Fan Service Gone Wrong

[Broseph44]

I dunno I loved Into Darkness

 

[Donnie Darko]

The "Robin" line from Dark Knight Rises.

Actually, I'm not sure if it was cringeworthy fan service to movie fans or a big "**** you" to comic fans who want to see Robin done well in a movie.

 

[Teelie]

Sucker Punch is fanboy deconstruction diguised as fan service. At least it tried to be.

Star Trek Into Darkness. Wanted to be its own thing while still being a Wrath of Khan remake.

Sucker Punch fell victim to becoming what it attempted to deconstruct in such a bizarre way.

I liked STID but it was also so blatantly fan service that it felt distracting once you realized it was Wrath of Kahn revisited.

 

[Brother Jack]

Into Darkness was basically a remake of Wrath of Khan and Abrams' first at the same time. I've never seen a movie try to remake two movies at once. I mean, it was a bad idea but nobody's done it before. It was unique in how rote it was.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Alien vs Predator and the even more atrocious sequel Requiem. Requiem was in fact fan service done by fanboys with no concept of filmmaking and eager to relive all the notable bits of the previous films without adding anything notable to it save a godawful cheap gore scare with the "birthing" scene.

The first AVP at least had the excuse of trying even if it failed to accomplish its goal.

Oh Zod... This. So this. I at least saw it at a midnight screening where people just let their inner MST3K bot out, so watching it was entertaining somewhat, but seriously, they just decided to literally remake every memorable scene from the previous ALIEN and PREDATOR films. Such a waste.

 

[kedrell]

The Juggernaut line in X-3. It was a nod to a popular youtube video , but fans weren't impressed.

Yeah...this. This was the most juvenile BS fan service I'd ever seen and probably still ranks at the top.

 

[-JKR-]

Iron Man 2, a.k.a. 'we don't even need to resolve the storyline in a way that makes sense, let's just have Tony meet with Black Widow and Nick Fury, and have the latter drop a line and it'll do... And we have War Machine, yay... And Captain America's shield... and Hulk on a screen. Now we really gave them their Marvel Universe!'

Spider-man 3, a.k.a. 'let's just f*** over the director who made our two biggest box office hits, which were also critically acclaimed, 'cause some nerds on the Internet would love to see Venom on the big screen. It'll be worth it.'

The "Robin" line from Dark Knight Rises.

Actually, I'm not sure if it was cringeworthy fan service to movie fans or a big "**** you" to comic fans who want to see Robin done well in a movie.

I'm sure about one thing. If a character named John Blake would've been introduced to the comics, with the exact same storyline, people would've been all over it. But since the character was generated in a movie....

There's this weird bias towards the movie industry among comic book fans. A new writer can come on board and put his own stamp on a title, create new characters, change others, but screenwriters & directors can't be as creative in movies. Even when they respect the heart and sould of these characters and their stories.

 

[KRYPTON INC.]

Count me as someone that would find the John Blake character and the "Robin" reveal to be just as equally insipid no matter the medium.

 

[DeadPresident]

Almost every movie where fan service is a major objective is bad.

 

[Victarion]

My impression of the John Blake reveal is that those who really disliked it felt a bit insulted. As if Nolan said that one of their favorite comic characters wasn't good enough and decided to create his own that was obviously inspired by the character. This from the people at my local games and comics shop. Their perspective brought to mind what Nolan said about Riddler being a second-hand Joker.

A load of Resident Evil fans flipped their lids when Alice pulled Claire's move from Code Veronica in Resident Evil: Apocalypse.

 

[def28]

I'm sure about one thing. If a character named John Blake would've been introduced to the comics, with the exact same storyline, people would've been all over it. But since the character was generated in a movie....

There was no pay off with Robin in that film. It was an odd choice to put any connection in there with such a well known and popular character title like they did. It was a disappointing and forced last minute twist imo.

Just cause it's in a comic doesn't mean people will dig it either. Fans constantly complain about recons, anything that isn't the same as when they read it as kids, new characters etc. The internet bashing is just as bad if not worse within the comic medium. People didn't exactly love Jason Todd when he was introduced.

