call other people assholes, but don't know shit about grammar. Do you know how to construct a sentence? I think people that can't type a sentence who call other people assholes are losers who need something to bitch about in their lives.
I think @Sulu is trolling.
Great article, although I think you could have taken him more to task for Lost. That show represents the ultimate triumph of "concept" and style over substance or storytelling. It's not difficult to create a sprawling mythology, but it is difficult to engineer that sprawling mythology into a coherent arc, and that's where that show really just lost it.
I had family members who wondered why after five or whatever years of tuning in, I gave up on the entire last season of "Lost," not just the finale (which I've still not seen and don't care about). I realized that after a promising beginning, I'd actually hated the show for at least three years. So much of this stuff is just STUFF that could just as easily be any other stuff. It's placeholding.
I kind of think that all of these series that are a continuous story but openended in terms of when they're finally gonna get cancelled are destined to end up being bad. Too much of the time they're just treading water and filling up space because they don't know how long they're going on for. You have entire episodes that don't do much to advance the story at all and don't exactly mesmerize for an hour. Unfortunately, I think AMC's "The Killing," after a brilliant start, has fallen into this pattern. I've already stopped watching.
Thank you! The Star Trek reboot was good eye-candy, at best, & LOST was great...until it started asking more questions than it could answer. And don't even get me started on that god-awful finale! I was pissed off for DAYS!
Days? Only days? I'm STILL bitter.
thank you! After following the X-Files for years as it was airing, when Lost was suddenly the rage, I was able to recognize a kudzu plot with no payoff. I hate stuff like that. In a way, it's really worse than just a normal boring story.
A kudzu plot! I love it. I bow to you.
Wow, look at Nerve and Scott Von Doviak taking a stand.
I am not being snarky here (okay, maybe a little), but can someone tell me the point of this article? It is not going to cause people who enjoy his movies to stop watching or enjoying them. It's not going to stop studios from funding his work. It may make everyone who agrees feel better, but I just don't see value in this. I fancy myself a fairly intelligent person (granted, maybe I am the only one) - someone explain this to me.
what's the point of film criticism in general? It's not going to feed the hungry. but I guess sometimes it's interesting/fun to read
Also, this hardly qualifies as a technical forum for movie buffs or a thorough analysis anyway. It just sounds like complaining. I guess you need to bring readers in, and bitching and moaning is always an effective means to achieve this.
One man's over-reliance on look-alike masks is another man's excellent plot device. For the record, I've only seen a bit of his work, so I have no pony in this race.
Um, LAP, since you "have no pony in this ride," aren't YOU just "bitching and moaning"? I'm honestly not trying to be a jerk, but I couldn't resist pointing out the lack of self-awareness here. Sorry dude.
blogging and internet commenting is 99% bitching and moaning
commenting on blogging and internet commenting is 99% bitching and moaning
trufax
I think Caesaer salad is trolling.
hmmmm wait a minute
Actually, YAP, I was hoping for some insight as to the point of the article, which no one was able to provide. So, I guess my point stands.
Time's up!
Look at all the haters!
Screw off jerk! I hate you!
!!!!!
Didn't he write 'Cloverfield" or am I confusing him with someone else ... I could google it but am testing my own knowledge! That movie was SO hyped and then just gone.
What are you, a commie? Cloverfield rocked.
Drew Goddard wrote Cloverfield.
Drew Goddard vast a werry goot man.
He produced Cloverfield.
Cloverfield was a great concept for a monster / sci-fi movie. I thought it was well done and I really liked the pace.
I'm throwing Wes Anderson as worse than Abrams by a mile. I want those hours of my life back. At least Abrams has style.
I won't say you are wrong because that is like, your opinion, but most film critics are going to disagree with that statement.
Most film critics, PLUS me!
You're forgetting Felicity.
No, I'm not. I left her wet and impregnated.
It might be because he was so young when he started.
I wasn't all that young. It only took 5 minutes.
Totally agree!!! Pretty much everything he has ever done consists of an awesome, tantalizing start, but ends in a confused, uncertain, muddled mess. The ending taints everything else. Alias, Lost, Cloverfield, and it seems Fringe all just turned to crap after a great introduction. JJ, learn how to finish a concept first!!!
Stephen King - same problem
and yet no one is taking the time to bitch about Stephen King as the most overrated novelist of our time.
Sites like Nerve are full of people looking for bandwagons--they either want to be the first to jump on, or the first to try and torch it.
uh, cuz the article wasn't about steven king, duh. I think most people here would agree that steven king is overrated. Again, you are looking for a reason to be upset.
I dont; need a freakin' reason to be upset! Damnation!
comeon hitler get out of here! oookay... you can stay a little while longer buddy ;)
"Again," julian?
You're right, the article wasn't about Stephen King, but that's the point. It just as well could have been. It just as well could have been about any number of creators who have been far more over-rated for a far longer period of time, but for some reason this writer chose a director whose most prominent recent work (Star Trek, MI3, early Lost) he actually enjoyed. Von Doviak is jumping on a bandwagon, and I find it distasteful.
