“Justice League” has been out for a week now, and while the critical reviews haven’t been great, the audience reviews have been quite positive.
So why the difference?
Here’s my problem with the way people review movies these days…
Nobody judges a movie by what they sit and watch in the theatre anymore!
Remember the days when you just went in, found your seat, sat and watched the story unfold in front of your eyes, and then formed your own opinion based on what you’d just watched?
Nobody does that anymore! Before they’ve even gone anywhere near the theatre, they’re already preloaded with information on what happened to the director, how this actor had to do this, how the studio executives wanted this, what the producer’s dog ate for breakfast… and they come out the other end judging the film NOT on what they saw, but on what they didn’t see, what they heard could have been, what they think happened behind the scenes for this, that and the other to turn out the way it did.
Almost nobody is judging “Justice League” on the film they saw on the big screen!
Instead they’re arguing about:
What was filmed by Zack Snyder?
What was filmed by Joss Whedon?
Why was this scene cut from the movie?
Why wasn’t the film three hours long?
When will we see Zack Snyder’s cut of the movie?
Why did Henry Cavill’s mustache cause so many problems?
Why wasn’t Junkie XL allowed to score the film?
And a million other questions that frankly have very little to do with the real question: “Did you enjoy the movie you watched?”
People are judging the movie on what they heard, read and think they know about what happened behind-the-scenes, during the making of the movie and in post-production. They’re carrying all that uneccesary baggage with them when judging the film. DON’T! JUST STOP!
Seriously! How many OTHER movies or TV shows do we, as the general public, do this to? I recently watched both seasons of “Stranger Things” and fell in love with the series. Absolutely loved it! I’d never heard of the Duffer brothers before, I have no idea how the show was filmed, whether there was any problems or dramas behind-the-scenes, during filming, editing… nothing. I don’t know whether they originally intended for this character to live or die, whether they cut any scenes, or altered plans mid-show. Knowing that kind of detail isn’t important to the real question: “Did I enjoy the TV show I watched?”
Fans “in the know” are ruining the experience for themselves by spending more time worrying about how and why a movie was made, instead of just enjoying the entertainment put in front of them.
As I said, audience reviews for “Justice League” have been mostly positive (as of this writing 83% liked it on RottenTomatoes.com). Yet the score for the “in the know” critics sits at 41%. I ask again, why the difference?
It’s my opinion that the general public are the ones who are simply judging this movie on what they see… and they’re enjoying it. Good for them! Let’s hope they continue to spread the word.
Steve Younis
I agree with everything you said in this article. I also think people do the political thing. What I mean by that is “I like Marvel, so I must hate DC.” or “I like Star Wars so there for I hate Star Trek.” etc…. Just so everyone knows this isn’t a sporting event…there is room for more than one winner or good movie.
You do realize that you’ve just alienated anyone who may be critical about this movie? Because what you’re saying is everyone who disliked this movie is an idiot and can’t think for themselves. That the only reason why they didn’t like this movie is because they allowed critics and behind the scenes information to make their decisions for them. Which is totally off topic from the title of the article by the way. But to give you a little bit of insight. Take a look at the audience scores of the Twilight movies, or the Transformer movies, or Tyler Perry’s… Read more »
I’m saying no such thing. I said “almost nobody”, not “everybody”. Of course there are exceptions to the rule… I myself am an exception to what I wrote in the article. I read, heard and followed everything throughout the movie-making process, yet carrying all that “baggage”, I still really enjoyed this movie.
“Fans “in the know” are ruining the experience for themselves by spending more time worrying about how and why a movie was made, instead of just enjoying the entertainment put in front of them.”“It’s my opinion that the general public are the ones who are simply judging this movie on what they see… and they’re enjoying it” I’m not going to argue semantics. Obviously no one ever means EVERYBODY, because that would be ignorant. But the article was clearly slanted against people who didn’t enjoy the movie (that includes critics). According to you, the ones who were “judging the movie… Read more »
And you’re entitled to your opinion… Which is what my article is… an opinion editorial. You don’t have to agree with it. Like you, I’m simply stating an opinion.
