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Is DC that afraid of having fun in their movies?
11 years ago
Some time ago, Warner Bros said that there was going to be a no-fun policy for the DC Movies. Why? Is it because movies like Batman and Robin or the 2011 Green Lantern movie didn't do well at the box office? I guess since the Nolan Batman movies were really good, DC & WB feel they have to add realism to their superhero movies in order for people to take them seriously. When did optimism become such a bad thing? Ever since The Dark Knight movie, Directors are trying to bring angst and grit to popular characters. It's like If your hero doesn't have some tortured past or dark secret, your audience will hate them or something. The no-fun policy was what made people not like Snyder's Man of Steel movie. I may like the movie but even i hate how dark and joyless it was. I get this feeling like they're ashamed to embrace the optimism of their characters for the fear of being silly. Instead of being excited about the Superman/Batman Movie, I'm worried. Once it premieres, people will definitely complain about it online.
I get that DC wants to catch up to Marvel's cinematic success when it comes to making box office sales in movies; but you know what? DC is doing just fine with their animated direct to DVD movies. Some of them are even better than the live action movies.
And FYI, I kinda like Batman and Robin. When i watched it as a kid, i thought it was alright. But now i see it as a guilty pleasure. I liked the action, it had drama, bat-girl made her debut in the big screen and Mr. Freeze's suit was cool, no pun intended. Speaking of puns, There was one ice pun i actually liked in this movie. However, i do get why this movie was widely hated, it was campy, trying so hard to be marketable to children and it was silly on some many levels. Even scenes with Poison Ivy were really cringe worthy. Plus they are a lot of bad comic books that are much worse than Batman and Robin.
I get that DC wants to catch up to Marvel's cinematic success when it comes to making box office sales in movies; but you know what? DC is doing just fine with their animated direct to DVD movies. Some of them are even better than the live action movies.
And FYI, I kinda like Batman and Robin. When i watched it as a kid, i thought it was alright. But now i see it as a guilty pleasure. I liked the action, it had drama, bat-girl made her debut in the big screen and Mr. Freeze's suit was cool, no pun intended. Speaking of puns, There was one ice pun i actually liked in this movie. However, i do get why this movie was widely hated, it was campy, trying so hard to be marketable to children and it was silly on some many levels. Even scenes with Poison Ivy were really cringe worthy. Plus they are a lot of bad comic books that are much worse than Batman and Robin.
First, there's the old adage of "nothing breeds success like success". The execs/suits/ heads of the studio saw how well the Nolan films did, and they want to repeat said success in their cinematic universe.
Second, it's also a Socio-Cultural thing. In our post-modern society, we have come to associate anything "optimistic" or "happy" with childishness, foolishness and naivety, and anything "angsty", "dark", or "pessimistic" with adulthood and intelligence. Thus, we feel that as adults, we not only must take things seriously, but also be treated in a serious manner.
Third, films nowadays are less escapism and more a reflection of all of our Societal anxieties.
Fourth, and perhaps lastly, they're also trying to carve out a little niche for themselves. Marvel, for the most part, is the one making the more, shall we say, "optimistic" films, and films like Transformers are also handling the escapism aspect of modern cinema, so in order for DC movies to stand out they've more or less gone "dark and serious" in order to distinguish themselves from the rest of the movie studios.