C'MON HOLLYWOOD: Time to step up your game DC!
Jul. 6, 2011
DC does not seem to have that vision.
At the same time, DC’s also been home to the biggest and best superhero franchise of them all- the Christopher Nolan BATMAN series. Rather than a film made by committee (as good as the Marvel films are, that’s what they are and that approach works for them), the BATMAN films were the vision of a strong director, and as such, has not only made the studio billions, but has also give the superhero genre real critical legitimacy.
Imagine what a guy like Edgar Wright could have done with GREEN LANTERN? Or Joe Wright (HANNA)? How about the Hughes Brothers, who, I thought, did a more than credible job with THE BOOK OF ELI. How about Duncan Jones? All that was needed was someone behind the camera with some flair, and imagination.
Luckily, this lesson may not be completely lost of DC. Like him or loathe him (I float between the two), Zack Snyder is the choice to do THE MAN OF STEEL (under Nolan’s stewardship), and while it’s too early to tell whether it’ll be a good film, at least it will either be aggressively good, or aggressively bad, with no middle ground. For my money, an ambitious attempt that falls flat, such as SUCKER PUNCH, trumps the mediocrity or GREEN LANTERN.
| Extra Tidbit: | No offense to Jon Favreau, Kenneth Branagh, or Joe Johnston by classifying them as journeymen. Favreau on the first IRON MAN was exactly the kind of director DC needs, and COWBOYS VS. ALIENS will take him to another class altogether. Branagh's also great, but I doubt even he would claim THOR was a passion project. |
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| Source: | JoBlo.com |
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Here is the problem
Animated DC
Or they could just make SuperMax.
Or they could just make SuperMax.
1. DC nails some sweet ass music and theme songs you clearly never see in a Marvel movies save maybe Sam's Spiderman. I think they attempted to do something with ACDC in iron man, but it wasn't very
1. DC nails some sweet ass music and theme songs you clearly never see in a Marvel movies save maybe Sam's Spiderman. I think they attempted to do something with ACDC in iron man, but it wasn't very original. A hero needs his theme song.
2. The heroes reveal to the public should be one of the biggest climaxes of the movie. DC can butcher this too, but I rarely see a kick ass rescue in a Marvel franchise.
3. This is possibly the BIGGEST thing. DC can really deliver a villain. The villain is just as important as the hero. Character development for both is crucial and they need to share a chemistry of pure friend and foe. They can't be a hero or a villain without each other.
Marvel has made some awesome flicks and I don't mean to bash them, but I have yet to really be swept up in a Marvel movie like I was growing up with Superman and Batman. When in the hands of someone who actually gives a shit about the heroes they're putting up on screen, a legendary movie can take place. Chris Nolan revitalized that emotion, and I'm ready for more.
Duncan Jones would've made a good Green Lantern film.
Since DC doesn't have as many good heroes as Marvel, they must hire the perfect person(s) to translate their comics into a good movie. DC is extremely lucky to have Christopher Nolan directing Batman, but now they must find the perfect director for other projects. DC can't afford to dish out anymore mediocrity like Green Lantern and Superman Returns. They are losing to Marvel badly.
I'm hoping Man of Steel doesn't
Since DC doesn't have as many good heroes as Marvel, they must hire the perfect person(s) to translate their comics into a good movie. DC is extremely lucky to have Christopher Nolan directing Batman, but now they must find the perfect director for other projects. DC can't afford to dish out anymore mediocrity like Green Lantern and Superman Returns. They are losing to Marvel badly.
I'm hoping Man of Steel doesn't suck. I may not like Watchmen, but I believe Zack Snyder could make a good Superman movie. And I want Ron Perlman as Darkseid already!
What does journeyman mean?
Green Lantern as a whole simply wasn't that bad a movie. It is definitely underperforming at the box-office, no doubt, but the film itself is not the crap-fest its being
Green Lantern as a whole simply wasn't that bad a movie. It is definitely underperforming at the box-office, no doubt, but the film itself is not the crap-fest its being made out to be. It really just failed to find its own identity. It didn't properly set up the human characters and backstories for Hal, Carol, and Hector, instead giving us brief snippets of motivation as to who they are and what makes them tick. By the time the cosmic sci-fi aspect came in, most anyone unfamiliar with the characters just wouldn't care about what is going on with them. Then to add insult to injury they wimped out when showcasing the alien universe the Corps inhabit. They seemed to be afraid people wouldn't care about these characters and worlds because of the CG. If you write them properly they will care enough to stay interested. Somehow people were invested in Avatar, a by-the-numbers 1-dimensional movie about nature loving blue CG aliens and people bought into it because there was enough of a (albeit poorly written) story to the human characters.
Nolan works for Batman. His movies have always created realistic worlds for the characters, and even managed to create a form of mock believability in the more sci-fi aspects for films such as Inception or Prestige. That stuff works great, partly because Batman is a character that can be grounded in a real world setting. But don’t adapt every character like this. I don’t want to see another Superman Returns where Supes spends his time pining over a girl that got away. He has better things to do….like saving the world. Let characters like Peter Parker worry about getting the girl and be insecure. If you can get people invested in the character and what they believe in or stand for, then you can get them to follow you into the more wonky stories they are a part of.
DC's prime has passed
Aside from Batman, DC characters are pretty boring. I haven't found any interest in any of their stories since the early '80's. DC's prime was the Golden and Silver Age, and that age is long gone.
Also, as far as the last sentence goes, I finally got to see Sucker Punch the other night. It wasn't all that bad. Nothing mind blowing, but not bad. And I still don't, and never will have an interest in Green
Aside from Batman, DC characters are pretty boring. I haven't found any interest in any of their stories since the early '80's. DC's prime was the Golden and Silver Age, and that age is long gone.
