New clients often ask me why I start with the seemingly abstract and scholarly subject of theme rather than with what they consider the much more practical and important issues of plot and character. The answer is simple: while plot is what happens and character is whom it happens to, theme is why it all matters, both to readers and to audiences. Theme is what makes scenes and characters relevant to the story, and it's why one film's ending satisfies while another's feels like a ripoff.
Though a high-concept plot, appropriate casting, high-powered marketing, and sometimes pre-sold audiences all help, a universal theme that is skillfully woven into the foundation of the story and unifies all its elements into a dramatically satisfying whole is the single most important factor separating a successful film from a failure. Theme is what the story is about underneath the surface details of plot and even character; theme is what the story dramatizes. And just as the conflict inherent in the plot must be resolved in order to deliver an emotionally satisfying ending, so too does the conflict inherent in the theme. They are inextricably intertwined. These principles, moreover, apply to all types of films, not just tentpole movies. The main differences are that some other types can utilize lower concepts and less universal themes. The quality of their writing and the dramatic integration of their themes, however, are just as important.
So what theme did the authors of M:I 3 dramatize? Very plainly, the conflict between work and family — an extremely universal tension that virtually anyone can relate to. As befits a blockbuster, they magnified the stakes to generate an exciting, larger-than-life story. Rather than some white-collar workaholic whose long hours at the office threaten to alienate his family, M:I 3 concerns a secret agent whose job regularly involves saving the world, and that job doesn't just threaten his relationship with his fiance, it could actually kill her! Thus, the authors got us to relate to their characters by giving them very everyday, recognizably human emotional concerns while also granting us a vicarious thrill by drawing us into an exciting, high-stakes story full of spectacle and suspense.
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