7 Movies With Subversive Opening Scenes. By Fatimah Akanb
The opening scene sets the tone for a movie. It could be considered an introduction between the audience and the story. A lot of times, screenwriters craft opening scenes with an ace up their sleeve. To create an unforgettable opening, they break convention and use clever twists to flip viewers’ expectations in ways that are often endearing and even utterly hilarious. Here’s a roundup of 7 movies with opening scenes that subvert expectations.
A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004)
I think we can all agree that the most subversive opening scene of all would be the one that commits to fooling you into thinking you’re watching the wrong movie. This 2004 dark comedy film dares to do exactly that.
When the opening credits roll in, we see sweeping shots of an animated fairyland accompanied with cheerful music because apparently, what we’re watching is called ‘The Littlest Elf’. Until the screen freezes, and the narrator tells us, “I’m sorry to say that this is not the movie you will be watching.” The movie is based on a book series of the same name by Daniel Handler, and that opening is just in tandem with the author’s humorous metafictional writing style.
Last Action Hero (1993)
In the first scene, we see Arnold Schwarzenegger as a reckless police officer trying to rescue hostages from his old nemesis. Only the catch is we’ve actually been watching a screen inside a screen. A young cinephile like us is also seeing a Schwarzenegger movie at the theatre.
The deceptive opening leaves you quite stumped as the camera pans out to the theatre. It’s a befitting way for an action film parody to begin, better yet since we’ll spend the rest of the movie jumping alternately between screen worlds and real life.
Deadpool (2016)
It’s not every day you have a character in the movie you’ve just sat down to watch look straight at the camera at you and say: “Oh, hello!”
In the world of superhero movies, Deadpool is on a whole league of its own with its delightfully unhinged fourth-wall breaking and blow after blow of pop culture satire. Going against the norm is one of the reasons it stands out as not just another MCU side quest and the core of what makes the titular anti-hero so memorable.
Marriage Story (2019)
Marriage Story opens with a couple telling us what they love about each other. Their narration plays against a montage of shared memories and their life as a family. It is a beautiful collage of moments that introduces us to the world of our protagonists.
And that’s why we’re completely taken aback when the movie cuts away from that soulful montage to the office of a marriage counsellor where the couple is seeking mediation for divorce. The quick swing of the mood from romantic to tragic is a sharp gut punch to the audience and pretty much sums up the core thematic focus of the movie itself.
Rubber (2010)
The movie begins with a sheriff walking out of a van to deliver a dedicated lecture on how everything that happens in movies happens for no reason. And by the way, it’s a horror movie about a killer tyre. You might be wondering why such a piece would begin this way. Well, the movie is a homage to the art of no reason, so there’s your answer.
Kung Fu Panda (2008)
This all-time fan favourite from DreamWorks Animation also uses a subversive first scene. At first glance, you’d think it’s the usual hardcore hero’s adventure film… until the dialogue starts to sound a bit too goofy. That makes you wonder if the whole thing was seriously happening or not. But yeah, it’s only a very unrealistic dream our protagonist is having.
This ties in with the message the movie ultimately puts forward to us. Being a hero isn’t about looking impressive. Although, that’s still cool.
The Lion King 3: Hakuna Matata (2004)
More accurately dubbed The Lion King 1½, the 2004 midquel reframes the events of the 1994 original, this time around retelling it from the perspectives of Timon and Pumbaa.
The opening shot is initially disguised as similar to the opening of the first movie until Timon cuts in, singing along to the intro music (which we all do, right?) and then it’s revealed that he and Pumbaa are actually in a theatre watching the movie. It’s a hilarious twist that sets the tone for how wild every minute in the rest of the movie is going to be.