My opinion does not invalidate anybody else’s opinion.
I never claimed I was being “truly objective”. I was stating my opinion on the subject matter. You could say I was being truly “subjective”.
Can anyone on any side of this argument claim they’re “truly being objective”? No, because, unless you’re a robot, every writer/reviewer is influenced by personal feelings, tastes, or opinions.
Fair enough.
Then in your opinion, do you believe that most of the people (most, not everyone) who reviewed this movie negatively did so out of preconception rather than judging the movie for its own merit?
I have no way of knowing whether it’s most or not, but it’s my opinion that a lot of the negative reviews fall into that category.
I disagree with that sentiment for the reasons I stated above. And I disagree with your delivery.
But your argument is sound.
Well I totally agree with him. There are people that will see this movie just to say they saw it, then proceed to trash it.
It is very obvious that your intention is making Steve Younis contradict his opinion. Which is very arrogant from people like you, who tries to let someone’s opinion down, or let the person in a bad shape against the public. Steve already clarified that this is his opinion. It’s already clarified when he signed it at the end of the article. I learned that ideas could be debated, not question. You did not debate the arguments of his idea, you tried to ravel his thoughts to making the contradiction. He thinks like that. Period. You did not (and you clarified… Read more »
I do think that the movie has something for everybody to enjoy.
I’m just saying from what I saw of the movie. It’s an opinion is all.
He’s not saying that at all. You unnecessarily made him out to be picking on people. He’s just trying to say that going in fresh is a great way to enjoy anything.
Read our responses. He admits he was being biased.
There is no rubric for what makes a good film and what makes a bad film. If there were, there would be no need for any film critics, just a glance at the universally applicable movie chart (and some services provide this for religious or other reasons). What you can say is that critics for movies who have earned that coveted “Top Critics” slot on Rotten Tomatoes have survived in their competitive field by showing insight or reflecting a certain sensibility when it comes to film. All film. Not just superhero film. It’s safe to say that those fans who… Read more »
Steve – you’re right. The problem is, I think the millenial age has become too complex for itself. We’ve got internet, blogging, social media. Everyone wants to put their opinion up on youtube. (Hell I’m doing it right now) Everyone seems to want to be famous and get page hits. The trollers love their trolling. People seem to want a big fight and are obsessed about MONEY. The studios are so focused on money, that we’re getting far too many trailers before the movie has come out. This gives away too much of the story and heightens/lowers the expectations on… Read more »
That’s not on the critics. I literally saw critics thumb down the movie, because the Amazons had more exposed skin than they did in Wonder Woman. Everyone has their biases and the problem starts when those biases contribute to an arbitrary score number. Critics, in theory, have one job: let you know if the investment you’re making by paying for a movie ticket is worth that money. That’s another reason I loathe review aggregate sites; they never account for home releases separately. The critic model is outdated, but they’re doing their jobs as they know they should do it. This… Read more »
But let’s be true. For the 1st time in years Warner have managed to make the perfect trailers. Showing a little of nothing and hiding everything minimally important.
They typically do great trailers. The MoS trailers were great (to the point of being misleading) and the BvS trailers were a little too spoilery, but they got audiences in the theater. But that’s all they do; they use the Internet as another distribution platform for their trailers and nothing else.
Why is it now after almost two weeks that superman isn’t shown in the commercials? I would think that by now everyone knows he’s back.
Because probably showing him would spoil too much about him and believe or not there are still people that don’t know about it. Personally, I’m quite good at avoiding being spoiled on movies.
I guess that makes sense. If they did show Superman in the commercials, would there be more people going to see the film if they knew superman was back?Maybe they will show him in the commercials when the movie is close to a Blue Ray/DVD release date. Time will tell I guess.
They already show him in the comercials. I’ll explain myself a little better: Superman’s scenes in the movie are very few so anything they showed us might be a spoiler.
I see. So they’re going for the less is more angle. Sort of like the first promo for superman the movie back in the late 70’s with the clouds in the sky and then the title superman. It did work very well for that film.
