*

Offline honk

  • *
  • Posts: 3347
  • resident goose
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1020 on: October 17, 2021, 10:35:34 PM »
Yeah, but physical danger shouldn't simply be a non-concern for him either. That's just not the character. Part of Batman's appeal is that he has physical limitations and can't just plow through enemies with brute force.
ur retartet but u donut even no it and i walnut tell u y

Rama Set

Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1021 on: October 17, 2021, 11:30:50 PM »
Yeah, but physical danger shouldn't simply be a non-concern for him either. That's just not the character. Part of Batman's appeal is that he has physical limitations and can't just plow through enemies with brute force.

That’s true. Well hopefully the whole film isn’t like that then because I could see it being a negative, especially if they don’t have enough personal stakes.

*

Offline honk

  • *
  • Posts: 3347
  • resident goose
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1022 on: December 27, 2021, 08:41:02 PM »
Another trailer!



So is Batman an invulnerable behemoth or not? He casually no-sells about a hundred bullets all at once, and yet we see him taking care to block and dodge blows in hand-to-hand combat. This isn't about realism; it's about internal consistency. Maybe there'll be a decent explanation for the discrepancy, like it's a dream, or an unreliable account of encountering Batman from a disoriented criminal, but if this is just presented as-is because Reeves or whomever simply thought it looked cool (which it does, to be fair), it'll really annoy me. I can't stand it when movies take the time to establish a baseline for a character or situation and then blatantly contradict themselves later. It's one of the few types of "plot holes" that piss me off and I refuse to overlook.

The rest of the movie looks great. Oh, and I really appreciate how this Batman doesn't have a distracting disguise for his voice the way that Bale and Affleck did. Nobody cares that Bruce Wayne and Batman sound the same. Lots of people have very similar voices. The internal logic of the movie isn't going to collapse in on itself because Bruce Wayne and Batman sound the same and therefore someone must have put together that they're the same person based on that.
« Last Edit: December 28, 2021, 09:43:13 PM by honk »
ur retartet but u donut even no it and i walnut tell u y

*

Offline Iceman

  • *
  • Posts: 1825
  • where there's smoke there's wires
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1023 on: December 29, 2021, 12:59:03 AM »
Easy to hate on the disguised voice in some of the recent movies. But it at least made sense in Batman Begins. You could see why he thought he needed to. It just got a little ridiculous in the Dark Knight.

But I completely agree about the batfleck voice disguise being unnecessary. I’m cautiously optimistic about the new one, but ready to be disappointed.

*

Offline honk

  • *
  • Posts: 3347
  • resident goose
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1024 on: January 13, 2022, 07:39:20 PM »
https://variety.com/2022/film/news/batman-pg-13-rating-robert-pattinson-1235152275/

A lot of people on social media are complaining about this, but this is actually good. Batman is a character aimed primarily at children, he always has been, and a movie about him should at least be aimed at families and teenagers. Adult fanboys need to learn to share the franchises of their youth with today's youth. It's too late for Star Wars, but hopefully capeshit can at least in part be saved. Never forget these wise words:

ur retartet but u donut even no it and i walnut tell u y

*

Offline Lord Dave

  • *
  • Posts: 7653
  • Grumpy old man.
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1025 on: January 15, 2022, 08:29:02 PM »
Wait... why would anyone bitch about the PG-13 rating?  What's the problem?  The Nolan ones were PG-13.  And its not like Batman needs to rip off limbs or anything.
If you are going to DebOOonK an expert then you have to at least provide a source with credentials of equal or greater relevance. Even then, it merely shows that some experts disagree with each other.

*

Offline honk

  • *
  • Posts: 3347
  • resident goose
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1026 on: January 16, 2022, 09:23:30 PM »
A lot of people strongly prefer R-rated action movies simply because they allow for a more vivid and unfiltered depiction of sex, violence, language, and general intensity, and I think that applies doubly when it comes to a movie that falls firmly on the dark and gritty end of the tonal spectrum. Batman himself won't be killing or mutilating people, but the people he fights, and in particular what looks to be a very murderous version of the Riddler, certainly will be. It's entirely possible to make an excellent R-rated Batman movie where we see the real violence that takes place on the mean streets, we hear how the cops and criminals really talk, and so on. The problem, though, is that Batman movies aren't exactly coming off an assembly line. You can have different versions of the character appear in various video games and TV shows and nobody will really care, but rightly or wrongly, live-action films are higher-profile, and they essentially become a statement that their Batman is more or less the definitive version of him for some time to come - at least until the next Batman movie comes out. To put the high-profile, definitive version of Batman in an R-rated movie means nothing less than excluding kids from enjoying this Batman, and to me, that just seems like a really shitty thing to do.

Of course, there are also the people who are just embarrassed by the idea of capeshit being for kids, and whether they admit it or not, can only bring themselves to enjoy it if they're sure that it's explicitly not meant for kids. That's where people like Zack Snyder fall, as indicated by the needless editing of his cut of JL to include so much alien gore. Like C.S. Lewis pointed out, there's nothing so childish as an attitude like that.
ur retartet but u donut even no it and i walnut tell u y

*

Offline rooster

  • *
  • Posts: 4139
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1027 on: January 17, 2022, 01:13:32 AM »
But also, The Boys is the best capeshit. Checkmate, PG-13 rating.