Also, as far as the last sentence goes, I finally got to see Sucker Punch the other night. It wasn't all that bad. Nothing mind blowing, but not bad. And I still don't, and never will have an interest in Green Lantern. Don't get me wrong, I like Ryan Reynolds, but this following link sums up his acting career (keep in mind, it is from a sports journalism site-so go in with an open mind)...
[link]
Side note- I was almost offended by the use of the term "journeyman" for the Marvel directors (Johnston aside), until you clarified with your tidbit what you meant by that in this case.
Side note- I was almost offended by the use of the term "journeyman" for the Marvel directors (Johnston aside), until you clarified with your tidbit what you meant by that in this case.
This
Does every superhero film need to be the Dark Knight, and every superhero screenplay need to use the Nolan formula?
I haven't read anyone make these comments.
Does every superhero film need to be the Dark Knight, and every superhero screenplay need to use the Nolan formula?
I haven't read anyone make these comments.
Stories: Marvel > DC
Live-Action Movies: Marvel > DC
Animated Movies: Marvel < DC (I love DC animated flicks -- most are very well done and entertaining)
I love all comic books, but this, in my opinion, is how it shakes down. I doubt DC will ever be able to catch up to the Marvel Cinematic universe.
Stories: Marvel > DC
Live-Action Movies: Marvel > DC
Animated Movies: Marvel < DC (I love DC animated flicks -- most are very well done and entertaining)
I love all comic books, but this, in my opinion, is how it shakes down. I doubt DC will ever be able to catch up to the Marvel Cinematic universe.
Most people aren't going to flock to a superhero movie they know very little
Most people aren't going to flock to a superhero movie they know very little about. Green Lantern is not an A grade superhero, neither is Flash or Wonder Woman, these characters will need to be fleshed out by great story tellers to become accepted and do well on the big screen.
Great commentary, but
Personally, I was 50/50 on GL after seeing it. I went back and saw it again, and I felt even more disappointed. I would definitely welcome a sequel, but it would need to be a reboot/sequel (ala Norton’s “The Incredible Hulk”). And that sucks to say because Mark Strong is a pitch-perfect Sinestro and the designs for Oa and the rest of the GL Corp were excellent. But Reynolds is playing the wrong character in the DC Universe (Flash), Blake Lively is as miscast as Bosworth playing Lois Lane was and the Earth scenes just slowed the whole movie down.
I never saw the "obvious from the jump," high speed train wreck that was Jonah Hex, but I did like The Losers and RED (Summit has the rights, but it’s still a DC property). There are great movies to be made based on DC characters, but the people running the show are dropping the ball on almost anything not named Batman. Superman, my favorite character since I was little, is in a wait and see mode with Zach Snyder at the helm. Flash, Wonder Woman and Green Arrow need to be pushed with decent budgets ($80 million should suffice) and solid scripts. Take that Supermax script that was floating around with Green Arrow and start introducing villains into the films who aren’t named Luthor, Joker or Zod.
There can be a lot of exciting movies on the way if DC starts taking this stuff seriously. Johns has had clear missteps in his short time at the helm of TV & Film (GL bomb, WW tv series not catching on), but I hope he can see what went wrong and how he can go about fixing it.
a new hope
Guffaw
They need to get with it.
Green Lantern is no where near as bad as Jon Hex. The film is set up for a GREAT sequel. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected because of the reviews. I really hope it gets a sequel.
Green Lantern is no where near as bad as Jon Hex. The film is set up for a GREAT sequel. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected because of the reviews. I really hope it gets a sequel.
Not just a good director but the RIGHT director
I think Campbell could've done much better with a more "reality-based" superhero (which is pretty much all of them).
As for Snyder, I'm not sure you're going to like an "aggressively bad" Superman movie if this is what we end up getting.
I think Campbell could've done much better with a more "reality-based" superhero (which is pretty much all of them).
As for Snyder, I'm not sure you're going to like an "aggressively bad" Superman movie if this is what we end up getting.
Green lantern has potential
feel like DC's version of the [link] ! lol
feel like DC's version of the [link] ! lol
Vertigo is better
Start smaller
DC characters have a lot of potential (for example the Wonder Woman animated movie and that praised WWII-script), they just need to choose the right people for the job who care for the characters and their myth. Then, even an Aquaman movie could work and with
DC characters have a lot of potential (for example the Wonder Woman animated movie and that praised WWII-script), they just need to choose the right people for the job who care for the characters and their myth. Then, even an Aquaman movie could work and with another director GL2 could turn out so much better...
heh
Meanwhile Marvel hasn't had this much trouble, for some reason. As much as i dispise Jeo Quesada (Marvel CEO) for something of the things he's done at Marvel over the years i've only ever heard bad things about Dan DiDio (DC CEO).
MerchandiSing, sir!
Bruce Wayne is a normal guy who has taken his training to absurd
Bruce Wayne is a normal guy who has taken his training to absurd levels, but there is still a type of verisimilitude that is achieved with heroes of this ilk; an better connection is achieved with the audience when they can see the superhero as "more realistic".
DC had their chance to do this with Green Lantern but they chose to focus on Oa entirely too much. I think it would have been a stronger story if they had strayed from the mythos just for a bit, kept Hal on Earth to fight a villain and then, at the end, have the Corps come and find him.
I think that, as Marvel branches out in to their own universe and starts relying on some of their own heroes and villains that mimic gods - or are gods (Thor) - they'll have the same issues to contend with. Does anybody really have a dying need to see Thanos and the infinity gauntlet in the Avengers?