Zack Snyder: "I'm a comic book guy".

[TheVileOne]

I tried watching BvS for the first time since in came out the other day and got 45 mins before I had to turn it off because of how lifeless it was. Nolan was accused of taking things too seriously but he always remembered where the roots of the characters were, so there is always optimism and heroism in his movies. They may strive to be more than just superhero movies, but they are still very much superhero movies at their core.

Just a simple moment of Batman giving a gadget to a kid, and other kids idolizing Batman. Makes him a bit more like Indiana Jones.

 

[jmc]

If Nolan said it, it would be rude, but he'd at least have some credibility.

The problem with Zack Snyder is that he seems to think as long as something is dark and serious it is "grown-up," when in actuality it is about having deep characters and realistic motivations, actions, and consequences. His movies tend to have none of those things. The characters and stories are all surface level and basic, mostly an excuse to lead to 'SPLOSIONS. Take BvS where the title characters start and stop fighting for very superficial reasons, basically as if it only happens because the plot demands that it does rather than it naturally occurring that way.

If you want to watch an actual "grown-up" superhero movie, watch Logan. That's how you do it.

Even Logan has heart and levity to it. The core of the film is about family, so even though it’s an adult film it’s not bereft of lighter moments. Even war films usually have moments between soldiers where both they and the audience can rest from all the violence. BvS has none of this.

 

[FunkMiller]

Nah. That experience still has the element of dread. It's more like watching paint dry.

Eh. Watching paint dry ends well, with something freshly painted.

It’s like watching pi** freeze in winter.

 

[Samuron]

See, I don't doubt that Snyder is a comic book fan.

I don't know; her reminds me of those guys in the '80s that said stuff like "I don't read comic books; I read graphic novels."

 

[Vader's Fist]

If he ever did a proper big screen version of the Dark Knight Returns, I wonder if he'd make any deviations from the source, like he did with Watchmen.

 

[Babillygunn]

If Nolan said it, it would be rude, but he'd at least have some credibility.

The problem with Zack Snyder is that he seems to think as long as something is dark and serious it is "grown-up," when in actuality it is about having deep characters and realistic motivations, actions, and consequences. His movies tend to have none of those things. The characters and stories are all surface level and basic, mostly an excuse to lead to 'SPLOSIONS. Take BvS where the title characters start and stop fighting for very superficial reasons, basically as if it only happens because the plot demands that it does rather than it naturally occurring that way.

If you want to watch an actual "grown-up" superhero movie, watch Logan. That's how you do it.

My problem with Snyder is that his movies are dark and lifeless, but ultimately the opposite of grown up. There were parts of MOS that were grown up, such as showing Clark’s restraint in the bar, which is one of my favorite Superman scenes, but then he follows it up with “lets have Clark mangle the guys truck and stitch a post through it!” It was at its worst in BvS where the characters wouldn’t talk but just fought. And Batman was just vicious and brutal in his fighting. Or the dumbest part, which was “hey, we have Amy Adams, a highly respected, actress who has been nominated for numerous academy awards...let’s have her do this scene naked in a bathtub!” It’s like a 13 year old trying to churn out something “grown up” made that movie.

The worst part is, I found JL to be thoroughly enjoyable, but the damage was already done.

 

[Deck Rickard]

You know, I've heard a lot of people say that Snyder is almost as bad as Michael Bay, but I've got to be honest... he's worse than Bay. At least Bay's movies look like they take place in the real world. The Transformers themselves may look stupid as bad place but at least it's not painfully obvious they whole thing was filmed in front of a green screen. And I know that neither Bay nor Snyder are VFX artists, but at the end of the day, they're the ones calling the shots and approving of the scenes. They're the ones saying, "Yep, that shot is good enough." Practically NOTHING in BvS or JL looks real. I'll give Snyder credit that in MOS, he made a movie that looked like it (mostly) took place in the real world. But in the follow-ups, he made two films that looked like straight-up garbage about 90% of the time. And if he filmed them on a shoestring budget, then fine. But blowing $300 million on something that looks like Kung Fury is a new level of ineptitude. He should never make another big budget film again.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

You know, I've heard a lot of people say that Snyder is almost as bad as Michael Bay, but I've got to be honest... he's worse than Bay. At least Bay's movies look like they take place in the real world. The Transformers themselves may look stupid as bad place but at least it's not painfully obvious they whole thing was filmed in front of a green screen. And I know that neither Bay nor Snyder are VFX artists, but at the end of the day, they're the ones calling the shots and approving of the scenes. They're the ones saying, "Yep, that shot is good enough." Practically NOTHING in BvS or JL looks real. I'll give Snyder credit that in MOS, he made a movie that looked like it (mostly) took place in the real world. But in the follow-ups, he made two films that looked like straight-up garbage about 90% of the time. And if he filmed them on a shoestring budget, then fine. But blowing $300 million on something that looks like Kung Fury is a new level of ineptitude. He should never make another big budget film again.

