There’s a battle going on right now and it’s not the one coming this November when angry voters across the country cast their ballots to choose the next president of the United States.
This war is currently taking place in “Hollyweirdland” where in one corner, already considered a winner in terms box office revenue the past several years is Disney’s Marvel superhero franchises.
The same cannot be said for the Warner Brothers/DC Comics brand in the other corner, which has taken a beating this year. "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016) fell short of the studio’s high expectations. Despite grossing $166 million opening weekend March 25, box office revenue quickly dwindled in the following weeks. The final U.S. gross came out to $330 million on a $250 million budget. Was it the supposed know-it-all movie critics, a majority of who reacted negatively to the film that kept audiences away?
"Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice" was not perfect, but it had everything I wanted in a good movie. The film had characters I cared about, humor, and made me shed a few tears at the end. When the end credits rolled, the audience, which was a full house, cheered.
I went into "Suicide Squad" (2016) hoping for the same reactions I got watching Batman V. Superman. The results were far from positive. There was some humor, most of it coming from the Joker’s psychotic love interest, Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robie. Brandishing a baseball bat as her weapon of choice and dressed in black fishnet stockings, skintight panties which allow her buttocks to stick out, white-lace-up heels and a shirt with the words, “Daddy’s little monster”, she had all the best lines (“I’m quite vexing”).
Alongside Harley Quinn was Jared Leto’s Joker who stole the show in what little scenes he was in, seven minutes worth if you believe the entertainment tabloids, though I didn’t check my cell phone to time the scenes.
Leto’s pale white nightmarish machine gun toting creation may be everything mass murderer James Holmes thought he was when he opened fire on moviegoers at "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012) screening opening night in July 2012 in Aurora, Colorado.
Much like previous Joker incarnations created by Jack Nicholson in "Batman" (1989) and the late Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight" (2008), Leto made his clown faced villain his own sporting metallic teeth like as though he still has braces from when he was in high school, and a smile tattoo on his hand he uses to cover his mouth when he speaks.
When the film arrives on disc early next year, it will be the first “bad” movie I have seen in over thirty years to add to my other list of bad movies I love to hate and don’t tire of watching or listening to while I am doing something else.
Therein lies the reason why despite the many misfires Warner Brothers has had when it comes to the Batman and Superman franchises I have always stood behind their many installments no matter how disappointing some of them were. To this day, I still watch all the good and bad sequels.
I don’t care if George Clooney’s performance as the Caped Crusader in "Batman & Robin" (1997) came equipped with leather nipples and codpieces. True, watching director Bryan Singer’s "Superman Returns" (2006) made me feel like I was watching a remake of "Superman: The Movie" (1978). I felt like I was pounded over the head in the way director Christopher Nolan incorporated post 9/11 storylines with Ledger’s Joker as an American version of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in white make-up in "The Dark Knight" and shades of the Occupy Wall Street movement in "The Dark Knight Rises." I was still entertained, nonetheless.
The one thing all of those sequels had, whether good and bad, is they all drew me in emotionally. As I wrote in my review, "Suicide Squad" is so bad it’s almost entertainingly bad. That’s more than what I can say about the Marvel/Disney superhero franchises.
Ironically, the Marvel superhero adaptations I have embraced are those that have not fallen under the Disney logo…yet, that is, which included director Sam Raimi’s Spider-man trilogy (2002-2007) and The Amazing Spider-man 1 and 2 (2012-2014) from Sony, Universal’s "The Incredible Hulk" (2008) with Edward Norton, a few of the X-Men installments from Fox.
The idea of saying the upcoming DC comics superhero big screen productions are in development hell is the equivalent of the liberal drive by media calling the November presidential election in favor of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over Republican candidate Donald Trump. The debates haven’t even occurred yet!
By comparison, much like that wise old Jedi Master, Yoda, from the Star Wars films, who said the future is always in motion and difficult to see, we will not know whether the "Wonder Woman" film starring Gal Gadot in the title role due out next June, and director Zack Snyder’s "Justice League" in November 2017 live up to the hype as seen by the trailers. Then there’s Ben Affleck’s standalone Batman film, which is also in the works.
With all this mass negativity I have been seeing on social media the past few months concerning "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and "Suicide Squad", it makes me want to forget doing my daily doses of insulin that I’m required to do before every meal and start a mass production of “granny’s iced tea” in the bathroom every hour at night. I already got a growing list of who to send the jars to.
Seeing that I have my health to worry about, however, I’ll just subscribe to the “law of contrary public opinion” that Al Pacino’s Ricky Roma said in the foul-mouthed real estate robbery film, "Glengarry Glen Ross" (1992).
“If everyone thinks one thing, then I say, bet the other way.”
©8/24/16
This war is currently taking place in “Hollyweirdland” where in one corner, already considered a winner in terms box office revenue the past several years is Disney’s Marvel superhero franchises.
The same cannot be said for the Warner Brothers/DC Comics brand in the other corner, which has taken a beating this year. "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" (2016) fell short of the studio’s high expectations. Despite grossing $166 million opening weekend March 25, box office revenue quickly dwindled in the following weeks. The final U.S. gross came out to $330 million on a $250 million budget. Was it the supposed know-it-all movie critics, a majority of who reacted negatively to the film that kept audiences away?
"Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice" was not perfect, but it had everything I wanted in a good movie. The film had characters I cared about, humor, and made me shed a few tears at the end. When the end credits rolled, the audience, which was a full house, cheered.
