Are Superhero Films Ruining Cinema?

[DACrowe]

Ruining? No.

But if you don't think they're at least a symptom of a problem in Hollywood look around. Increasingly, Hollywood studios are making fewer films a year, and the ones that they do make are half superheroes (or variants thereof) or micro budget genre fare. While I like genre as much as the next person, the death of medium budgeted dramas or studio films that take risks is pretty sad, especially as the indie market continues to shrink.

And while I like The Avengers quite a bit, you can't say that its influence may not be negative in some ways. Like a "Shared Ghostbusters Universe" for example?

If we are being honest, it is having some negative influences. That does not make superhero movies in themselves bad, however.

 

[Rowsdower!]

Yes. And that's great, because f*** cinema.

 

[Flint Marko]

Studios clammoring to emulate the shared universe concept will be a problem, but superhero movies themselves (the good ones at least) aren't ruining anything.

 

[kedrell]

I think that's more a facet of there being too many followers in Hollywood and not enough leaders at the studio executive level. That's no fault of superhero movies.

 

[Red Mask]

I hate to say this and I love Supehero films as much as the next guy. But there are somany coming out snd taking places where actual original films could be and then branching out into televison and taking that over and internet series. It seems a bit exccessive you know. Like the film Genre has suddenly just undergone an era of 3 things. Remakes, Sequels, and Superhero films.

No. Theater attendance has never reclaimed the numbers it had back in the Golden Age. Screens are more diverse than ever and film piracy is unstoppable.

Right now some producers are thinking of cornering the tablet screen market.

 

[MessiahDecoy123]

When Oscar season is replaced by movies like Green Lantern and The Spirit then you can claim superheroes ruined cinema.

But as of now, oscar season still exist and superhero movies are better than ever.

In other words, don't blame superheroes because movies, like Crash, win best picture. You're barking up the wrong tree.

 

[Flint Marko]

I think that's more a facet of there being too many followers in Hollywood and not enough leaders at the studio executive level. That's no fault of superhero movies.

Agreed.

 

[GENERAL RAAM582]

My thought is that the main concept of the superhero film is good vs evil, and with that in mind, the main concept of the summer blockbuster is also good vs evil. Superhero movies fit this like a glove. So even if they stopped making superhero films, every summer blockbuster would still feature good vs evil. What is the point of not making superhero films then? They did not change anything at all.

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

When Oscar season is replaced by movies like Green Lantern and The Spirit then you can claim superheroes ruined cinema.

But as of now, oscar season still exist and superhero movies are better than ever.

In other words, don't blame superheroes because movies, like Crash, win best picture. You're barking up the wrong tree.

Debatable, but that would seem to be the popular opinion

The poor movies of the past are generally viewed as worse then the poor ones of today and the poor ones of the present less divisive.

For example Batman and Robin would find a universal 'it's bad' response but with modern poor movies like ASM2 you'll find some who loved it, some who liked it and some who hated it.

There aren't many modern superhero movies that are viewed as terrible but there are quite a few from the past like Catwoman, Steel and so on that are.

Would be interesting to see a best of the past vs best of the present match up

My thought is that the main concept of the superhero film is good vs evil, and with that in mind, the main concept of the summer blockbuster is also good vs evil. Superhero movies fit this like a glove. So even if they stopped making superhero films, every summer blockbuster would still feature good vs evil. What is the point of not making superhero films then? They did not change anything at all.

Excellent point. Them being superheros could be interpreted as dressing and whether it's the underdog or the beefy action man or the independent empowered young female or the costumed superhero the archetype of good vs evil is the same and likely always will be

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

One could make the argument that since the late 70's that Hollywood has been making super hero films, just those without costumes or other tropes from the actual source material of comics. The ultra macho action films of the 80's and 90's had a plethora of unstoppable good guys that battled implacable villains. In many ways Bond is a super hero. As stated by many, CBMs are simply a new variation on blockbuster popcorn films (which doesn't make them brain dead, but they aren't trying to be a Fellini film either) and they aren't responsible for the thinking of Hollywood suits, who would glom onto another trend to make blockbuster size profits if CBMs disappeared off the face of the Earth tomorrow.

