Are DC Movies Too Dark Nowadays?

[The Overlord]

Many people complained that the latest Superman movie was too dark and depressing. Are DC Movies Too Dark Nowadays? Did DC look at the success of the recent Batman movies and decide since Batman is dark and successful, all DC movies to be that way? Or this that completely incorrect?

 

[the last son]

No. I want comic movie for adults. As long as they are taken seriously and have adult themes and treated with real life tone, I will always go see it in theaters. Marvel on the other hand is losing fans with that kids tone they go for. Keep it up DC. More MOS tone and not Green Lantern.

 

[Micromind]

Many people complained that the latest Superman movie was too dark and depressing. Are DC Movies Too Dark Nowadays? Did DC look at the success of the recent Batman movies and decide since Batman is dark and successful, all DC movies to be that way? Or this that completely incorrect?

Fans are to be blamed, when they made movie with a lighter tone, Green Lantern, it failed due to poor response.

 

[The Overlord]

Fans are to be blamed, when they made movie with a lighter tone, Green Lantern, it failed due to poor response.

Too be fair Green Lantern was a terrible movie, you can't expect fans to like it if it was light hearted, but also badly written.

 

[Micromind]

Too be fair Green Lantern was a terrible movie, you can't expect fans to like it if it was light hearted, but also badly written.

Terrible by what standards ? Roger Ebert gave same rating for GL and Thor.

I place Thor slightly above GL but that cannot be called as Terrible, when movies that are worse than GL made more money than GL did.

 

[Hamill-Joker]

I personally want a movie with actual stakes and drama rather than the wink wink nod nod type of humor that movies like The Avengers and Iron Man 3 have. Those movies had certain characters either die or look to have died, and they didn't really have any impact in the movie because of the silly tone set.

There does not need to be a set tone for superhero movies. As far as I am concerned, I see multiple approaches to the genre from within.

I said this on another forum. I can enjoy a movie like Iron Man 1 just as much as I would enjoy a serious and heart-wrenching movie about Tony Stark struggling with alcoholism. My personal preference those is toward the serious tone.

But, there is not a singular way to do comic book movies.

I look at the James Bond movies as a good example of the range a certain genre can take. You have your serious toned movies and your silly wink wink movies. I think both can be valid interpretations.

And I don't get this idea that Man of Steel was dark. I didn't think it was. It just had a more serious tone to it than past interpretations.

 

[jonathancrane]

Marvel's films are far from solely kiddy material.

Let's look at Iron Man 3 which has topics and images of murder, terrorism, publicly televised executions, bombings, people spontaneously combusting, an African American man being burned inside a metal suit, a one night stand coming back to haunt a man, a house being destroyed by missiles, a super-powered woman being destroyed, a man issuing murderous threats while being chained up, the aftermath of a three/foursome, drug addiction, the hero's romantic partner falling into the flames, and a burning man being disintegrated by a laster blast.

Does anyone still want to make the case these movies are made solely for children?

To answer the question, yes, Man of Steel was too damn dark. It felt more like a war film than a superhero film. And not the cheesy Charlie Sheen kind, but the nihilistic ones that overflowed the box office Post 9/11. Sure, it had one joke in it, but it was horrible and derailed the ending. There was no sense of wonder with the film that there was in the first two Superman films. Wonder does not presuppose humor, but the successful sell of an absurd premise. If they even had one shot like the Helicarrier rising from the water in TA, that would work wonders for the tone. But, since they're going for the Verus route with Bats and Supes, we can expect one or both of them to be shaded as utter a**holes, and have the joylessness dial cranked up to ten.

 

[Hamill-Joker]

Marvel's films are far from solely kiddy material.

Let's look at Iron Man 3 which has topics and images of murder, terrorism, publicly televised executions, bombings, people spontaneously combusting, an African American man being burned inside a metal suit, a one night stand coming back to haunt a man, a house being destroyed by missiles, a super-powered woman being destroyed, a man issuing murderous threats while being chained up, the aftermath of a three/foursome, drug addiction, the hero's romantic partner falling into the flames, and a burning man being disintegrated by a laster blast.

Does anyone still want to make the case these movies are made solely for children?

Disney movies have been darker and have taken themselves more seriously than Iron Man 3 did.

The problem with Iron Man 3 was its tone. Despite all the things you listed, there was not one moment that I felt any sense of drama in the movie because of the silly tone they set. The movie doesn't take itself seriously and when tries, there is no effect.

 

[The Overlord]

Terrible by what standards ? Roger Ebert gave same rating for GL and Thor.

I place Thor slightly above GL but that cannot be called as Terrible, when movies that are worse than GL made more money than GL did.

Terrible by my standards, IMO and also by the standards of most critics and the general audience, otherwise it would have gotten a better score on Rotten Tomatoes and would have made more money at the box office.

Thor was not perfect, but it was better then Green Lantern, at least Thor had a character arc that made some sense and a better villain. You can't expect to like a movie, just because it is light hearted and made by DC, but is also badly written.

Disney movies have been darker and have taken themselves more seriously than Iron Man 3 did.

The problem with Iron Man 3 was its tone. Despite all the things you listed, there was not one moment that I felt any sense of drama in the movie because of the silly tone they set. The movie doesn't take itself seriously and when tries, there is no effect.

