I just saw the new Black Widow movie, and really liked it. But one moment jumped out at me in particular and got me wondering.
It was a moment that was a direct cinematic quote of Cronenberg’s 1986 version of The Fly. I won’t tell you the details (no spoilers here), but it was one of those moments that establishes that somebody with super powers is problematic, and dark, and morally compromised.
Which is pretty much the same purpose that it served in The Fly. And in both movies, the scene was very effective.
So, was this a loving quote/homage, or was it cinematic theft? How can you tell the difference between the two?
Is there even a difference? Maybe it comes down to audience expectations.
If the audience understands it to be a loving homage — as in the post-credit nod in Deadpool to Ferris Beuller’s Day Off — then it’s a legit cinematic quote. Otherwise, it’s theft.
The problem is that there is no easy way to know what an audience is expected to know. How many people in the audience with me realized, in the moment, that they were essentially witnessing a re-enactment of a great movie scene from 1986?
I have no idea.