 

[smallville fan]

I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to go back to the 90's where superheroes and geeky stuff was just bad on film and television. I for one am glad we're living in the golden age.

 

[Keehar]

Same here. Only in the late 90's did it start to pick up with Blade.

 

[Boom]

I hate to say this and I love Supehero films as much as the next guy. But there are somany coming out snd taking places where actual original films could be and then branching out into televison and taking that over and internet series. It seems a bit exccessive you know. Like the film Genre has suddenly just undergone an era of 3 things. Remakes, Sequels, and Superhero films.

They may be a symptom of a larger problem with Hollywood in general (increasing emphasis on reboots/remakes/sequels/prequels/adaptations for big budget films as opposed to original concepts), but they are not "ruining" anything.

The members of the Academy can stick their pretentious noses up at blockbuster films all they want, but there is nothing wrong with making movies that are meant to entertain people - especially if they are well-made. I agree completely with what James Gunn said on this subject. To suggest that filmmakers like the Russo Brothers or Christopher Nolan don't bust their asses or work just as hard as the Richard Linklaters or Alejandro Inarritus of the world just because of the subject matter and scope of their films is close-minded, ignorant, and frankly insulting.

If a time comes where Hollywood is completely devoid of originality and produces nothing but crap on a consistent basis, then I'll be worried. Til then, the cries from a few elitist snobs are nothing more than a fart in the wind to me.

Chris Evans and Chris Pratt recently visited hospitals in full Captain America and Star-Lord costumes. Christian Bale visited victims of Aurora. One boy's dying wish was to meet Hellboy, and Ron Perlman went through hours of makeup to ablige. And the city of San Francisco put together an extremely elaborate event just so one sick child could fulfill his fantasy of being Batman.

No. "Ruining" is hardly the word I would go with.

 

[dude stannis]

You could make an argument for Marvel doing so (You wont have one, but you could.)

But you have to remember, for Fox and WB, X-Men and the DCCU are paying for their latter year films. DOFP paid for Gone Girl, Man of Steel paid for Prisoners, etc.

 

[Wildcard]

No, I don't think so. Not at all. Honestly, I feel like superhero films were a sign that other genres (action movies in particular) needed to up their game....a message that hasn't been received considering a lot of action films look the same, offer nothing new & fail as a result.

It's not superheroes' fault that other movies of other genres are generally unappealing. Start offering audiences something worth spending their money on and they will. And that applies to all genres.

What I constantly see are rehashes of what's been tens of thousands of times before, uninspired ideas from unimaginative filmmakers. Ain't got nothing to do with superhero films.

 

[smallville fan]

No, I don't think so. Not at all. Honestly, I feel like superhero films were a sign that other genres (action movies in particular) needed to up their game....a message that hasn't been received considering a lot of action films look the same, offer nothing new & fail as a result.

It's not superheroes' fault that other movies of other genres are generally unappealing. Start offering audiences something worth spending their money on and they will. And that applies to all genres.

What I constantly see are rehashes of what's been tens of thousands of times before, uninspired ideas from unimaginative filmmakers. Ain't got nothing to do with superhero films.

Yeah when was the last time we had a memorable Mission Impossible movie? (For example) or a good memorable (that's the key word here) John Hughes-esque movie.

 

[Mr.T]

I don't think
Action films have mostly been replaced by Superhero movies. The genre has evolved, IMO.....

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

At the very least, I'm glad this superhero craze is producing far better movies than that disaster movie revival craze we had to suffer through in the late 90s-early 00s.

 

[Keehar]

The early 2000's had some good stuff. Blade and X-Men movies. Spider-Man 2002 as well.

 

[Boom]

You could make an argument for Marvel doing so (You wont have one, but you could.)

But you have to remember, for Fox and WB, X-Men and the DCCU are paying for their latter year films. DOFP paid for Gone Girl, Man of Steel paid for Prisoners, etc.

