Are people/critics getting tired of the Dark & Gritty Movies?

[smallville fan]

What the title says.

I'm not sure if what I'm seeing is true or not, but after seeing movies like Pacific Rim and Avengers and Iron Man 3 etc get great reviews etc, I have this strange feeling that in this post-Christopher Nolan Dark Knight Trilogy era people are yearning for the more "fun adventure for the whole family" type movies like Avengers.

Now don't get me wrong there are some great dark & gritty films which are great like Man of Steel that people do honestly like, but I think there's an increasing number of people that want something different.

Am I not wrong on this?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Skyfall says no.

More seriously, there has always been room for both. It is not black or white. People can go watch both, and the box office has proven they have and will continue to.

 

[MrMaooz]

No.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Skyfall says no.

This.

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Post-TDK, it isn't about "dark, serious films". It is about films that take their source material seriously, while still being cutting, cool and fun. Being cool is the big factor here.

 

[smallville fan]

Skyfall says no.

More seriously, there has always been room for both. It is not black or white. People can go watch both, and the box office has proven they have and will continue to.

Post-TDK, it isn't about "dark, serious films". It is about films that take their source material seriously, while still being cutting, cool and fun. Being cool is the big factor here.

Ah ok, but the name James Bond sells itself, like Star Wars. I do agree there's room for both, and being cool is good. Maybe it's just me then, but would any of you say that there's a good number of critics increasing in size that just want something other than the dark serious stuff these days?

 

[DarthSkywalker]

Ah ok, but the name James Bond sells itself, like Star Wars. I do agree there's room for both, and being cool is good. Maybe it's just me then, but would any of you say that there's a good number of critics increasing in size that just want something other than the dark serious stuff these days?

James Bond hasn't done anything close to the Box Office Skyfall did in almost 50 years. Brand is one thing.

 

[747]

Room for both indeed and everything in between.

 

[747]

And I hope people/critics don't disregard a movie just because they aren't "yearning" for it's type right now. That would be silly.

 

[Deserana]

I definitely think some people are getting tired of the over-seriousness of some films. Many many people disliked Man of Steel because of this, some people got fed up that Harry Potter got darker with every film. I've seen many reviews of recent "darker" films saying they could do with some more humour, jeez just listen to Ralph Garman on Kevin Smith's Man of Steel/TDKR to him everything has to be ******* light and normally if one thinks it, many do.

For me and many others though I like more serious/gritty films as long as it fits. Superman can be done that way. However, when they suddenly whip out 'My Little Pony's Bloody Revenge' then I may say enough is enough.

 

[smallville fan]

I definitely think some people are getting tired of the over-seriousness of some films. Many many people disliked Man of Steel because of this, some people got fed up that Harry Potter got darker with every film. I've seen many reviews of recent "darker" films saying they could do with some more humour, jeez just listen to Ralph Garman on Kevin Smith's Man of Steel/TDKR to him everything has to be ******* light and normally if one thinks it, many do.

For me and many others though I like more serious/gritty films as long as it fits. Superman can be done that way. However, when they suddenly whip out 'My Little Pony's Bloody Revenge' then I may say enough is enough.

This is exactly the feeling I was having and I agree with every word here. I guess the right words I should have said was over-seriousness. Yeah there are some movies that do benefit from the gritty, serious and dark style, but it might be overkill and sometimes unnecessary for some. From all this there would be some critics would roll their eyes when they hear "gritty re-imagining".

 

[Fenrir]

The problem with "dark and gritty" movies is that their base quality requirements for writing, acting, direction and overall execution are higher than films that are more tongue-in-cheek. No one in the audience is going to take a "dark" film seriously if it is riddled with poor dialogue and cheesy cliched moments and plot devices that are otherwise much easier to overlook in lighter fare. So the key message here is - if you're going to go "dark", be prepared to bring your A game. Otherwise, the film's attempt at self-seriousness is simply going to fall flat on its face.

 

[Deserana]

The problem with "dark and gritty" movies is that their base quality requirements for writing, acting, direction and overall execution are higher than films that are more tongue-in-cheek. No one in the audience is going to take a "dark" film seriously if it is riddled with poor dialogue and cheesy cliched moments and plot devices that are otherwise much easier to overlook in lighter fare. So the key message here is - if you're going to go "dark", be prepared to bring your A game. Otherwise, the film's attempt at self-seriousness is simply going to fall flat on its face.