The Amazon skin thing was what I’d been pointing out regarding the last several months of total internet babble towards the JL. It was so stupid I was in dis-belief. On the yahoo site this morning, headlining another bogus article, “15 times that Superman has killed a friend”! What????????
In the age of social media, you can change someones opinion easier than tying a shoelace. Critics absolutely are in the know of whats been going on during production, how and why?… Social media! All the news is all over the place. There are 4 sites that will cut and paste an article just to get the news out there. So if one site embellishes the truth, or inserts their opinion, the others follow suit. Its almost infectious. When Snyder left the production, due to the fact that his daughter passed away, almost immediately it was reported that WB bought… Read more »
Yep!
Excellent!!!!!!!
The flipside of this is that fans are often predisposed to like a movie, as long as there’s nothing in there that clashes with their preconceived ideas. As a result, they might walk away happy with a mediocre movie that plays it safe with fan expectations (which is what ‘Justice League’ is, in my opinion), while being furious and upset about a movie that tells a better story, with more interesting characterisation, but includes some scenes that go against their personal ideas of how a particular character should behave (the way some fans picked ‘Man of Steel’ to pieces). I… Read more »
But when you watch a Superhero movie what you expect is to see those characters, not some “genious”‘s reinvention of them. When I pay for a Superman movie I PAY FOR A SUPERMAN MOVIE. Not a movie about someone who dresses like Superman. This has been the problem with the previous movies. Then the movie may be good or bad but it will be a matter of story (or acting or any other technical thing) but not a matter of wrong characters. See Suicice Squad. In that movie the characters were how they were supposed to be. Some had more… Read more »
Well the Joker’s look in that film was also a problem. Some have dubbed him “Florida Joker”.
I didn’t like it too but if you think it, his look wasn’t so much specially out of character.
I don’t know, maybe I’m more open to alternative interpretations of characters kal-bert, but I didn’t find anything in ‘Man of Steel’ that strayed far from what Superman has always meant to me. The core story was what it has always been, while the darker tone came from a modern understanding of humanity’s flaws, fears and prejudices that was never previously addressed by a Superman movie, and has rarely been touched on in any other medium. ‘Man of Steel’s’ Superman was still heroic, selfless, compassionate, forgiving, powerful, courageous, determined … I really didn’t miss the sunny smiles, winks to the… Read more »
If you want to increase a chance of seeing the original Snyder version of JL you can sign a petition for home release (and find more people who could be interested).
Link: https://www.change.org/p/warner-bros-zack-snyder-s-director-s-and-tom-holkenborg-s-score-for-home-release-e90fef07-11c6-4a9a-9ae8-375c7717dafa?utm_medium=email&utm_source=petition_signer_receipt&utm_campaign=triggered&j=184438&sfmc_sub=573852285&l=32_HTML&u=34203740&mid=7233052&jb=173388
Imho. Critics don’t hold Marvel and DC films to the same standards. I always felt Marvel movie scores seem overrated because they are guilty of the same pitfalls as the DC movies. I think if critics are less hypocritical, there would be less controversy and a better semblance of fairness/objectivity.