@Duh - I find people that point fingers at people that jump on bandwagon to be very troll'ish.
While I would much rather watch something by JJ Abraham in the actiony and/or mystery catagory compared to something by Roland Emmerich or Michael Bay, his movies and shows are entertaining, he does seem to be gaining a lot of popularity for not doing all that much. Sure his films were pretty solid but they aint no Close Encounters of the Third Kind. So, I guess I will have to agree too.
I would just add, he is overrated but his work is still good enough to definitely enjoy, meaning there is merit to it.
" he mainly demonstrates a knack for getting as many plates spinning as possible before leaving the help to clean up the broken pieces" - nice. It's not only that Lost was a shaggy dog story, worse it was a predictable shaggy dog story. It became obvious about half-way through this candyfloss that the only place it could go was in the purgatory/afterlife/mystical direction and so it went. Watching those close to me lose hours of their life to this distracting dreck, ably demonstraring both the law of diminishing returns and that of sunken costs, wasn't easy.
Hell, watching myself, in retrospect, losing hours of my life to that distracting dreck will haunt me forever.
J.J. Abrams is in the funny position of being both overrated and underrated. He was raised to the position of geek god despite not really doing a whole lot. He still only has two movies: Mission Impossible III (which I haven't seen) and Star Trek (which I thought was good but nothing special). And Lost and Fringe have largely been run by other people. Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse in the case of Lost and Jeff Pinkner and J. H. Wyman for Fringe, at least since the second season.
I'll defend those shows, though. I thought Lost's 4th and 5th seasons were its strongest. The 6th was a bit of a letdown, especially the flash sideways/purgatory reveal. However, that was kind of its own thing, and I think the on island stuff was a pretty good conclusion to the story (Movieline has a pretty good "Lost doesn't answer any of its questions" rebuttal at http://www.movieline.com/2010/05/rebutting-losts-questions.php ).
I think that Fringe has gotten significantly better from its first few episodes, and people who have stuck with the show largely agree. It is very complicated and involves alternate realities and recently introduced time travel into its master plot, but it grounds that in a strong emotional core. It's lost a lot of viewers, but it still has enough of a devoted following to keep going I guess.
Overall I guess I generally like him.
I don't find it terribly "funny".
Funny as in:
Unusual or odd; curious.
I am truly sorry, and apologize for ruining LOST. My bad, guys.
Yeah, how could you let a television show where dozens of people are deeply involved in and responsible for the creative process lose it's way? Huh?!
Oh - hey, that's OK J.J. - that makes 6 years and god knows how many hours of my life flushed into the septic tank OK. It's OK now!
No doubt the dude is WAY over rated, and overpaid.
www.real-privacy.int.tc
I look forward to the films with his name attached, because they always a consistently entertaining. Mission Impossible 3 was the best one, and a good movie. I'm not really sure why your opinion is negative?
Regarding Henry on the other hand is a fantastic movie, with a brilliant lead by Harrison Ford. I only found out that it was Abrams after i had watched and loved the film.
Why is there no mention of the awesome "Cloverfield" movie?
He didn't direct or write it.
Well he freakin' produced it, turniphead.
I see what you did there, Giarc.
Maybe the reason 'Super 8' looks like a mix of 'Close Encounters,' 'E.T.,' and 'The Goonies' is because it is a sendup/homage of those three films, and other classics of the late '70s through the '80s? Just a thought.
Loathed Lost, but loved Star Trek :)
I loved Alias. And that's it.
That's it?
Way to burst a bubble. With the exception of Star Trek and Fringe (which is going off the rails a bit) I've hated everything he's ever made.
Loved alias, but then again I was 14 when it premiered. Lost lost me at some point, and if it ended at all like alias I understand the fan hate. Star trek was fun, but, uh... not much else there. Havent had the opportunity to view much else that he's made.
There is a lot of potential there. Complex, nerdy plots are hard, especially when you try to drag them across more than 20 or so episodes.
I wasn't happy with the conclusion of Lost, but I still love the series (and had a blast watching it). Star Trek was great reboot. Mission Impossible 3 was a very good summer action film. I've never seen Alias, but what I have seen of Fringe looks good. Calling him the most overrated director of our time is overreaching on Doviak's part. It seems like Doviak is just trying to tweak Abrams' somewhat rabid fanbase and get a response. I know that the Abrams' fans (like Whedon or Nolan's) can be overzealous, but these guys put out some truly great work. Yes, it is mainstream and "popcorn," but that doesn't mean it can't be great.
Star Trek wasn't even canon! Horrible.
(4 Words. 100 Exclamation Marks) THE WORST SCHLOCK EVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by jove, i think he's got it.
Agree with the entire article except on one item: Star Trek was a great movie.
Yeah, I didn't agree with Star Trek being a great movie either, Turniphead.
Overrated yes. Most overrated of our time is a bit of an overstatement. I think Michael Bay deserves that honour.
