Comic Book Movies

[Dr. Insomniac]

You know, I'm not sure why Whedon agreed to do reshoots for JL in the first place. It's not like he needed the money unless he signed a shit contract that paid him zero royalties from his two Avengers films, and even then, he could've just signed a contract to make another Sing-Along Blog or Firefly thing to make ends meet. And it can't be because it was a favor so he could do a Batgirl movie, since that ended up never happening, and as much issue as people have had with Whedon recently, a guy with 2 billion-dollar blockbusters in his resume wouldn't need to do favors just to make a Batgirl film.

[Foggle]

I really liked Birds of Prey, mostly for the fights and more inventive scenes, but god they did Cassandra Cain so dirty. Really could not stop thinking about that the entire time I was watching it, which hampered my enjoyment a lot. I think Robbie does a good job as Harley in it, much better than Suicide Squad where she was awful imo. But then again, everything about SS was horrific.

[Dr. Insomniac]

When Keaton Batman shows up, what are they gonna say he's been doing for the past 3 decades in his universe? Will some version of the Schumacher movies happen in his past? Or allude to another world where the Burton movies never stopped and Bruce has been fighting Burton versions of all his foes since 1992, like photoshopped pictures of Christopher Lee as Ra's Al Ghul and Eva Green as Poison Ivy? Or go the dull route and say Bruce hung up the cowl after the end of Returns and took it up again because Barry "inspired" him?

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

It's funny how since it's cool to hate on the popular thing there's this sort of mentality with the online community (especially with YouTubers) that Marvel has just become a soulless machine whereas DC is now apparently the A24 of superhero movies allowing for true artistic expression. I'm all for sticking it to Disney's corporate BS and shitty business practices, and I'd be lying if I said I don't find some validity in some of the criticisms leveled at Marvel films. That said, it's still ultimately the work of creators who, despite not having complete creative control, do put genuinely clear effort into their work and especially in the case of Gunn, Waititi, and the Russos, have a clear sense of passion for what they're working on. I'm perfectly fine with people criticizing Marvel, which as I said is certainly valid in quite a few cases, but trying to completely dismiss anything MCU-related simply because it's the big thing right now seems more like a fad or community mentality in more cases than not.

I'll say straight up that I do like the fact that DC is now allowing for more variety and experimentation in their films. Aside from differentiating themselves from the competition, it really allows for some more out-of-the-box concepts to be brought to the genre which allows for potentially more bizarre stories and concepts to be adapted. However, the key word there is "potential." For all of their experimentation thus far, DC has comparatively far less hits than misses to show for it. If I'm being generous they have at least done better financially, but I haven't genuinely liked any film they've put out aside from Shazam (which ironically is also very tonally similar to a Marvel movie). I was so-so on Joker when I first saw it, and even then my opinion quickly soured on it. To me it's a painfully shallow attempted emulation of old Scorcese films that is, at best, competently made. That said, yeah, I'd argue movies like Guardians of the Galaxy or Raimi's Spider-Man have far more creative merit and nuance to them as overall films.

I don't really give two shits what corporate entity a movie belongs to as long as I enjoy the work itself. I'd be happy to be singing DC's praises, but so far WB's efforts have yet to really earn anything praise-worthy, IMO.

[Dr. Insomniac]

When it comes to Joker, the top review on Letterboxd said it best, "if you've never swam in the ocean then of course a pool seems deep".

[Avaitor]

I really liked Birds of Prey, mostly for the fights and more inventive scenes, but god they did Cassandra Cain so dirty. Really could not stop thinking about that the entire time I was watching it, which hampered my enjoyment a lot. I think Robbie does a good job as Harley in it, much better than Suicide Squad where she was awful imo. But then again, everything about SS was horrific.

I just don't get why it had to be Cassandra Cain at all, if they were going to do nothing related to her character. Even if they named the character Stephanie Brown instead, that would've been much less tedious and disappointing. Or Jason Todd, if they weren't afraid to slightly deviate from the female bonding that drives the movie. His origin is closer to Cassandra in the film, anyway.

It's funny how since it's cool to hate on the popular thing there's this sort of mentality with the online community (especially with YouTubers) that Marvel has just become a soulless machine whereas DC is now apparently the A24 of superhero movies allowing for true artistic expression. I'm all for sticking it to Disney's corporate BS and shitty business practices, and I'd be lying if I said I don't find some validity in some of the criticisms leveled at Marvel films. That said, it's still ultimately the work of creators who, despite not having complete creative control, do put genuinely clear effort into their work and especially in the case of Gunn, Waititi, and the Russos, have a clear sense of passion for what they're working on. I'm perfectly fine with people criticizing Marvel, which as I said is certainly valid in quite a few cases, but trying to completely dismiss anything MCU-related simply because it's the big thing right now seems more like a fad or community mentality in more cases than not.

I'll say straight up that I do like the fact that DC is now allowing for more variety and experimentation in their films. Aside from differentiating themselves from the competition, it really allows for some more out-of-the-box concepts to be brought to the genre which allows for potentially more bizarre stories and concepts to be adapted. However, the key word there is "potential." For all of their experimentation thus far, DC has comparatively far less hits than misses to show for it. If I'm being generous they have at least done better financially, but I haven't genuinely liked any film they've put out aside from Shazam (which ironically is also very tonally similar to a Marvel movie). I was so-so on Joker when I first saw it, and even then my opinion quickly soured on it. To me it's a painfully shallow attempted emulation of old Scorcese films that is, at best, competently made. That said, yeah, I'd argue movies like Guardians of the Galaxy or Raimi's Spider-Man have far more creative merit and nuance to them as overall films.