A lot of movies have dark concepts married with a silly tone, look at the first Robocop movie, it had dark themes, but also a bunch of light hearted and silly moments as well.

I do think Captain America was too light hearted for a movie set in WWII though, I would have liked to see more real guns and more real Nazis. I don't think the Marvel movies are solely aimed at kids though.

 

[jonathancrane]

Badly written and edited.

 

[Hamill-Joker]

A lot of movies have dark concepts married with a silly tone, look at the first Robocop movie, it had dark themes, but also a bunch of light hearted and silly moments as well.

Robocop is a very dark movie. I'm not sure where you are seeing the silly or light-hearted moments in the movie. The humor in that movie is essentially based on the absurdity of the darkness.

It is like some of the dark humor you see in some of Martin Scorsese movies like The Departed or Goodfellas.

Here's my analogy of how I felt about Iron Man 3 using Indiana Jones movies because there are different tones and levels of humor in those movies.

Serious or adult moments in Iron Man 3 are like trying to take the drama of Sean Connery being shot at the end of The Last Crusade and sticking that into Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. It just doesn't work.

 

[metaphysician]

Terrible by what standards ? Roger Ebert gave same rating for GL and Thor.

I place Thor slightly above GL but that cannot be called as Terrible, when movies that are worse than GL made more money than GL did.

Ebert may have, but the majority of the critics disagreed. As did the audience, apparently, seeing as about twice as many people went to see Thor.

 

[metaphysician]

As for the original question, I would say "Yes", but with an asterisk. The only *inappropriately* dark DC movie to date has been Man of Steel. Batman movies can be dark just fine, there's no problem with that. However, MoS points towards DC learning the wrong lessons from the Nolan movies, so I certainly expect that MoS won't be the last inappropriately dark DC movie.

 

[Hamill-Joker]

As for the original question, I would say "Yes", but with an asterisk. The only *inappropriately* dark DC movie to date has been Man of Steel. Batman movies can be dark just fine, there's no problem with that. However, MoS points towards DC learning the wrong lessons from the Nolan movies, so I certainly expect that MoS won't be the last inappropriately dark DC movie.

How was Man of Steel all that dark? I didn't think it was. It just took itself seriously. I didn't think it was even close to being as dark as X-Men 1 or 2.

 

[Micromind]

Ebert may have, but the majority of the critics disagreed. As did the audience, apparently, seeing as about twice as many people went to see Thor.

I did read many of the "negative" reviews of GL, most reviewers had a problem with the GL concept itself, namely a magic ring that can create constructs.

I can almost guarantee you that If WB reboots the GL movie with a new script, cast and serious tone, many reviewers will still give it thumbs down, purely because they can't wrap their minds around the whole GL concept of space cop.

GL movie did face peculiar problem of reviewers joining the "hate GL bandwagon" which was then carried forward by fan boys, which is why WB will Never make another GL movie again.

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

No. I want comic movie for adults. As long as they are taken seriously and have adult themes and treated with real life tone, I will always go see it in theaters. Marvel on the other hand is losing fans with that kids tone they go for. Keep it up DC. More MOS tone and not Green Lantern.

^ This. Though i'd limit that to Disney Marvel not Marvel movies as a whole.

 

[NosfeRomas]

No. I want comic movie for adults. As long as they are taken seriously and have adult themes and treated with real life tone, I will always go see it in theaters. Marvel on the other hand is losing fans with that kids tone they go for. Keep it up DC. More MOS tone and not Green Lantern.

This ! exactly this !!!

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Marvel on the other hand is losing fans with that kids tone they go for.

Losing fans, but the Box Office of their individual heroes clearly show otherwise.

Fans are to be blamed, when they made movie with a lighter tone, Green Lantern, it failed due to poor response

The film had a heck of a lot more going for its poor reception then its (often contradictory and confused) tone.

 

[the last son]

^ This. Though i'd limit that to Disney Marvel not Marvel movies as a whole.

You're right. I loved Blade.

 

[John-An]

There's a difference.. those movie have more complex plots and realistic focus.. not just comedy and laughing as the latest marvel movies... I prefer DC perspective of course

 

[John-An]

This ! exactly this !!!

Seconded

 

[John-An]

Losing fans, but the Box Office of their individual heroes clearly show otherwise.

The film had a heck of a lot more going for its poor reception then its (often contradictory and confused) tone.

The B.O doesn't show the bad quality of the latest 2010 and 2013 marvel movies... the popularity that left Avengers was the only reason for the latest B.O. success

 

[jonathancrane]

The assessment of complex plots is purely arbitrary. Iron Man 3 critiqued the War on Terror and provided commentary on government sponsored bogeymen (think Bin Laden,) and tackled issues such as PTSD along with providing corporate/political intrigue. Man of Steel recycled a lot of ideas from Star Trek 09 (Nero > Zod.) Additionally, it recycled all of the trappings about Superman being similar to Judeo-Christian figures, which kind of misses the point, since some scholars view him as a Sun God.

Again, there's multiple ways to view the intellectual qualities and quantities of a film.

Again, film is a subjective medium and we are all entitled to our own readings

 

[J.Howlett]

The DC films are just fine, in terms of tone. I'll take actual stakes over faux stakes, laden with comedy any day in this genre.

 

[SuperFerret]

Apparently Man of Steel took itself so damn seriously that it's hard to take it seriously.