Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice

[Shiuzu]

I just looked at it as his story without really thinking about Man of Steel. He didn't mention it so I'm not gonna bother.

 

[Kaeb]

I just looked at it as his story without really thinking about Man of Steel. He didn't mention it so I'm not gonna bother.

Point still stands, given that Landis is most notable online right now for a previous video on which he does rant quite eloquently about the issues he and many others (myself included) have had with Man of Steel.

Given that many of the ideas, moments, character choices and set pieces that take place within that movie are quite similar to those mentioned in this most recent video, it's not at all out of the question to directly correlate the two and make connections and comparisons between the points he brought up in both videos.

So yeah, it's perfectly reasonable in all honesty, even if that wasn't the original intention, the way he addresses how and why Superman should and could kill a villain and in particular how he addresses the destruction of the entirety of Metropolis is particularly relevant.

Although Chronicle wasn't the best, Max certainly understands character in storytelling and I'm glad he's still making videos about it.

 

[Shiuzu]

I know what you're saying and I agree.

I just tried to enjoy it without thinking about that turd of a movie.

 

[Kaeb]

Meh, to each his own.

If you want to create a masterpiece, sometimes you have to crack out a few turds.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

Supermans 1 + 2 set to Man of Steel trailer music:

[video=youtube;4pdhKJKiKp8]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4pdhKJKiKp8[/video]

Those 3 minutes are better than the entire Man of Steel film.

 

[Kaeb]

Score still sucks.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

I like that one track. The rest is pretty bad.

 

[Silver Cutlass]

Hmph, it'll be interesting to see how they pull this off, what with TDKR being the end of The Dark Knight Trilogy. If Nolan's involved with it, I'm sure he won't disappoint, but then again, when the purpose of a film is only to reel in as much cash as possible, who knows. Certainly not me. Regardless, I'll probably still see it. As will most of us here, I assume.

 

[Kaeb]

As will most of us here, I assume.

Nope.

Not going to even start with Nolan.

 

[Silver Cutlass]

Nope.

Not going to even start with Nolan.

I liked The Dark Knight Trilogy. Haven't seen Man of Steel yet, though its driving me crazy that I haven't. I prefer to be optimistic when it comes to films, that way I'm not disappointed right off the bat. Curious though, why do you not like him?

 

[Brandon Rhea]

Hmph, it'll be interesting to see how they pull this off, what with TDKR being the end of The Dark Knight Trilogy. If Nolan's involved with it, I'm sure he won't disappoint, but then again, when the purpose of a film is only to reel in as much cash as possible, who knows. Certainly not me. Regardless, I'll probably still see it. As will most of us here, I assume.

I doubt it'll be connected to the Dark Knight trilogy. There had been plans post-TDKR to do a Batman reboot, and I'm guessing MoS 2 will be part of that.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

I just read a Facebook comment about the Superman/Batman movie, where the person said:

"this is going 2 be dark, like star wars episode IV"

This person seems representative of the average Man of Steel fan.

 

[Kaeb]

I liked The Dark Knight Trilogy. Haven't seen Man of Steel yet, though its driving me crazy that I haven't. I prefer to be optimistic when it comes to films, that way I'm not disappointed right off the bat. Curious though, why do you not like him?

Overblown, overrated, drab, self involved storytelling that can take itself much to seriously resulting in much of the potential joy in those stories being obliterated. He's also responsible for some of the most poorly directed action sequences I've ever seen in modern big studio pictures, outside of maybe Paul Greengrass and has thus created a trend of this among other less experienced film makers. SHAKY CAM SHAKY CAM SHAKY CAM.

I don't care nearly enough to go into greater detail, but in short, he needs to distance himself from all of this aciton bull and get back to making works like Memento that are actually interesting, insightful and make you feel something as a viewer beyond headaches.

 

[BLADE]

"COME TO ME SON OF JOR-EL! KNEEEEL BEFORE ZOD!"

Terence Stamp. The Once and Future Zod.

@Nolan: To say nothing of the fact that he's given up on understanding character and has settled for cheap and lazy archetypes as well as thematic follow-through which sometimes works (Inception) and which often doesn't (rewatch TDK to see if Joker's shtick really holds up that well.) And aside from Batman Begins (to be more specific with regards to Batman) he doesn't understand what makes Batman... Batman. Kaeb hit the rest but I'll also note terrible editing problems, overlong and over-convoluted stories, and predictable pacing which staggers dramatic effect in an attempt to pander to the audience but usually results in anticlimax (see TDK, TDKR)

Oh and TDKR is full-on fascist. At least Dredd makes it tongue-in-cheek.

 

[Kaeb]

Dredd was the best I could possibly ask for given the budget they were sitting on, although the Slo Mo stuff was hit or miss and the villain could've been expanded upon a little more. But all things considered, I'd say it's a far more solid movie in comparison to TDKR.

 

[BLADE]

I thought it was more effective than TDK let alone TDKR. It's not my favorite superhero movie (that's probably Superman II or Spider-Man 2), let alone comics (Road to Perdition, History of Violence.) I'll agree with you on the Slo-Mo. I would have been fine with just the opening shot of Lena Headey in the bathtub playing around with it. And her villainess was interesting. Could have used a bit more screentime, but I'm not going to complain about the film being lean given how bloated actioners have gotten lately.

I also could have used a bit more blood. It felt restrained for a Dredd movie, and 2000 AD is all about over-the-top. On the other hand, Karl Urban actually brought some humanity and even reasonableness to the character whilst keeping it faithful. It's interesting that he uses an impression or acting concept --almost a high-tension mimicry-- to find character truths. I also rather liked Olivia Thirlby.

And the action was pretty good too. Not as tense as it might have been, and there were a few missed staging opportunities, but overall I was heartened by what I saw. It was creative. It respected and understood the plot material, and it was intelligent while balancing some neat action.

 

[Kaeb]

It's the only film I've seen in recent memory that had digital blood splatter effects that didn't actually bother me, but given the nature of it's crime thriller dystopian story, it could've benefited from just a little more practical effects work and some decent squibs. Given the tongue-in-cheek nature of the film's tone, it would also have been great to see it explore some more Tarantino-esque set pieces and over the top violence.

I really liked how it handled it's world building though, especially how they approached the city blocks.

It's a pity there hasn't been more like it.

 

[BLADE]

The blood didn't really bother me except during the Slo-Mo sequences, which for me were a bit hit-and-miss (especially the raid on the junkies' pad.) Agreed that a mixture of practical and digital would have worked best, but Lord knows they didn't have a huge budget. What I most appreciated about it was the lean storytelling. It wasn't revolutionary or anything, but it focused on telling the story, had a clear narrative arc, produced several interesting side-characters and had great pacing.

Ironic that the source material was gestated by a variety of New Left and radical futurist types since it was very much an old-fashioned blockbuster.

Also a shame that it didn't do very well. I wouldn't mind a sequel or two.

 

[Kaeb]

The best thing about the story was how ****ing simple it was.

Judge Dredd did not have to save the world.

Judge Dredd did not have to save a pretty girl.

Judge Dredd did not even have to save the city.


It's just another day on the job for him.
If anything it was the Batman movie I've always wanted.

 

[BLADE]

This. I've always wanted a Batman Anthology/Film that dealt with a variety of cold cases that only tied together at the end. No navel-gazing heavy-handed terrorism metaphors, kthx. Also show him doing actual ****ing detective work.

@Dredd: To me it was sort of the spiritual successor to Die Hard (well it and The Raid.)