I went into "Suicide Squad" (2016) hoping for the same reactions I got watching Batman V. Superman. The results were far from positive. There was some humor, most of it coming from the Joker’s psychotic love interest, Harley Quinn, played by Margot Robie. Brandishing a baseball bat as her weapon of choice and dressed in black fishnet stockings, skintight panties which allow her buttocks to stick out, white-lace-up heels and a shirt with the words, “Daddy’s little monster”, she had all the best lines (“I’m quite vexing”).
Alongside Harley Quinn was Jared Leto’s Joker who stole the show in what little scenes he was in, seven minutes worth if you believe the entertainment tabloids, though I didn’t check my cell phone to time the scenes.
Leto’s pale white nightmarish machine gun toting creation may be everything mass murderer James Holmes thought he was when he opened fire on moviegoers at "The Dark Knight Rises" (2012) screening opening night in July 2012 in Aurora, Colorado.
Much like previous Joker incarnations created by Jack Nicholson in "Batman" (1989) and the late Heath Ledger in "The Dark Knight" (2008), Leto made his clown faced villain his own sporting metallic teeth like as though he still has braces from when he was in high school, and a smile tattoo on his hand he uses to cover his mouth when he speaks.
Whereas Nicholson’s Joker was a homicidal artist and Ledger’s version promoted anarchy, Leto’s Joker had no real method to his madness, which is what made him so unpredictable. I couldn’t speak for anyone else but when Harley Quinn received the Joker’s text messages that he was coming for her, I couldn’t wait for his oh-so-brief appearance.The film’s best moments occurred during the first hour as each member of the “Suicide Squad’s” personal lives were cleverly introduced through rock music hits of the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s, all of which fit each character’s personality. To put it simply though as I wrote in my review of the film last week, "Suicide Squad" had a great first act, but barely a second.
When the film arrives on disc early next year, it will be the first “bad” movie I have seen in over thirty years to add to my other list of bad movies I love to hate and don’t tire of watching or listening to while I am doing something else.
Therein lies the reason why despite the many misfires Warner Brothers has had when it comes to the Batman and Superman franchises I have always stood behind their many installments no matter how disappointing some of them were. To this day, I still watch all the good and bad sequels.
I don’t care if George Clooney’s performance as the Caped Crusader in "Batman & Robin" (1997) came equipped with leather nipples and codpieces. True, watching director Bryan Singer’s "Superman Returns" (2006) made me feel like I was watching a remake of "Superman: The Movie" (1978). I felt like I was pounded over the head in the way director Christopher Nolan incorporated post 9/11 storylines with Ledger’s Joker as an American version of Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in white make-up in "The Dark Knight" and shades of the Occupy Wall Street movement in "The Dark Knight Rises." I was still entertained, nonetheless.
The one thing all of those sequels had, whether good and bad, is they all drew me in emotionally. As I wrote in my review, "Suicide Squad" is so bad it’s almost entertainingly bad. That’s more than what I can say about the Marvel/Disney superhero franchises.
The Marvel/Disney movies I have seen these past few years have not given me that. I won’t be shedding any tears if Captain America dies in some future Avengers installment. Truth is I am bored with the Marvel/Disney product. Call it “Marvel Fatigue.” Something I fear could happen with Disney’s other goldmine, the Star Wars franchise, given Mickey Mouse’s plans for sequels and standalone movies from that "galaxy far, far away" every year until 2020. It begs the question, “How much is too much?”Every time I sit through a Marvel adaptation and a previous event is mentioned that happened in another superhero film, I almost expect the filmmakers to post a little title card at the bottom of the scene that says, “See "Avengers: Age of Ultron" (2015)” for reference. Something of which I have seen the publishers do with the monthly comics given most every title is tied to another as a means to get readers/fans to spend more money.
Ironically, the Marvel superhero adaptations I have embraced are those that have not fallen under the Disney logo…yet, that is, which included director Sam Raimi’s Spider-man trilogy (2002-2007) and The Amazing Spider-man 1 and 2 (2012-2014) from Sony, Universal’s "The Incredible Hulk" (2008) with Edward Norton, a few of the X-Men installments from Fox.
The idea of saying the upcoming DC comics superhero big screen productions are in development hell is the equivalent of the liberal drive by media calling the November presidential election in favor of Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton over Republican candidate Donald Trump. The debates haven’t even occurred yet!
By comparison, much like that wise old Jedi Master, Yoda, from the Star Wars films, who said the future is always in motion and difficult to see, we will not know whether the "Wonder Woman" film starring Gal Gadot in the title role due out next June, and director Zack Snyder’s "Justice League" in November 2017 live up to the hype as seen by the trailers. Then there’s Ben Affleck’s standalone Batman film, which is also in the works.
With all this mass negativity I have been seeing on social media the past few months concerning "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and "Suicide Squad", it makes me want to forget doing my daily doses of insulin that I’m required to do before every meal and start a mass production of “granny’s iced tea” in the bathroom every hour at night. I already got a growing list of who to send the jars to.
Seeing that I have my health to worry about, however, I’ll just subscribe to the “law of contrary public opinion” that Al Pacino’s Ricky Roma said in the foul-mouthed real estate robbery film, "Glengarry Glen Ross" (1992).
“If everyone thinks one thing, then I say, bet the other way.”
©8/24/16
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