Aliens in Movies

I wish I could get Hollywood to understand this: Aliens should not be put into movies to fill some void in your screenplay. Don't get me wrong, I love a good alien movie like Independence Day or War of the Worlds or even Mars Attacks. What I do have a problem with is when Hollywood takes a good story and turns it into a suspenseful film or a good drama and all of a sudden there are- you guessed it- aliens! Even if it doesn't make sense.

Take, for instance, The Box. The Box sets you up for a brilliant storyline: If you push this button, you will receive a million dollars, but someone in the world that you don't know will die. That seems like it would make for a great movie. In fact, the short story "Button, Button" by Richard Matheson, on which the movie is based, and in which there are no aliens, is a great short story. After all, Richard Matheson has written several books that have become movies, like I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come. Don't tell me this excerpt doesn't entice you:

"'If you push the button,' Mr. Steward told him, 'somewhere in the world, someone you don't know will die. In return for which you will receive a payment of fifty thousand dollars.'
Norma stared at the small man. He was smiling.
'What are you talking about?' Arthur asked him. Mr. Steward looked surprised.
'But I've just explained,' he said. "

Seems like a great story, right? And it is. However, the movie does this story no justice whatsoever. Halfway through the movie, you learn that somehow, in some way, aliens are involved. It's hard to explain how the aliens are involved because it was confusing and didn't make much sense, but somehow they were. So, Hollywood took a great science fiction short story, added aliens, and called it a major motion picture.

Unfortunately, this does not work. You can't just add aliens into a story because you need to fill a two-hour time slot. And you can't just add aliens into a story because you think aliens are good for the box office. Aliens can absolutely ruin a movie. Aliens take a lot of explanation, so you can't have them as a side plot or as a minor detail. You just can't.

So, whenever I see a movie that all of a sudden inserts aliens into its plot, I instantly realize that I just wasted two hours of my life. Because there is no way (save for comedies) that aliens make a movie better if the movie itself is not an alien movie.

So don't go see The Box. And don't go see any movie hat breaks this rule.