Everything Steve lists is 100% true. If you’re sitting in that theater intent on examining Henry Cavill’s upper lip then you’re probably there to criticize and not to enjoy yourself. But I also do think that critics are walking into these Snyder DC movies with a Marvel checklist in their hand. Marvel has basically defined what a “comic book” movie should be in the mind of most critics and anything not fitting that standard is dismissed as utter trash, ESPECIALLY if it’s DC. They’re essentially damned if they do, damned if they don’t for DC because anything different from Marvel… Read more »
Not sure I agree. As I said elsewhere above, I am not a comic book fan. Rather a movie fan who happened to grow up with Superman. I am not loyal to Marvel in any way. In fact the onslaught of their movies has become tiresome for me. But in spite of this, the fact is that they are simply better movies in general. They have a feel good factor. They are, for the most part, very entertaining and they have the right balance between not taking themselves too seriously but not flat out making a parody of their characters.… Read more »
I’m not a professional film critic, and I didn’t care for the film. In fact I’d planned to skip it after Batman v Superman, but hearing about the production; specifically Geoff Johns being brought on as a producer, and Joss Whedon coming on to help with writing actually helped to change my mind. Most people I know who’ve seen it were “meh” or “s’okay… ” But now they’ve gotten on with then they’ve gotten on with their lives. The unscientific thing with most audience polls is the self-selection bias, people who really enjoyed the film feel a need to voice… Read more »
Us fans simply just want to enjoy the movie and I have. Do I want to see the film with the scenes they left out yes who doesn’t want to see an expended film, but what made it to the screen was great. Simple super hero movie without any complicated backstories or crazy subplots. It was very obvious how some of the reviews I had read before I saw the film were written by critics that had not seen the film. Some of the critics weren’t even in the ball park on some of the actors acting history and one… Read more »
I enjoyed Justice League. These critics who hate this move are a bunch a Snow Flakes.
I think one of the big problems that DC has in particular is that the audience has a preconceived notions about Superman and Batman from previous versions. The most problematic character for Marvel has been the Hulk for the very same reasons. People think the only way to do Superman is like Christopher Reeve did Superman. People that the only way to do Batman is Bale or Keaton or West. The reality is that these characters have had many interpretations and I think over time the audience will catch on…hopefully
That’s a gross oversimplification; first because the interpretations that got into the cultural lexicon that you’ve mentioned are vastly different. The variations between Adam West, Michael Keaton, and Christian Bale are so great, that without the name “Batman”, the casual viewer wouldn’t know it’s the same character. We got a “Christopher Reeve-style Superman” a decade ago, and it was a middling success at best. For that matter, it’s like saying that Christopher Reeve couldn’t have been accepted because he didn’t play the part like George Reeves. Any character like this; Superman, Batman, James Bond, Kaptain Kangaroo… isn’t about how a… Read more »
Cavill worse than Cain, Welling….to each his own I guess but I can’t disagree more…the problem is until MOS no one except people that read comics had ever seen Post-Crisis Superman in live action. Cain, Welling, South, and Superbly were Reeve interpretations or to use comic terms Silver Age Superman. Its not a coincidence the film was called Man of Steel just like the Byrne reboot in 1986. I love Superman the Movie. I love Man of Steel. I love Superman the Animated Series. I sat through all ten seasons of Smallville even when it became Chloe Sullivan show. There… Read more »
Calling Dean Cain or Tom Welling “Reeve interpretations” or Silver Age is more than a bit of a stretch. I concede that their respective shows had issues in their later seasons (Smallville Season Six should have been called the Green Arrow Show), but the respective characterizations got Superman as a positive character right. I presume you refer to Brandon Routh and the Superboy tv series, well they were more Silver Age. I was referring to Superman Returns when I said we got a “Christopher Reeve-style Superman a decade ago”. For whatever it’s worth, I broadly agree with you on your… Read more »
Cain said in an interview that was what he was doing a Reece interpretation. Smallville did have other problems. I just think it is fair to ask for something different from Reeve because no one else will do it better.
Speaking of Cain, any word on that reprisal of Lois and Clark the new adventures of Superman? I’m kinda hoping that there will be. I so want to see a proper conclusion to that series. Maybe make it a four hour special?
You don’t think maybe the cast as aged a bit too much now?
True. They have aged, but I think it would be interesting to see a superman show about his later years. I mean John Wesley Shipp was a guest star on the Flash as the Jay Garrick Flash. True it’s not the Barry Allen Flash he played over 20 years ago, but if they can bring back John as a Flash I can’t see why they can’t bring back Dean Cain as superman for a mini series of some kind. If he and the rest of the cast and crew are still interested of coarse.
It’d be interesting to see them reprise their respective roles in an animated film like Adam West and Burt Ward did with Batman and Robin. It’d also make it easier to see a replacement Perry than if they stuck a replacement actor in live action.