Agreed 100%

In some aspects I think thats why I dislike Iron Man 3 so much, I know people will defend it but there are times where it genuinely tries to be a serious movie and it just does not work. The trailers especially completely mis-represent the film

 

[redhawk23]

Ah ok, but the name James Bond sells itself, like Star Wars. I do agree there's room for both, and being cool is good. Maybe it's just me then, but would any of you say that there's a good number of critics increasing in size that just want something other than the dark serious stuff these days?

Not really, there have been many not so successful James Bond films. And Skyfall was a cut above most in the franchise in popularity, grossing a billion dollars.

 

[MrMaooz]

Agreed 100%

In some aspects I think thats why I dislike Iron Man 3 so much, I know people will defend it but there are times where it genuinely tries to be a serious movie and it just does not work. The trailers especially completely mis-represent the film

I don't think IM3 ever tried to be serious. It was pretty much an Action-Comedy.

 

[Bruce Malone]

I wouldn't use PR as an example of people preferring lighter films now for at least a couple reasons.

 

[Silvermoth]

I'm getting sick of them. Not every hero needs to be a killer and not every female character needs to be a hooker.

That said I don't think you need to choose between being the dark knight or despicable me. There's more than one way to tell a story and when people try to hard to go in either direction it just makes me

 

[dark_b]

i think they got a little tired. i think Skyfall made a lot of money because it was a very good entertaining movie for the masses. but the Craig franchise is now 6 years old and they are used that its more gritty.i think the problem is that they are trying to make every fun character dark and gritty.

Man of Steel is a good example IMO. i think there was no way to make a modern superman movie without making him dark and gritty and depressed. for the general public.

 

[Laderlappen]

No, I dont think so. I think movies like Man of Steel is not so acclaimed simply because they didnt think it was very good. Snyder has never been popular by the critics.

 

[terry78]

You have some people that view any amount of comedic levity as camp, that's the thing.

 

[dark_b]

its scary how many people thought that IM3 was campy or almost campy.

 

[Teelie]

It does seem like the dark, gritty thing is gaining popularity which is fine in the right movie but some movies just don't justify it and it is getting tiresome to see those two words describing a movie that is meant to be taken seriously.

 

[Visualiza]

I'm tired of it being treated like a fad. I'm tired of the first thing people ask for in a film is for it to be 'mature, serious, dark, & realistic' before anything of substance. The tone should fit the subject matter & plot, not the other way around.

Imagine if every drama aped the style and structure of Requiem for a Dream. It may work for a very scant few, but for the most part, I'd imagine that they would be a chore to watch. This whole dark & gritty fad is the perfect example of people cherry picking all of the wrong things from something they like and citing them as the reasons for their success. The few films that fit this mold were successful for reasons other than their tone & style; said tone just happened to complement those particular films well.

I'm reminded of the photographer who tries to jazz up awful photos with garish HDR and post-processing filters, instead of focusing on composition, subject, exposure, and the principles of design before anything superficial.

We've gotten to the point where anything less than bleak, heavy-handed melodrama is considered campy fluff, as if a dark tone alone instantly generates layers upon layers of depth, emotional resonance, and artistic value. I'm as tired of the fallacious attitude towards it as I am of the approach itself.

 

[Lorus]

This attempt to classify everything in the binary 'dark and gritty/light and fluffy' category is ridiculous. Tone is complicated and audience reactions are equally so. They are capable of feeling a myriad of things in all sorts of films and they are only concerned with what entertains them. Not to mention you're using the ridiculously small sample size of three comic book films, two of which were mostly considered good and happened to be more optimistic.

If you look at the number of action blockbusters that came out this year with a lighter tone that weren't well received (Jack the Giant Slayer, GI Joe etc) and look back one year to things like TDKR and the Hunger Games you'll see that trying to find correlation between critical reception and binary perceptions of tone is pointless.

 

[Visualiza]

its scary how many people thought that IM3 was campy or almost campy.

That's the bandwagon mentality. Enough people say it and it gains a certain degree of credibility, needing no justification or explanation whatsoever. Tony Stark was akin to Carrey's Riddler, if you go off of what some tend to say.