 

[DeadPresident]

The John Blake thing was Nolan's way of giving a nod to the existence of a "side kick" for Batman, I don't think he was trying to say "He's this universe's Robin" per se. It was nothing more than an acknowledgment IMO.

 

[CyclopsWasRight]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 tone change. They tried to appease the 'fans' who didn't like the tone of the first by changing the tone of the second and it didn't flow as a sequel. Same with the costume. They listened to fans and changed it. Sure the costume was amazing and probably the best CBM costume but it was such a switch from the first movie.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Rebooting Spider-Man to appease a few fans who didn't like the Raimi continuity. It ended up dragging down the whole franchise to the point that Sony had to make a deal with Marvel to salvage the brand and possibly the entire studio.

 

[Monsieur Xavier]

"Rebooting Spider-Man to appease a few fans who didn't like the Raimi continuity"

I doubt it was the reason it was rebooted.

 

[Teelie]

It was one part of the many reasons they did although I agree not the main one. The main one of course was they totally wrecked the Raimi franchise with Spider-Man 3 and decided to start it over fresh including a rehashed origin story (why? I must ask, do we need to see that once again?) and then subsequently wrecked this one even faster in ASM2.

Now they have to go and three times a charm hope they don't wreck their third take on Spider-Man on the first go. At least with Marvel's involvement they might get it right.

 

[CaptainWagner]

Maybe the reason the Juggernaut line didn't bother me was because I didn't know about the joke beforehand? Because I never felt like the line was out of place.

 

[Octoberist]

Yeah, the only thing out of place about X3…was X beeping 3.

 

[Jochimus]

I won't necessarily say that I dislike the John Blake bit, but watching it now it does feel pretty awkward. Part of me thinks Nolan would've done better using a niece of Gordon in Blake's place instead (the orphan thing would have to be rejiggered, obviously, since even with dead parents she wouldn't be without the support of her aunt and uncle, but I don't think that would have done any real damage)...then reveal her legal first name at the end as Barbara (since it would make sense that she doesn't use that name given it's the same as her aunt's). But that's the purist in me talking.

 

[Donnie Darko]

I didn't love the John Blake character to begin with, but I didn't necessarily dislike him. I didn't like what they were building to, but I accepted that that's how Nolan and company wanted to put a final ending on their series. Once he dropped the "Robin" line and basically winked at the camera, though, I couldn't take it.

All that being said, I'm sorry to turn this thread into a Nolan Batman thread. I hate when that happens to over threads, so I'm sorry to be the one to do it to this one.

 

[PyroChamber]

Speaking of Batman, I wonder if Batman & Robin would go in here too. I mean were the filmmakers really thinking fans would love it or were they thinking moreso that kids would love it? Because I don't even think kids liked that movie.

 

[chaseter]

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 tone change. They tried to appease the 'fans' who didn't like the tone of the first by changing the tone of the second and it didn't flow as a sequel. Same with the costume. They listened to fans and changed it. Sure the costume was amazing and probably the best CBM costume but it was such a switch from the first movie.

ASM1 was trying to appease fans that wanted TDK dark and gritty and it completely fell flat. You can't build a strong franchise on a weak base. ASM1 was mostly at night to boot. Then you have Avengers come along and now Sony wants colorful and fun and it fails spectacularly. The ASM franchise is the epitome of what not to do with Spider-Man.

But, glad it failed because now I get to see Spidey AND the Avengers share a movie. Thanks Marc Webb and Andrew Garfield! Now that's fan service.

 

[The Joker]

ASM2, and the set up of Sinister Six.

I don't ever remember there being a big fan demand for the Sinister Six. I think this was just Sony's pathetic way of keeping up with Marvel and their expansive universe.

 

[Snow Queen]

I don't ever remember there being a big fan demand for the Sinister Six. I think this was just Sony's pathetic way of keeping up with Marvel and their expansive universe.

No, you're right, they wanted Venom. Avi knows the fans best.

 

[PyroChamber]

Venom being shoehorned into Spider-Man 3 was certainly fan service but the way the character was treated, IMO, was a big **** you from Raimi to Arad.