I think he can pull off the kingdom come superman look. Maybe a multiverse episode on supergirl? It would be very interesting to see how Alex reacts to a Superman who has a striking resemblance to her father. And it would be interesting to see how supergirl works with both her cousin and her foster father’s look alike superman. Of coarse this just an idea. It’s possible because of the multiverse after all.
He shows up on Supergirl. A little long in the tooth for reprising that role.
“We got a “Christopher Reeve-style Superman” a decade ago” False. I have seen this line trotted out a million times but it doesn’t mean it is true. While set in a psuedo-Donnerverse and having a Superman that visually resembled Reeve, the actual character was a lot closer to Cavill’s than Reeve’s (well, MoS and BvS Cavill anyway). It was SR that started the moping “world on his shoulders” Superman, not MoS. Something that is often overlooked but people hear the John Williams theme and see Brando and think that’s all there was to Reeve’s Superman series. What’s more, the problems… Read more »
Please don’t misunderstand me, I’m the first to point out the failings of Superman Returns. However, they were trying (at least superficially) to emulate the Donner/Lester/Reeve-style. Hence the reason I called it “a middling success at best”. Whether Dean Cain said he was doing a “Reeve interpretation” or not, he’s also said it was the first to break with tradition and portray a more assertive Clark Kent (he is wrong, arguably George Reeves was. And Beau Weaver in the 1988 animated series), and with Clark the “real identity”. Here’s my broad take on it; the actors who portray Kal-El/Clark/Superman should… Read more »
I make up my own mind about a film after I see it. If people agree with my opinion, great. If they don’t, so what?I don’t care. It’s their opinion, and they have as much right to their opinion as I do. I don’t listen to critics. They may agree or disagree, I’ll still make up my own thoughts on if the film was good or bad.
I see the movie,and i was quite happy,a little sad…because it was shorter…but even when i saw BvS i felt that the movie was over too fast!I have a fear that the people think that all that is with a Marvel mark is awesome the rest is poor,the Avengers for me is nothing special is only a great battle,perhaps only for that they say that is not boring or slow,Snyder every time is looking to put a story in motion givin sometimes scenes a little too long,but now that i have see Justice league i give to BvS an even… Read more »
Just about forever, critic’s in general have never taken these kinds of movies seriously. Once and a while one breaks through and for one reason or another grabs their attention in a positive way. But it seems the more realistic they try and make them the less attention critics pay to them. Snyder’s approach was save the comedy, don’t take the light hearted approach but make it more towards, what if this was real. Obviously the critics have a hard time paying attention to that approach. I don’t think that for the most part audiences go to movies with mental… Read more »
So, if audiences are enjoying the movie, aren’t they already ignoring what the critics are saying, and thinking for themselves? If audiences are so interested in what critics think, then why did the new Blade Runner movie do so poorly at the box office? Or why do people keep going to see Transformers movies when critics tear them apart? How about instead of making excuses for WB’s incredibly poor handling of this franchise, and blaming the critics for Justice League’s poor box office numbers, we look at the situation a little more honestly. Anyone who is being honest with themselves… Read more »
Look at the situation more honestly? The critics are obviously after something else. I would be dishonest with myself if I thought I had to look at MoS, BvS and SS the way you do. If there’s any honestly here it’s that almost over the entire year there has been one post after another in which 90% have been on the negative side towards the JL. So the critics, like we all have, have been basking in “fake” invented nonsense and it was quite easy for them to parallel off of it. And by the way SS, although having a… Read more »
Where exactly was the bias from the critics with Wonder Woman? If they had some kind of agenda against DC, why would they heap so much praise on Wonder Woman knowing that could have given the DCEU some much needed momentum going into JL? The answer is really quite simple as long as you’re not wearing a tin foil hat. Wonder Woman was an actual good movie with a likable character in the lead role. The critics recognized it. General audiences recognized it, and it got the praise it deserved. They called it like they saw it. Just like they… Read more »
First off Wonder Women had nothing in it that was controversial. It was carefully edited and stayed away from anything that might draw attention in a controversial way. I did like it, but put it in the same category as MoS or BvS for the matter? NO WAY! It got a big boost with the over played directed by a women angle. As for the invented nonsense. Unless we have a totally different home page(mine being yahoo), that has for the last several months ran article after article every day and every week(and still going on), you would have had… Read more »
Critics and audience are two different animals. As critics are paid to analyse, dissect and study the films presented to them by the double dozen,the audience simply want to pay money and escape reality in a period of 2-3 hours inside the theatre. They can also decide if they have liked a film or not. And if you have a company of friends who happen to know about comic book movies in general they don’t have to listen to a critic’s opinion and compare comic book films to the likes of the Godfather and Dirty Dozen. All they want is… Read more »
The sad thing is, for those of us that want to see this franchise go forward, with a JL 2 and especially MoS 2 and 3 even. The bad reviews which impact the box office, jeopardize those chances.
