And am I to believe, that all those things you just, suggested essentially, would make Snyders films work?
Fundamental economical storytelling gives you a baseline. From there, you hope to create some magic. With Rebel Moon Part 1 and Part 2, Snyder basically filmed an outline. Before we can talk about making a "good movie", you have to go back to fundamentals.
Basic Scriptwriting 101 - First, break down the core conflict of your film in one sentence. If it takes longer than that, then you are trying to make more than one film at once. Then go through each character and assess what character could be completely removed and it would have zero impact on the overall film itself. Then go through the script and combine the characters left ( i.e. assess if one character can wear multiple hats and do multiple things practically in the story ) if possible. Finally, go through your script and assess what scenes could be removed entirely and would have zero impact on the overall film itself.
A simple way that screen writers assign the value of scenes is to take each scene, then assess how many different things that specific scene is doing all at once. Good storytelling means each scene should be doing 4-5 different things at one time, and if you are skilled and put in the work, maybe 7-10.
The first Godfather film, despite having a long running time just shy of three hours, is an extremely compact economical film. IMHO, the actual run time is less relevant than the efficiency at which that time is used. In the scene above, what makes it essential?
1) In order for Michael to ascend to full power and to fully develop his arc, you need to remove all the other competitors to power in his way. Don Vito, at some point, has to go. Sonny, tragically, also has to go, and Tom Hagen, the adopted surrogate "brother" also needs to be neutered. There's no way around it.
2) You need to further establish that Sonny is ill tempered, thus creating the character flaw in him that drives him to his final fate
3) Have you remove Tom Hagen from a contender status. He's "family", but he's not blood. He's smart, but he's not street capable. He's well regarded, but he's not truly respected in the criminal world. He's a reminder that, in some ways, Michael is also an outsider to his own family, by attempting to go his own way.
4) You have to foreshadow that the only true way to end all threats to the Corleone Family is to eventually just kill everyone ( Sonny has a point here, he's not completely wrong)
5) You have to establish that Sonny is not just a one dimensional cut out heavy. He loves Tom, you can see that, he cares about Tom and he knows Tom has a point, but his temper is overwhelming. It's this family oriented part of his character that allows his sister Connie, and her abuse, to be a driver to push him over the edge, to allow himself to be blinded by an ambush later.
6) You are exposed to the value of the total power of Don Vito in his absence. But you also see the impact of his flaws. There's a power vacuum, and it means you need an incredible replacement to fill those shoes, and Sonny simply is not it. He picked Sonny as his underboss. He picked Tom as his consigliere. He allowed his old friends, aging Clemenza and Tessio, too long in the tooth, to stay as his caporegimes too long, where they waned in effectiveness. Don Vito also miscalculated the total cost of saying "No" to the drug trade.
7) By showing a type of "brotherhood" that Sonny and Tom have together, that they don't share with Michael in the same way, it helps to create the isolation for Michael, to where you help the audience understand his burden to avenge his family but give up his own future to do it.
8) You need to show that to end the current war, Sonny has to be removed. He's the one with the total bloodlust ( no one is going to argue why it exists) and won't care what it costs to kill everyone who opposes the family.
9) You show the linked but separate worlds of "families" There's the criminal family at work. But also the blood family. You foreshadow how Michael will struggle to keep one intact without losing the other.
That scene is less than a minute. But it's critical to the film. You can't remove Tom nor Sonny as characters, they are too critical to the story.
What bloat can you remove from Rebel Moon Part 1 and Part 2 without missing all that much at all?
