Dialogue and character/setting tips from WWE

World Wrestling Foundation's entertainment division, WWE, can be counted on for high budget B-movie magic. 12 Rounds (#1 in the most-rented wall at Blockbuster, I'll have you know) features a flannel-clad, pug loving character played by professional wrestler John Cena. Things you can learn from 12 Rounds, useful for writing, are as follows:

1. FBI Agent with a trouble past must always carry a matchbox car. Nervous twitch: flipping car hood back and forth to remember the past and assuage the guilt over lost comrades/sting gone bad.
2. Preferred dog breed to escape explosion of home which claims the lives of unwitting plumber who arrived to fix the gasket man-of-the-house promised to fix but didn't citing money troubles: Pug
3. Preferred New Orleans hotel to stage elevator explosion caused by tampering from a rogue air conditioning maintenance person who was really bad guy: Hotel Monteleone


I ask myself why be a poet, obscuring up the place, when all you need are direct proclamations to convey urgency/surprise/dismay/anger? Why be a poet when dialogue--direct and clearly enunciated--can provide all the cues necessary for proper (re)action:

1. "I can't stop the train!" Streetcar operator upon learning streetcar's break lines were cut as the car barrels toward street festival.
2. "Get out of the way!" John Cena's response to people in the way of said streetcar.
3. "He played me all along!" Cena's response to realization that, regardless of his choice of multiple paths in each round, the bad guy would have killed those people/blown up that building/stolen all that money.
4. "You sonofabitch!" Angry John Cena outburst directed toward well-intentioned but reckless-choice-making, matchbox-car-toting FBI agent following the near explosion of bomb strapped to beloved's chest.