I just can't stop thinking about the fight sequence I saw this week. It really struck me on any number of levels: totally epic and awesome, yes, but not just that. So here are some thoughts on what made it so amazing.
I’ve seen a lot of Doctor Who—more or less every episode
from Doctors 3-11, in fact. And again
and again, I’ve noticed that the bigger the purported stakes of an episode, the
lesser the actual stakes—because when the stakes are too high, the Doctor cannot lose. The show runners are not going to end the
Doctor’s life permanently, and they aren’t going to destroy the Earth and they
definitely are not going to destroy the entire universe and all time and space. So if those are the purported stakes, then
there are no actual stakes. On the other
hand, Doctor Who as a show has shown a willingness to kill off characters
you’ve just met and come to care about in an episode.
To have actual stakes:
1. The audience must care about what’s at
stake (which requires universe consistency)
2. It must be possible for the hero to lose
It’s not Doctor Who I’ve been watching recently, however,
but the anime Bleach. I’ve just finished the third season, and it had one of the single best and most memorable
fight scenes I’ve ever encountered in anything.
Let me explain. (Will include spoilers.)
In Bleach, there are special living swords that can be unlocked
to greater power. There are two stages
of unlocking, and the greater stage is called Bankai. Bankai is different for each sword, but frequently
involves the sword turning into a giant monster to fight beside its person.
In order to defeat a powerful opponent, our hero, Ichigo, learns
how to release his Bankai. And the truth
was, I was absolutely dreading seeing his Bankai. We’d already had a giant ice dragon and a
giant fire phoenix and a giant acid-spewing baby and a giant snake. They had cool designs, but ultimately—was Ichigo’s
Bankai just going to be another big monster?
Or maybe some souped-up version of his ability to shoot energy from his
sword? I shrank back in my chair and
prepared to be underwhelmed.
And then.
And then I saw his Bankai, and I almost cried, it was so
utterly brilliant. Because it wasn’t a
giant monster or a fancy light effect.
No: his Bankai form was him . . . merged with the spirit form of his
sword. Visually, it was striking and immediately
obvious—and it also fit his character perfectly. And I'd never in a million years have expected it.
Every hero has
different tools or weapons. Making these
clever, making these fit the character and environment, makes a huge
difference. Bigger is generally not
better.
Jackie Chan is famous for making good use of his environment
for action scenes, and that’s part of it: variety. But ultimately, his weapon is not any one external tool but his martial arts—his
body and how he uses it, just as Ichigo’s weapon is his living sword. In Star Wars, the Emperor’s primary weapon
isn’t Force lightning or his lightsaber: its his precognition and scheming
ability. And these things are also
integral to his personality.
But wait, there’s a
twist.
Bleach has a LOT of fight sequences. Ichigo can lose, and people you care about can die (stakes!)
and the weapons and characters are (mostly) extremely varied and
interesting. When I saw Ichigo’s Bankai,
it made me deeply happy, and I was prepared to sit out the rest of the fight
sequence contentedly.
And then Ichigo lost.
His Bankai had put too much stress on him. He was dying.
His opponent was about to kill him.
And . . .
And he did not
suddenly find strength, and he was not
suddenly saved. Instead, for the second time in one fight sequences, the tables were turned on the audience. Something
happened that I had no idea was even possible, but which perfectly fit the clues we'd been getting.
You see, in order to go on his current mission, Ichigo had had to
undergo some very difficult training.
During one point in that training, he became possessed by a monster (a “Hollow”)
and barely threw off the possession at the last moment. Hollows always wear masks, and a couple of
times after that, Ichigo mysteriously found a mask that had saved him from
death. But that had last been many
episodes ago.
So: Ichigo is a moment from death, and . . . a mask begins
to grow on his face. He is possessed,
and the insane Hollow begins to fight using his body.
The best action
sequences move the plot beyond simply who wins.
They involve character development, learning, and changes—and these,
too, are stakes.
It helped
that Ichigo’s opponent was incredibly interesting and one we’d come to know and
respect over the course of the show . . . but that was just icing on the cake.
