The Best Movie Clichés in Genre

We are all familiar with the term 'cliché' in the movies, or some of us are...but clichés are actually very interesting when you get to know them well, and over time recognize them in almost every movie you watch.

Of course, this can get very boring and pretty predictable for a person, and can actually make people not want to watch movies ever again, just because they'll know what is going to happen next. The modern movie industry really spiced things up with overloading new movies with a bunch of clichés, which some people actually like, because they feel comfort knowing what is going to happen next (especially in the horror genre), and some people dislike it and believe that every  generation movies become duller and duller, and leaves people dissatisfied rolling their eyes in the audience. So I decided to make a list of the most famous movie clichés in top 3 genre aspects!

 

1. HORROR GENRE 

Starting off with the most obvious one....horror movies, the genre with the most clichés. 

*One of the most famous ones is the 'Mirror scare cliché'. It seems that filmmakers and directors simply cannot resist this cliché. The character is usually in the bathroom and there's a mirror in front of him, when the protagonist looks at it they will suddenly see a reflection of a monster or antagonist standing behind them in the mirror.

*Also, one of the clichés, that it's just a classic is 'Car never works cliché' or also known as 'Tech fails cliché'. Now, this one, you've probably seen in the situation where the character is running from the villain and gets into the car, tries to start the engine, but the car just doesn't work. It is one of the most nerve-racking moments and on the other hand one of the funniest moments ever seen in cinematic history because the characters car can be a brand new car, and it can work perfectly for 15 minutes, but when the protagonist has been chased by the killer it won't start. 

*The next one I'm about to present is the audience's association with a horror movie genre! And that is 'Falling over nothing cliché'. This one is specifically focused on women, which directors and filmmakers consider to be bad runners and every time they are being chased by someone they trip over nothing. Generally, this movie cliché is represented stereotypically, where directors put women in movies as fragile and non-athletic. 

* 'Killer is inconsistently strong cliché' is also a well-known one, but some people haven't recognized it yet. Paying closer attention to the killer during fights is unbelievably skilled and gets rid of irrelevant characters very quickly, but when it comes to the main protagonist, the killer is suddenly very weak and gets defeated very easily.

3. ROMANTIC COMEDY 

Rom-coms are a perfect afternoon movie genre to watch, and they are also a great relief when you've had a bad day or your date with someone went really bad. Coming into the not-so-romantic world to real-life dating. Romcoms are a common genre with too many clichés to count.

*All rom coms start off with a 'meet cute'. Where 2 people find each other in an uncomfortable situation or in an unlikely scenario. Of course, at the beginning of the movie they typically don't like each other, and then later on they find themselves bumping into each other or seeing each other at a party.

* 'Male stalking female' is a classic cliché where males usually stalk females they are in love with and with cute posters or gifts that show their romantic gestures. In romcoms, all it takes is a little stalking to be seen as romantic. However, when it's the opposite, female stalking male, women are considered weird and obsessive or rather a villain.

*'Showing up in the audience cliché' is a well-known one, where male/female protagonist shows up in the audience during other characters' performance and they imminently fall in love. This is usually the time where the character reveals his/her true feelings that he/she has been hiding all along.

*' Kiss in the rain cliché' is one of the most-used clichés in Hollywood. Two people who are in love with each other run towards each other for a kiss, and suddenly the rain starts pouring down. All in all, if it's raining it's a romantic comedy!

3.  ACTION GENRE

As an action-movie fan, I can proudly say that the action movie clichés aren't that bad after all; almost no one recognizes them these days. There are always explosions happening or the character is crossing a rope- bridge, which still gives the audience the thrill and never gets old.

*'Flicking a cigarette into gasoline cliché' is a key ingredient of the action genre. Usually, the character flicks the cigarette into gasoline and everything blows up behind him/her. As the explosion is happening everything is put into slow motion and the character is walking proudly.

*'Punching through glass cliché' is my favourite one. The character, when in doubt, shoots the window or blows it up into small pieces. This movie cliché never gets old in Hollywood where they have different variations of it now, for example, jumping through the window and usually afterwards the character fights off bad guys.

*'Catchy one-liners' is a cliché where the character before shooting at the bad guys says a short sentence to make him look cooler.

*And I saved the best for last, and it also happens at the end of the movie and that is 'Last-minute bomb dismantling cliché'. The character, before everything's going to be blown up into pieces, cuts the right wire to dismantle a bomb in the last second.

All in all, these are the most common movie clichés in the 3 main genres or at least the ones I found with the most clichés. Not all clichés are bad, but if the movie is full of them it is an indicator of lazy writing or a film director not coming up with something innovative, in that case, the film quickly loses credibility.