We like the idea of someone else doing all the hard work, enduring all the pain, so we can eat the fruit of their labor and toil. We call them the messiah, the chosen ones.This sentiment is the source of the chosen-one trope that has become a staple in cinema. It’s been repeated so often that you would expect audiences to lose interest, yet it still pulls us in every single time. So, the idea keeps returning, with different faces, in different forms, flaunting a different mood, and in different genres. Like everywhere else, reinvention is the key to the trope’s longevity.What follows is a look at nine films that did just that: reimagined the chosen ones. Instead of settling for the familiar prophecy template, they tried to give their respective messiah-arc a new shape, a new conflict, and sometimes even a completely new personality.9 Films That Reimagined the Chosen-One Trope1. Star Wars (1977)Written & Directed by: George Lucas In an alternate universe, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) is a simple farm boy on the planet Tatooine. He comes across droids from another planet and, through a holographic message, learns of an intergalactic rebellion that’s underway. He joins forces with Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) to find hope for a galaxy in trouble.What Star Wars did differently in this aspect was to pair simplicity with emotional clarity. Also, Luke is a testament to how a special, chosen one can be insecure, undecided, deeply human, and yet, he...
Published By: NoFilmSchool - Today