I don't really give two shits what corporate entity a movie belongs to as long as I enjoy the work itself. I'd be happy to be singing DC's praises, but so far WB's efforts have yet to really earn anything praise-worthy, IMO.

Yeah, I understand the criticism towards the MCU. They're samey, visually flat and dry, and their action scenes can't hold a candle to what the John Wick or Mission Impossible franchises are doing. But I always have a good time with their movies, even the weakest ones like Iron Man 2, Dark World, and Far From Home. Their character writing is usually solid, the world building can be worthwhile, and they more often than not have a strong tone and pacing. There's a reason these movies are as successful as they are.

Meanwhile, I do like how DC is differentiating their films, but they've yet to make that one truly great film. I'd also argue that they've yet to pick up a great director with their current output, while the MCU has Cooglar, Waititi, the Russos, even Whedon (never mind Whedon's take on Justice League). Some would be willing to say Patty Jenkins qualifies, and I did like Monster, but meh. I'm willing to give Matt Reeves and James Gunn a shot with their films, but their track record still isn't that strong.

[Dr. Insomniac]

DC's still stuck in the shadow of The Dark Knight. They were just as surprised as anyone else by TDK's critical and financial success, and they've been spending the last 12 years trying to recapture that high. And they're just starting to get out of it, even if The Batman's trailer has obvious Nolan echoes.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Ditto on Cassandra Cain. I'm pretty fine for the most part with re-interpreting characters for adaptations, but in this case it just didn't make sense for how little that character equated to in Birds of Prey, at which point they may have just made her an original character. Cassandra in the comics has a genuinely interesting backstory and is an interesting dark reflection of the child superhero sidekick as well as anti-hero (depending on the story-line she's featured in). There is so much you could do with that character that it's a waste to just use her as a name-drop for some mostly irrelevant character that serves as a glorified MacGuffin.

As for the Batman, I think what gives me added faith in the project, aside from personally liking Reeve's take on the Apes franchise, is his Q&A from DC Fandome. I mean, there's a lot of basic standard PR diatribe in there as you would expect, but his personal emphasis on exploring the detective side of Batman in this film as well as his psychology (even going so far as to cite Darwyn Cooke's Ego as an influence) as well as treating Gotham City itself like a character (something that Zack Snyder clearly does not understand) really gives me the impression that he's taking his project seriously and not just treating it as a paycheck.

For all of my negative impressions of DC to date, a few exceptions withstanding, I do really genuinely hope they pull their shit together. At the end of the day all I really want to see is movies that I can enjoy, and in the best of cases that leave an impression on me with some sense of emotional impact. By this point I have read several DC comics that have done that very thing for me: Morrison's Animal Man and All-Star Superman, Cooke's Ego and The New Frontier (still my all-time favorite comic book), Robinson's Starman, Giffen and Dematteis's JLI, and various others (not to mention the tons of classic content from the DCAU TV shows and movies from the Paul Dini era).

Marvel movies don't often capture me quite on that level despite me enjoying most of their movies, however they have managed that in at least a few cases like with the Captain America movies, Thor: Ragnarok, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Infinity War/Endgame. Plus, there's also Spider-Verse if we're including Sony as well.

Ever since Man of Steel, DC has had yet to make a movie that I find more than just entertaining at best.

[Dr. Insomniac]

I'm just glad Reeves cited Ego as a major influence instead of Year One/TDKR/Killing Joke/Long Halloween like all the other Batman directors, even ones who don't end up directing Batman like Aronofsky, have.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Not to take away from those stories, as they are classics and highly regarded to this day for a reason; but yes, it's rather frustrating that these tend to be the only stories that are brought up in mainstream discussion of the comics. They only represent a small fraction of the nearly eight decades that the character has existed for.

There's other classic material that's just as defining, like O'Neil's run with Neal Adams and Dick Giordano, Steve Englehart's material, as well as Chuck Dixon, Marv Wolfman (who introduced Tim Drake), Darwyn Cooke (as already mentioned), Ed Brubaker, Grant Morrison, and while I'm not a big fan of his main run, Scott Snyder's The Black Mirror deserves recognition as well (even if it's not a Bruce Wayne story).

[Dr. Insomniac]

At least the Batman stories every filmmaker adapts or takes influence from are good. It's frustrating how many times we need to see Death of Superman, or how hard DC is pushing Flashpoint as the Flash comic all Flash adaptations should strive for. Or whenever they insist Identity Crisis should be included in the canon of genre-defining DC graphic novels.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

So, The New Mutants was pretty "meh" all things considered, but hey, at least I can finally say that I've seen all of the FOX-MEN movies.

[Dr. Insomniac]

[Dr. Insomniac]

In other news, Chadwick Boseman died of cancer. Shit, that came out of nowhere. RIP.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I think this news is a shock to everyone. I truly do hope his family, friends, and loved ones are able to properly grieve and cope with his passing. RIP.