I also think Bay is a better director. Bay knows his audience (which is substantial enough to support him) and delivers what they want to see. True screw-ups from him where he tries to be something else only to fail miserably are relatively rare, the most egregious being Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbors make up most of Snyder's filmography.

And Bay's best films (The Rock, Bad Boys) completely blow away Snyder's best films. The Rock in particular is fantastic and is probably my second favorite of the numerous Die Hard clones in the late 80s and 90s (behind Speed).

 

[Deck Rickard]

I also think Bay is a better director. Bay knows his audience (which is substantial enough to support him) and delivers what they want to see. True screw-ups from him where he tries to be something else only to fail miserably are relatively rare, the most egregious being Pearl Harbor. Pearl Harbors make up most of Snyder's filmography.

And Bay's best films (The Rock, Bad Boys) completely blow away Snyder's best films.

Yep, agree with all of that. The Rock is a classic action film that came out in the Age of the Action Movie (the 90s), and Bad Boys is up there too. The closest thing Snyder has to something like that is probably 300, which is problematic for being kinda racist (I blame Frank Miller for that more than Snyder, but he still made the film) and it hasn't aged all that well. Watching it now, some parts just look silly.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

300 is his most popular, but I didn't like it at all. Dawn of the Dead is often said to be his best, but i thought it was kind of bland (which for Snyder probably does make it one of his best) and would much rather watch the Romero classic.

My favorite of his is actually Man of Steel, which I thought was at least an entertaining action movie even if lacking in substance.

 

[BestGirl]

You know, I've heard a lot of people say that Snyder is almost as bad as Michael Bay, but I've got to be honest... he's worse than Bay. At least Bay's movies look like they take place in the real world. The Transformers themselves may look stupid as bad place but at least it's not painfully obvious they whole thing was filmed in front of a green screen. And I know that neither Bay nor Snyder are VFX artists, but at the end of the day, they're the ones calling the shots and approving of the scenes. They're the ones saying, "Yep, that shot is good enough." Practically NOTHING in BvS or JL looks real. I'll give Snyder credit that in MOS, he made a movie that looked like it (mostly) took place in the real world. But in the follow-ups, he made two films that looked like straight-up garbage about 90% of the time. And if he filmed them on a shoestring budget, then fine. But blowing $300 million on something that looks like Kung Fury is a new level of ineptitude. He should never make another big budget film again.

Even MOS was too dark for me. I remember that movie being so gray.

 

[Babillygunn]

Bay also did 13 Hours which was outstanding.

 

[honestbharani]

In the interview with Snyder post-BvS where he talked about how the reactions caught him off guard, he had this to say:



It's that sort of mindset that killed this universe before it even began.

I have always thought that the similarity in Zaddy's and Zaddy fans' defenses of his movies was no coincidence. Same with their attitude towards Marvel movies and characters. They are all equally sad and pathetic.

 

[Vader's Fist]

Greg Rucka hit the nail on the head with Hollywood's cynical outlook:

 

[Samuron]

I just came across that interview today and I'm a little bit stunned. He literally said "I'm a grown-up" in defense of BvS.

I'm sorry, but **** that.

I hadn't read it before, and the worst part, for me, was this:

"Once we said in the room, “Let’s get Batman. What if he fought Batman?” then it’s hard to go back. You can’t take that away. You can’t go, “Oh, you know who else is cool to fight? This guy.” Once you say “Batman” out loud, it’s gonna be Batman."

This is a guy who has no clue about the characters, or what they mean to the comics or the audience. He's just a little kid playing with action figures.

 

[honestbharani]

I hadn't read it before, and the worst part, for me, was this:
This is a guy who has no clue about the characters, or what they mean to the comics or the audience. He's just a little kid playing with action figures.

I think its worse. Its like a 13 or 14 year old playing with action figures and have them brood and beat up on each other and tell everyone how mature and grown up they are, coz that is what maturity is to their eyes, while making fun of the actual 6 year olds playing with action figures coz how much more grown up they are.