It’s actually holding very well this weekend and will end with between 175 and 180 million by Sunday. As long as its holds remain on the good side then the DCEU will be fine. I posted in another thread that I actually think the reaction to Superman in this movie will speed up MOS 2. They have Henry for one more movie without renegotiating. So why make him a costar when you can make him the star JUST when they FINALLY get him right?
Yes I am optimistic about MoS 2 as you are. And Henry said that he will continue to play Superman as long as they want him to.
As of this morning, It’s reported that JL has grossed $400M worldwide so far. Thats just in its first week, so I hope that within 3 weeks of its release it will have past at least $600M.
Unfortunately there is a very good article on its BO prospects my Mark Hughes at Forbes (who very much liked the movie)that explains why JL might be a big financial disappointment.
It’s now crossed $500M in about 10 days, so maybe, and no disrespect to Mark Hughes, it wont be such a disappointment after all.
Time will tell, but precedent is not on its side.
The movie was reviewed here on the Homepage and, in the comments section, many of the folks were haggling about these same kinds of things. Not knowing (or expecting, quite frankly) if anyone would agree with me, I posted almost the exact same question: “Did you enjoy the movie?” Only one person replied, but I am so happy to see that someone out there feels the same way I feel about it.
Superman is what I believe is what most people have in common. The respect they have for this great superhero. I may go by the name Spidey, but Superman will always take precedence over Spiderman in my book. Superman will always be my favorite Superhero.
Steve, every one of your words was so true! And I don’t care what scenes were filmed by Whedon or Snyder however having watched the previous 2 movies it is not hard to see which scene did each one. And I enjoyed nearly every part of it. Well maybe Bats was a little too much into jokes but just a little.
The only thing I hate of this movie is the reason why Zack had to be replaced.
You have stated elsewhere on this site seeing previous DC’s
junk movies. I would like to be enlightened by you as to what exactly were DC’s junk movies?
I have also stated on the same posts the reasons because I think those were bad movies. But I’ll repeat one thing once more. For me MoS wasn’t specially a bad movie. It was a great superhero movie BUT A VERY BAD SUPERMAN MOVIE.
Well….ok thanks for clarifying that. But unlike you, I never saw a BAD Superman movie!
Forget the aggregator most times. I usually key on a few specific reviewers whose taste often aligns with mine. One of the primary ones being Richard Roeper. But beyond that, I always try to divorce myself from the review bubble (especially with superhero movies) because phrases like “superhero fatigue” automatically show where a reviewer is coming from right from jumpstreet. And there are plenty of classic (to me) movies that I like which get middling or dismal scores on Rotten Tomatoes. Regardless of the CG mustache or overly condensed villain/plot, my Justice League experience was great.
The movie was okay but I can’t get over the deleted scenes and the lack of Zimmer and Junkie XL music. It’s a kick in the guts knowing a movie I would’ve liked even more exists but I’ll never see it.
https://www.change.org/p/warner-bros-zack-snyder-s-director-s-and-tom-holkenborg-s-score-for-home-release-e90fef07-11c6-4a9a-9ae8-375c7717dafa/u/22052764
[…] there’s another, more toxic side to fandom. I felt compelled to write this post when I saw this article on the Superman Homepage that suggested that some of the more toxic elements of fandom may be […]
Personally I think it came out way too soon after both BvS and WW. They should have waited until March which would have given the audience a little time to breathe and for the production to iron out all the issues.
