I still don't understand the obsession people have with tone.
Tone does not make a movie good or bad. Never has, never will. WW could be the bleakest ****ing movie ever made and still be amazing, or it could be a laugh riot and be terrible.
BvS's problems aren't tonal. They're script, character, editing and story based.
The tone of WW - dark or light - does not matter to its quality. It's how they depict the characters and tell a story. That's what matters.
There's a bit of overlap and reciprocity, I think, between the tonal argument and both the character and story ones, and since the script is the story, then it's a variable relevant to all aspects of the production. Complaints about Batman's or Superman's characters, for example, tend to focus on their personality (e.g. introversion versus extroversion), which is different from character, and deviation from a presumed higher standard in terms of morality or optimism.
When criticisms are made about characterization, the rubric used is less about what makes a quality character and more about what makes a quality Superman or Batman with Superman and Batman placed on a pedestal where they cannot falter from a position of hope and righteousness, struggle, or really go through much change at all (i.e. they must adhere to the status quo), which is something that non-Superman and Batman characters are allowed. If flaws in Batman's or Superman's optimism or moral virtue render them "dark," and having dark characters creates a dark tone, and the script/story is what creates that narrative and those characters, then all of the elements you list are inextricably linked and dependent on one another with tone being the ultimate expression of them all. Accordingly, tone has become the most accurate and effective means of communicating dissatisfaction with the film.
When character complaints are expressed or when people engage in short hand explanations about the quality of these films or create memes, it's often boiled down to tonal issues. Articles, tweets, reviews, even comments about other versions, like Tyler Hoechlin's on
Supergirl, place the most emphasis on the tone issue. Sure reviews and fan commentary today will still refer to other problems with the film, but the one that has more or less become the go-to in the media or in reviews of other films that make comparisons to BvS has been the tone argument. If the tonal issue isn't the primary issue, or if others are of equal importance, then I would say that critics have done a poor job conveying that.
It will, therefore, be interesting to see what kind of tone
Wonder Woman actually has and see what kind of tone people are willing to accept with her character.
Love the design.
t:
much better than I anticipated. I'm really digging the helmet, it makes him look mighty evil already even without context.
