The Problem with Dark Superhero Films.

Ever since it was announced, there has been much speculation on whether Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice would be any good. Would director Zack Snyder be able to do better than the overly long, stupidly grim, terribly paced Man of Steel?

Nope

Much like it's title, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice appears to be overly long, awkward, and dumb. I feel like this is a troubling sign for the DC Cinematic Universe. All the films seem to be trying to go as dark and serious as possible, which causes them to forget the most important aspect of a superhero film; it's supposed to be fun. 

That's the biggest problem with Zack Snyder's films. They're not fun. Now that doesn't mean you can't be serious and dark, we all know what happens when a movie goes too far in the other direction...

Garbage

But look at the Nolan Batman trilogy. It was able to be a dark and serious superhero film but it allowed itself to have fun while doing it. It's hard to take a world where there are a bunch of people running around in spandex, or in this case a man dressed like a bat, too seriously. That's partially why I think the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been much more successful. They are able to tackle serious topics and have very emotional moments and still have a lot of fun. 

Take a look at the first Avengers film. Throughout a massive battle on which the survival of Earth hangs in the balance, the heroes are still able to smartly quip at each other or even crack a joke. Even Captain America: The Winter Soldier which is perhaps the most serious of the MCU films still finds time to for fun and bits of humor. These bits of humor don't take away from the film, in fact they often help it out. If you have constant dismal darkness (cough cough Man of Steel cough cough) The audience will get so bogged down by the sullen teenager that is your movie that they won't be able to enjoy it. 

There are however instances where trying to be both dark and fun backfire. 

A breathtaking reboot of the Superman trilogy

The original Superman film--besides "Superman and the Mole Men" (1951)--debuted in 1978. The film told the story of an alien orphan sent down from the planet Krypton who becomes the world's first superhero. As is the case with most trilogies, the first of the series was most certainly the best. After a couple failures at making a better Superman movie, the hero was dropped from theaters. That is until recently.

In June of this year, Zack Snyder's "Man of Steel" crashed into theaters. The film received very mixed reviews from viewers. For the most part, I feel that Man of Steel matched, if not slightly surpassed, the original Superman film's plot. What the reboot did that the original--or any Superman film for that part--did not do, was show viewers what exactly happened on Krypton before Clark Kent landed on Earth. Sure, we were told countless times what happened, but despite the fact that older versions of the film could not pleasingly pull off such a scene due to the lack of cinematic technology, Man of Steel was truly the only Superman movie that even tried.

Another thing the film did that others did not, was that it laced humor in with all its endless drama and action. Here's just one of many examples...

What really made this film an absolutely stunning reboot to the Superman trilogy was the film's breathtaking cinematography. Whether you liked the film or not, there's no possible way that you could say the cinematography was just so-so. Even some of the computer-generated scenes of the film--particularly the drawn-out fight scenes--are possibly some of the most extraordinary demonstrations of cinematic artwork that have ever appeared on the big screen.

While not all viewers may agree that Man of Steel was a phenomenal film, it's simply unfair to say that it was not a super reboot to the Superman trilogy.

Nolan In The Deep

As I lie in my bedroom, my eyes slowly, slowly closing, checking Facebook right before I pass out into my first full night of sleep in God knows how long... I SEE THIS:

Christopher Nolan Taking Over Justice League, Bringing Bale Back As Batman

And then I explode and die at the same time.

The idea of Christopher Nolan running the entire DC Universe is an exciting one for me, considering that Joss Whedon (another critically acclaimed writer/director) has more or less taken charge of the Marvel Universe, and these two opposing viewpoints bring a very interesting contrast in tone to the table.

The movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have very much adopted the tone of comic books, with larger-than-life characters, bright colors and snappy repartee. Conversely, Nolan's Batman universe is filled with steely grays and muted blues, telling the story of the Caped Crusader in a gritty, down-to-earth way. He has furthered this vision by producing DC's new Superman movie, Man of Steel, with one of the main questions during production being "how would the world react if Superman existed?"

Over the course of the past year, there have been abundant rumors regarding a possible DC Justice League movie to combat Marvel's immense success with the Avengers, which has scared me as a massive fan of the direction of Christopher Nolan and Zak Snyder's DC superhero movies. But more importantly, I think that DC would lose their biggest weapon: their unique voice and tone. The Dark Knight trilogy was an entirely different entity than the Marvel movies, and as Green Lantern demonstrated, DC can't beat Marvel at their own game.

If the DC universe (including the Justice League) can be united under Christopher Nolan's vision, they have a chance of continuing to combat Marvel's movie dominance. Otherwise, they will be poorly imitating, in typical Hollywood fashion, and they will lose.

Also, as a continuity junkie, the prospect of Christian Bale returning as Batman in the Justice League, alongside Henry Cavill as Superman, makes me happy all over.

The Brilliance of Nolan

Last night seemed to be a quiet evening, so what better way to spend it than enjoying a film with my closest friends.  We settled on The Dark Knight Rises, the epic third part of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy.  The movie, which came out this past summer, smashed its way into the box office and immediately became a huge success in the eyes of movie goers, and super hero fans.  Christopher Nolan's brilliance was really proven with the release of the 2nd movie from the trilogy The Dark Knight.  

Personally I see such creative, and impressive filmmaking and I can't help but wonder why this movie was snubbed at the Academy Awards as well as the Golden Globes.  The race for the Oscars this year is obviously a very close one however I can't see how such visual storytelling did not emerge it's self into the race.  The Dark Knight was nominated for 8 Academy Awards, winning two: sound editing, and best supporting actor.  In such an impressive movie trilogy, I don't understand how this one falls so short for the critics.  Nolan has produced a series of incredible movies, only receiving 3 nominations total even if he receives praise everywhere else you look.  His 3 nominations were for original screenplay for Memento and Inception, also scoring a best picture nom for Inception.  

I find Nola's work to be incredibly deep, and ascetically imaginative with his directing.  I can never quite understand why the Academy always seems to not recognize Nolan's directing after his phenomenal work in all of his movies.  I think he reinvented the comic book character, and brought an entirely new spin on such a classic story, really bringing it into the modern day world and not a fantasy land of Gotham City.  I can't wait to see what he does with the new Superman flick Man of Steel.  I hope that Man of Steel, much like The Dark Knight Trilogy, and even this years hit Bond flick Skyfall, brings a new generation of movie goers into the stories that are simply outdated, and reinvents them in the way that keep the characters and plots updated with the times, and relevant in today's society.  

Warrior

I just saw an article over on IGN.com about a new movie coming out called Warrior. It's an MMA movie about two brothers and their different approaches in their career. My guess is it will turn out a lot like the Fighter, so anyone who is a fan of that movie will probably like this one (although it won't be as good). The link is in the title.

In other news the villian for Zach Snyder's upcoming Superman movie (Man of Steel) has been announced!! The link is right -----> HERE nerds click to find out who it is!