Exactly right.

These high-grossing films allow studios the flexibility to make smaller films that don't necessarily light the box office on fire.

I shutter to think what Hollywood would be like without blockbuster films. Hell, there probably wouldn't be a Hollywood at all. Where would the money come from?

It's a matter of supply and demand. Superhero films are in. The studios are simply giving the consumers more of what they want. If the craze dies down, we'll see the market adjust accordingly.

 

[BatLobster]

Ruining? No.

But if you don't think they're at least a symptom of a problem in Hollywood look around. Increasingly, Hollywood studios are making fewer films a year, and the ones that they do make are half superheroes (or variants thereof) or micro budget genre fare. While I like genre as much as the next person, the death of medium budgeted dramas or studio films that take risks is pretty sad, especially as the indie market continues to shrink.

And while I like The Avengers quite a bit, you can't say that its influence may not be negative in some ways. Like a "Shared Ghostbusters Universe" for example?

If we are being honest, it is having some negative influences. That does not make superhero movies in themselves bad, however.

Agreed. The dwindling of the "medium budget" movie is sad indeed.

It doesn't mean superhero movies are to blame, Hollywood is doing what it always does and feeding the trends and trying to give the people what they want.

I do think it's a strawman argument to say that blockbusters pay for the smaller art house films. Of course that's true and I think everyone here knows that. If someone were to be arguing against big blockbusters I'd say the the same thing, but the issue here is in the increasingly franchised-Hollywood landscape, medium-sized studio adult fare is what's taking the hit here as the market becomes increasingly crowded. I'm not going to get up on my soapbox and say the superhero movie is ruining cinema, and I do love superhero movies, but there's nothing wrong with acknowledging some of the negative side effects.

 

[Black Narcissus]

I don't blame the superhero genre, but the folks running the rest of the show. I think CBMs and other big action flicks will start to debut much earlier than before, it only takes one great big budget movie to debut in January and make bank, we will see a change imo. This will probably steal the spotlight from smaller budget films and they will find their home much sooner on VOD...which would be a bit of a shame.

 

[def28]

If we were not getting Supes, Wonder woman, Bats, X-Men, Cap, Iron Man, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Ms Marvel, Justice League and Avengers then fans would be *****ing. When we are finally getting all this fans think it's too much and ruining cinema?

There are plenty of other films to see, for whatever reason people only choose to focus their attention on the big budget flicks. Which would be here regardless of Superhero films. There are only 3 this year. And the majority of films last year were some of the highest received. Last year was an awesome year for film all around so I have no idea why so many people are acting like Superhero films are the only thing out there. GOTG, Winter Soldier, DOFP and Big Hero 6 hardly represent everything released. Let the audience decide what they want to see. Can't blame Superhero movies cause audiences are not buying tickets to other films. Blame the audience if anything. They choose what they want to see.

How much the industry can handle will surely be put to test next year. But I think "ruining" is an over reaction as of now. People like these films, and right now the majority are excellent when it comes to fun, drama, action and story. They have everything.

 

[Red Mask]

Theater attendance hasn't been the same in decades. Video rental stores are almost extinct. Cable channels are releasing some films weeks sooner after the theatre releae. Hollywood is pushing to cater their films overseas in countries like China. Online video piracy is unstoppable.

 

[def28]

Going to the Cinema won't die though, if anything aren't Superhero films helping Cinema by bringing audiences to the theatres? Appeal is key. And Superhero films appeal to an extremely large demo for all ages around the world. It's not like families are rushing to take their kids to Whiplash, American Sniper, Boyhood, Birdman, Snowpiercer and Imitation Game.

VOD, itunes, Vudu, Amazon, Netflix and other online services are helping bring more attention to alot of these indie flicks right now. You can watch them anywhere and discover films now way easier then 10 years ago. As far as indie film makers showcasing their work this is a much better time to live in. Granted that doesn't mean success. But there is much more opportunity nowadays to get your stuff seen and to create on a cheaper budget. Even if it's only on the web.