Michael Bay is like the Spike promo commercial... underboob, sweat, bullets, and shit blowing up
Boobs?
Depends who's doing the rating, I guess.
I liked Lost.
@Leon - you ARE lost.
I think Abrams bigger problem is letting Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman write his films. The directing of both MI3 and Star Trek was competent, but there's only so much that can be done with a lousy script. I have hopes for 'Super 8' mainly because Orci and Kurtzman aren't involved.
Mr. Von Doviak is entitled to his opinion, but it is appalling to me that someone so lacking in filmmaking knowledge or experience gets published. Has Mr. Von Doviak ever been on a set or in an editing room, much less worked on either venue? It would seem not, judging by his apparent lack of knowledge about what it is a director does.
I agree with you for the most part. What I don't understand is why everybody seems to be a Star Trek apologist. That movie was terrible. I wasn't a fan of the tv show, not because it's not the kind of thing I would like, but because I've never really seen it. I'm looking at the movie just as a movie, rather than a "reboot." When I do that, all I see is a massive sets of cliches and absurd action sequences. That's why I can't seem to grasp why so many intelligent people like it. As a film, it doesn't do one thing I haven't seen before somewhere else.
Gosh. Really?
Sorry but the honor of The Most Overrated Director of Our Time goes to M. Night Shamalama-ding-dong.
Considering the rightwing messages JayJay infuses into his films I'm surprised Spielberg chose to work with him
What?
Two things I know about JJ Abrams.
First, he really loves lens flares.
Second, the only reason he succeeded is because he wrote his first script with Paul Mazursky's daughter (which her father sold to the studio) and used that early success to piggyback onto a screenwriting career (of terrible movies) until he became known as a 'creative genius' somehow without actually earning the title...
The problem with MI:3 is that it was Alias episode with Ethan Hunt in the place of Bristow. The movie even had it's own tech-nerd-genious "Marshall".
What exactly does everyone hate about the ending of lost? That it made you think and didn't provide a tidy, logical conclusion? Mythilogy isn't supposed to make sense by definition. If anything, blame it on the Greeks--their stories were just as convoluted. Abrams was making a modern mythos and for that I respect him; it's a pretty frigging huge undertaking to even attempt.
Nonsense. The Lost story always had an improvisational quality about it, but I think that ultimately the scriptwriters were hamstrung by the internet, where literally thousands of people were writing the ending (a better ending) for them, and assuming the answers to the ongoing puzzles as well, and to some extent forcing Abrams to settle on the next narrative branch… before being busted again… and so on. The ending of Lost was like that not because there was any great thinking behind it... but because the audience had more successfully fished Abrams out of the ridiculously implausible corners he had painted himself into. It was just junk TV pretending to be art.
JJ Abrams is a self-proclaimed dork who sets out to make fun, entertaining projects. While he is still involved in them, they usually live up to that.
Is he really worth getting so riled up about?
If you invest that much emotional energy into your entertainment... maybe you should try and get out a bit more often.
and maybe your in the wrong place, since this is a comment section discussing him you idiot.
I agree with everything in this article. I don't understand why anyone would compare him to Spielberg.
Steven Spielberg had done some of his best work by the time he was JJ Abrams age. It's not like he hasn't had the chance to do the same. He just sucks.
I doubt he would even be working in the movie business had his daddy not been a well-known producer. Unlike Spielberg who's sucess is based on actual talent. Abrams is a fraud.
What a joy to find soemone else who thinks this way.
I think he has potential. Most of his stuff has been TV, but I enjoyed Star Trek. The big negative was all the "film student" stuff like excessive camera shaking and lens flares. I think as he matures as director and ditches gimmicks, he'll be able to come up with some really good stuff.
Super 8 is basically a remake of E.T.
JJ Abrams is utterly talentless, both as a director and as a writer. 'Lost' was predictably saccharine and ultimately going nowhere from episode 1, and the recent Star Trek movie was another expensive waste of time with absolutely nothing to say. It's his ethnic connections that keep Mr Abrams working in Hollywood. Nothing else.
JJ Abrams is the Chris Carter of the 2000s
I just watched Revolution 101 which is his new show, Revolution. Horribly over-acted and the writing is awful. J.J. Abrams is overrated. He took Lost and ruined it in the last episode, then had all sorts of justifications for doing so. Horrible.
I agree. I just watched Revolution. Its so silly I laughed through it all. I don't mean the whole 'electricity doesn't work anymore' (which shows a remarkable ignorance of how all physical laws are interrelated) but that even after 15 years the US is barbaric and chaotic.
Really?
So pre-Edison days the US was like this? If our ancestors could be civilized with horses and buggies and oil lamps why on Earth would we not be like that again? What 21st century people are sooo helpless they would go around as if its post nuclear war (roving bands of bandits, disorder, no govt etc)? The sun shines and people are healthy in Revolution --Abrams you MORON why on Earth wouldn't we just be a more sophisticated 18-19th century style society if all 'electricity' went away?
Ahh I forget --Abrams is the guy that said "making sense is overrated"