DC Universe

[Ben]

Why does Batman sound like Jigsaw from the Saw movies?

[LotsoA113]

Why does Batman sound like Jigsaw from the Saw movies?

Because now he's super dark and gritty! Don't you know, Ben, that the only way to make characters that have been beloved for countless decades "cool" is to make them as dark as possible??

[EricJ]

Besides, he's an orphan, that makes him an intense artist.

[ShyViolet]

Why much of the internet is less than thrilled:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-v ... ans-789649

(I thought it was pretty cool! )

[ShyViolet]

"The Death of Superman Lives" documentary trailer!!

http://youtu.be/_5Q1j0XJQPI

[Randall]

I helped to fund that documentary. Looking forward to my Blu-ray copy!

[ShyViolet]

Awesome!

[Ben]

Can't wait to see is at Rand's someday!

[EricJ]

Although in the scene where Tim Burton says "The wait time kinda depressed me...Anybody got any cyanide?", it would take inhuman self-control not to respond, "After Dark Shadows, I'll bring you a case of it, if you promise to use it."

And Brainiac as a robot spider (eventually with a little Mars Attacks head)? The pre-Returns Superman movies just couldn't get away from that motif, could they?

[GeorgeC]

Why much of the internet is less than thrilled:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-v ... ans-789649

(I thought it was pretty cool! )

DC has a lot going against them because the last few films that have been adapted from the comics have not been very good...

I would say, at the very least, the majority of people who love these characters are extremely skeptical of the live-action treatments of the characters. Whether people make fun of this or call the fans of these characters nerds, the point is the fans have an emotional investment in the characters and that is NOT something that should be taken lightly. That last point cannot be emphasized enough. Word of mouth is at least as important as good marketing.

Star Trek was successful in huge part because of the fanbase. Most of the actors and original producers appreciated that fact and that in addition to great ratings in reruns led to the revival of the series as motion pictures ten years after its original cancellation on NBC. Until more recently, the studio heads at Paramount/Star Trek caretakers paid attention to the fans and it paid off in dividends for them in the long-run. I will grant Disney this -- they are doing something right with Star Wars because people are undeniably pumped up for the next film despite the critically panned Prequel Trilogy and blandness of the last few Star Wars projects so it is possible to come back from a bad run... Whoever is running the promotions/circulating teaser info has to be clever, though. WB is utterly failing at this right now with the Batman and Superman stuff.

For the majority of the history of comic book adaptations in film, for whatever reasons, the studio heads tend to hire people who want to monkey around with the characters and change things to their POV instead of sticking with the basics. It doesn't help that most of the people that get hired to do these films are NOT fans and have NEVER picked up a comic book in their entire lifetime! It definitely helped that Sam Raimi (Spider-Man trilogy) and Richard Donner (Superman I & II) were fans of the characters they directed films for. It was definitely the case for almost 20 years that fans produced and made the animated series and films featuring the DC characters. I'm NOT saying that an outsider's view shouldn't be welcome -- Harve Bennett was NOT a Star Trek but helped produce nearly half the good Star Trek films because he hired the right people and knew when to stay out of people's way and let them do their work, too -- BUT these films should definitely done with people who are familiar with the characters and have enough sense not to monkey with the origins and introduce really dumb ideas like evil clones, unknown step-brothers, OR tie in the character's arch-foe into the deaths/murders of their parents.

[Did ya ever notice how most of the villains died at the end of superhero films? Green Goblin -- dead at the end of Spider-Man; ditto with Doc Ock, Spider-Man II. ALL the Bat-villains excepting Catwoman and Mr. Freeze in the quadrilogy of Batman films 1989-1997. It's too bad a lot of writing was influenced by decisions to not bring people back/contract negotiations or this notion that the storyline and every subplot had to be completely resolved at the end of the movies. Cliffhangers and subplots are NOT a bad thing to have once in a while... especially if you're planning on doing at least three films in a series! Those worked for Star Trek AND Star Wars!]

Even the Nolan Batman trilogy has plenty of detractors.

(I hated those films myself... Felt more like James Bond with Bat-ears than Batman, IMHO. Nolan should directed a Bond film and stayed away from the DC characters. We're gonna pay for that hiring decision from WB for a while longer I think...)

Man of Steel --- did NOT feel like Superman to me and I've been around that character my entire life and have seen most of the films, TV series, and animation based on the original comics and for the first time I saw something that WASN'T the character I grew up with. Aside from the visuals (which I absolutely hated), the behavior of the character was decidedly less heroic and there were scenes in that film that made me scratch my head

(like why he let Jonathon Kent die in that storm/tornado -- made no sense to me... this business of protecting his secret ID to that extent was a logical fallacy... but then again, I don't care for much of the work of the screenwriter of that particular film, either...)

. There was also ZERO chemistry between Superman and Lois Lane in that film. I think it's absolutely deadly to a film when have such an utter lack of chemistry between actors/characters... that is NOT a good thing, IMHO.

The Marvel films, by contrast, are getting the spirit of the original comics right. They are adapting most of the better storylines from the 1960s to 1980s and some of the more recent, edgier storylines but they are NOT throwing the baby away with the bathwater as it was.

Another big thing -- the Marvel films are actually fun to sit through. (At least the ones NOT made by Sony and 20th Century Fox.) Man of Steel was dreary... The Batman films have enough problems with revisions to the storylines and the 25-year-old problem of being TOO dark to see half the stuff in the film!

[Ben]

I love Amy Adams, but she is miscast as Lois Lane.

[GeorgeC]

Yeah, that was an unfortunate casting choice, too...

Man oh man... I just DO NOT see Ben Affleck as Batman, either!
I've seen him in enough films. Don't hate the guy personally but he has zero-screen presence... I don't know how else to put it.

[Ben]

I must say that, even though all we can see is his mouth in the new BvS teaser, Batfleck looks like a surly teenager who hasn't gotten his own way and is in a sulky funk because there's someone bigger and better than he is on the block.

"Oh, who's this Superman? It's just not fair!"

[Randall]

This doesn't solve any script issues, but it makes for a better looking Superman film!

[EricJ]

This doesn't solve any script issues, but it makes for a better looking Superman film!

I dunno, maybe Snyder's just got dog vision; he doesn't see colors, just shades of gray.

(And can we start a national movement for people to learn what "Which begs the question" means? Am I the ONLY person in North America who was forced to take Logic/Philosophy 101 in freshman year?)