Sundevil82, yeah more production time would have helped given the circumstances. I think Justice League may just be hurt by being a transitional film between the previous path and the new direction they are needing to go in. The difference with Wonder Woman is from what I understand that her movie got to come straight out of the box with the new direction which is part of what made it a breath of fresh air for casual movie goers, fans, and critics. Justice League was being course corrected in the middle of being made in the previous direction. The common… Read more »
Hard reboot would be a bad idea. The public would have no reason to approach another movie starring the same characters just played by different actors. Familiarity trumps tone correction. There is a reason Homecoming featured Tony Stark as heavily as it did. The best option is to repair the DC brand and this is best achieved by relying on their big guns. Again, it doesn’t matter how much people think Superman suffered from BvS; he’s a worldwide cultural icon, people will give him a chance again and again. Same with Batman. And, yeah, you’re both right that the film… Read more »
They probably don’t need to reboot it completely, but I think they should take this opportunity to slow things down and make a clear plan. New writers and new directors for some stand alone films. They should make the core members a priority and then move on to the Nightwings and Deathstrokes. In fact, I think they should combine cyborg, Nightwing and Deathstroke and just make it a titans movie. I’d like to see Matthew Vaughn or JA Bayona come in for Superman. Or at least someone who is a dual threat of writer/director. I wish Denis Velenueve was a… Read more »
When I see a movie and tell people how I feel about it, I’m honest because I like to let them know my thoughts. As I said before there may be people who agree with me, and there may be people who disagree with my views. There may be people who try to start a debate with me just so that they can annoy me and”try” to win the debate. At this point I’ve decided to take a new direction. I’ll ignore them. Why waist my time with people who just want to start arguments. It’s just a waist of… Read more »
I am wondering if DC/WB/CW will have anything planned for Superman’s 80th birthday. Movie,TV,Comics, and video games. Superman hasn’t had a decent solo video game in a long while. I hope that in his next game he will be the hero rather than the villain. It really bugs me when they make my favorite superhero the villain of the story. I liked the open world game play that the superman returns video game had. Maybe for the the next one they could expand it so that Superman could fly to his fortress of solitude? Some more alternate costumes would be… Read more »
Zod,ursa,non, and parasite could also be pre order villains for the games
Oops, I meant to say that they can have their own opinion too. My fingers got ahead of me.
Saw Justice League last night. Thought it was great. I guess some critics are not fans. Us fans look at the films & TV shows differently.
Forced to agree with some of the others. The editorial carries an implicit claim that the majority who dislike the movie only did so because they were influenced by outside influences. That’s pretty darned offensive. It also plays into the whole narrative of “haters” and so on. For me I actually thought that JL was the best of the three DCEU Superman movies. But it is still weak. I am not a comic book fan. I am rather primarily a Superman fan. Less so a Batman fan. These are the only comic char5actrers I grew up with and am familiar… Read more »
Quite frankly your comments don’t have much to do with the topic. I’m not saying their not worthy, just not what the topic is about. But briefly…what Donner did 40 years ago was simply to tell A superman origin story. And it was placed in a modern day setting. What Snyder did was re-tell the origin story and place it in OUR modern day setting. I’ve grown up with them all! And they’ve all been good. Foe some it’s hard to leave the past. They went with Snyder’s version and I for one will continue to be on board and… Read more »
My comments have everything to do with the topic. I can only assume you read the bit about Donnerverse and ignored all the rest as the reference to the Donner movie was illustrative of a movie that was both a good Superman movie but also a good movie full stop. That has nothing to do with a debate about how much the Donner movie would work today because that’s not the point. The point is that Superman The Movie was not a divisive movie. Snyder’s efforts have been. Quite frankly I really don’t care whether you love or hate them.… Read more »
I get what you’re trying to say, but Superman: The Movie is a bad basis for your argument. The Dark Knight would’ve been a better one. STM was the first serious attempt, by serious film-makers to take a super-hero that had become a cultural icon and turn him into an honest-to-god film. The culture, the market and the genre are all fundamentally different today. As for the rest, I have no idea what you two are arguing about. I disagree with Steve’s take as well for a number of reasons, but there are many a reason why audiences don’t take… Read more »
Honestly I think the critics, for one reason or another, just can’t stand Zack Snyder. They have historically panned every one of his movies since 300. I’ve enjoyed all of them, even Sucker Punch.
