Netflix. A platform of entertainment. A streaming service of over 8,000 tv shows and movies. An award winning producer of hit TV series. A decent movie producer?
Netflix has been around since 1997 and has since upgraded from mailing DVDs to doorsteps to being an online service for streaming movies and shows comfortably at home. Since its grown popularity, Netflix has gone on to find other ways to provide their own personal programs for its customers starting with the House of Cards TV series in 2013.
Between the release of House of Cards and present day 2017, Netflix has presented over 120 shows and movies, with many TV series gaining popularity as well as Emmy nominations and awards. “ I have watched many of the major Netflix Original TV series and I think that they [Netflix] does a really good job of progressing through the plotline without being confusing.” Says Isabella Perales. “So far I’ve watched House of Cards, Orange is the New Black, and Stranger Things.”
Although Netflix’s TV shows have accumulated great interest, especially with the recent release of Stranger Things season 2, the other side of the spectrum is not as successful. Netflix’s original movies have been lacking in terms of story and production.
“Netflix movies aren’t as good in comparison to other movie producers who are movie-only producers, like Lionsgate. Not only do they have lack of experience, they also exhaust the stereotypical plotlines.” Says senior, Mackenzie May. A good example movie would be Netflix’s iBoy.
Rotten Tomatoes’ movie description is as follows: “After being shot while trying to stop a violent attack on his high school crush Lucy, 16-year-old Tom awakens from a coma to discover that fragments of his smart phone have embedded in his brain, giving him superhero powers. He uses this knowledge and technology to exact revenge on the gang responsible for the attack.”
Although it sounds interesting, the production of the movie ruins the concept completely. “In my opinion it had a horrible plotline in general. The story was also very generic in terms of a high school romance movie and was very confusing at times.” Says senior, Olivia Gamble. “That’s not to say they are all bad, there are exceptions like The Fundamentals of Caring.”
When set side by side, it is easy to distinguish why Netflix’s movies have a lower quality compared to its shows.
For one, Netflix is a monthly paid subscription, it’s a better investment to create good shows that have customers coming back over a period of time in anticipation for more seasons of a series than one movie that lasts less than 2 hours. Another reason why Netflix probably doesn’t produce good movies is because it is harder to condense a plot within a small time frame. To not only develop the characters as well as the setting while advancing through the film can be quite the task and not many producers are able to make it work, whereas their tv shows plotlines can be easily extended and the placement of important parts of the story can be easily identified.
Even though Netflix Original movies are not as big attraction, Netflix still leads in being a great provider of entertainment. So don’t be afraid to binge a little every once in awhile.