Personally I thoroughly enjoyed Justice League. I thought Steppenwolf’s motivations couldn’t have been more clear and Superman was absolutely the star of the film. Yes I’ll say it’s the best Superman movie since the original in 1978. I hope this franchise does continue because I really want to see the Legion of Doom in Justice League 2 and Darkseid in Man of Steel 2.
I had no problem with Steppenwolf as well.
After viewing Justice League at a 9pm showing last night, I thought I’d contribute my brief feelings on film. Good start, Henry moustache for me wasn’t a distraction at all or as noticeable as Carrie Fisher at conclusion of Rogue 1, sfx good, John Williams original Superman score partial usage, Elfman’s original Batman theme also good to hear being employed. For those who argued that this is a new take on Superman & Zimmer score is brilliant, why is Williams score portion employed twice here? The reason is that Williams score ‘is’ Superman’s theme & the world identifies it similarly,… Read more »
For those who argued that this is a new take on Superman & Zimmer score is brilliant, why is Williams score portion employed twice here? The reason is that Williams score ‘is’ Superman’s theme & the world identifies it similarly, Star Wars, Indiana Jones & Star Trek! That’s a nice thought and all, but the actual reason is that Whedon reached out to Elfman at the last minute (he literally called him and told him he must have an answer by the next day) and had to quickly come up with something, so he fell back on what’s safe and… Read more »
I’ve only seen this once so far and I don’t entirely agree with your sentiments however there was one thing you mentioned where I think you might be onto something. The scene where Superman flew away with Lois and his recovery in general were too rushed for my taste. It mostly seemed to happen off screen. Now that you’ve brought it up I can’t help comparing the scene of Superman flying off with Lois to the scene of him catching her in BvS after Lex threw her off the skyscraper. In hindsight I was say the former was rushed whereas… Read more »
Despite all the negativity from various areas this weekend so far has been pretty darn good for the Justice League. The movie is at this point just under $500K! And by tomorrow morning it should be there or slightly over.
So how did this happen? Simple! People are going to see it. And a lot of people are seeing it and leaving with a positive feeling. It’s not going to make a billion but at this point it’s still holding it’s own.
You mean $500M not 500k right bro?
Yes, almost or just over half a billion in just 10 days is impressive. Heres hoping that the next 2 weeks it remains strong. The $1 Billion mark may not be out of the question if it does. Thus solidifying JL 2 and more importantly MoS 2… I’d also like to see the Cyborg movie as well. I loved him in the movie!
Your right! Thanks for the correction.
I actually liked Cyborg as well. And especially after he was the one that FINALLY called Superman, “Superman” to his face!
Yeah, in an essence he was the actual heart of the story! I just loved that they did him justice (no pun intended)
I have not had the time to comment on here for a long while now. I still check out the site when I can-but I caught this article and just had to comment on something while my son is asleep and I”m on my way to work. The part of your article Steve, that I agree with is that, I think the time has been lost where people just went to the movie (or watched a show for that matter) and just went in to sit back and enjoy some entertainment and to escape into the story and experience and… Read more »
Just came back from my second viewing. The theatre was packed, which isn’t exactly common on a Monday night, a few days before the movie is pulled. No kids either; all adults this time (for obvious reasons). This is in regards to the financial success or failure of the movie; anecdotal example, but encouraging nonetheless. They also seemed to enjoy it, but they enjoyed it for pretty much every reason I didn’t, which worries me about the future of super-hero movies. They wouldn’t shut the eff up during the entire first act. When the League first confronted Steppenwolf underneath Gotham… Read more »