*

Offline honk

  • *
  • Posts: 3347
  • resident goose
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1028 on: January 30, 2022, 05:36:27 AM »
If anyone's interested, Joss Whedon recently had an interview where he was given a chance to present his side of the story over the allegations that have dogged his career over the past couple of years. Instead of doing that, he apparently decided to triple down on reinforcing what a horrible person he seems to be. The parts about JL are the most interesting to me. Whedon didn't have much of a defense to the accusations of toxic behavior or making threats, but a lot of what he had to cut from JL was mandated by the studio beforehand. Regarding the charges of racism, instead of pointlessly throwing stones by calling Ray Fisher a bad actor, Whedon could have very easily and accurately pointed out that he had to reduce the film's runtime dramatically, and it wasn't his fault that so many of the people of color in the supporting cast were limited to lengthy character introductions and extraneous subplots. Zheng Kai's only real role in the Snyder cut was to hint that he'd one day be the Atom. Harry Lennix's only real role was to reveal himself as Martian Manhunter - and like I said when I reviewed the movie, to very unnecessarily undermine a nice scene between Martha and Lois by turning out to be one of them in disguise. Kiersey Clemons's only real role was to hint that she'd be Barry's love interest in an upcoming movie. These roles were all easy cuts for a director whose job it was to make the movie shorter.

Snyder fans, presumably because they have poor reading comprehension (which might in part explain why they think his movies are well-written), interpreted this article as a pro-Whedon puff piece and took to Twitter to complain, Ray Fisher himself among them. Or maybe it's because of this amusing line in particular:

Quote
While Whedon’s superhero epics were leavened by irony and wordplay, Snyder’s were brooding and self-important, with a visual style that combined the artificiality of a video game with the fascist aesthetic of a Leni Riefenstahl production.

It's inflammatory, but it's true!
« Last Edit: February 24, 2022, 06:38:24 AM by honk »
ur retartet but u donut even no it and i walnut tell u y

*

Offline honk

  • *
  • Posts: 3347
  • resident goose
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1029 on: February 18, 2022, 06:48:02 AM »
Peacemaker is a delight from start to finish. Nobody but John Cena could have captured this character's perfect blend of overblown machismo and heart the way he does, Gunn tells an engaging story with both humor and sincerity, the glam rock/hair metal soundtrack is just the right level of kitsch to work (They even play Steel Panther at one point!), and while I'm sure this element of the show will be controversial in certain geek circles, I loved how explicitly political it turned out to be. It never quite preaches or scolds, but the show makes a point of consistently pushing back on characters who make bigoted remarks or embody toxic behaviors, relentlessly skewers racists while showing them to be as pathetic as are they reprehensible, and openly embraces a progressive, wholesome vision of the future. We can undoubtedly thank the alt-right political commentators who tried to end Gunn's career back in 2018 for convincing him to make this show as political as he did, just as we can thank those same people for Gunn being able to work for DC at all. Good job, guys!

The show does have flaws. The CGI as a whole is pretty bad. A few effects look decent, but most of it looks very unconvincing, and unfortunately, the effect we see the most is Peacemaker's pet eagle. I love the eagle as a character, and his bond with Peacemaker is really nice, but he looks fake as hell every second he's on screen. A more serious issue is the fact that Gunn wrote every episode by himself, and by the end of the show, his writing style begins to drag. He's a great writer, but eight episodes of him and only him is simply too much. I've talked about this before, and I stand by it - there is no TV show in the world that benefits from having only one writer who writes every episode alone. Television simply is not a form of storytelling suited to auteurs. After hours and hours spent with one writer, you start to notice their repetitions. You start to notice their storytelling tics. You start to notice little flaws in their writing that might have been fixed if a fresh perspective had been allowed a pass at the script, or even a co-writer to push back on poor ideas and convince the main writer to do better. I'm convinced that premium channels and streaming services encourage the shows they order to be written by one person because it lets them market the supposed prestige of auteur theory to the media. "Look at this TV show! The pure, uncompromised artistic vision of one ambitious dreamer! This isn't a generic corporate product; it's a very personal statement and work of art!"

As far as Gunn goes, there's this one very distinctive joke format that he likes to use. Some characters are having a discussion, someone uses a certain phrase, aphorism, or joke, another character suddenly calls attention to what they just said, and then for the next thirty or forty seconds the original topic is essentially forgotten as the characters argue about the logic of the phrase that was just used, its hidden implications, or its literal meaning. Gunn can use this format once or twice in a two-hour movie and it's all good. But in this show, he uses it at least once an episode, and sometimes more. By the end of the season, I was rolling my eyes whenever I could see the setup rearing its head once again. I imagine it's even more annoying if you binge the show. And that's exactly the kind of thing that could have been avoided if Gunn had let other people write or even co-write a few of these episodes. There are other little tics and repetitions that would have been softened too, but that's easily the biggest thing that jumped out at me about his writing every episode.

Don't get me wrong - this show is still great, and I couldn't be happier about it getting another season. I just would really like to see at least one more writer come aboard and balance out some of Gunn's ideas next time.
« Last Edit: February 21, 2022, 02:31:35 AM by honk »
ur retartet but u donut even no it and i walnut tell u y

*

Offline JSS

  • *
  • Posts: 1618
  • Math is math!
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1030 on: February 18, 2022, 01:09:26 PM »
I am also a fan.  I didn't find the eagle to be too bad, I suppose by now I'm just used to low quality special effects in TV shows.  It only bothers me if I see bad effects in a 300 million dollar movie.

Professional wrestlers are perfect for superhero movies.  They already have a lot of experience performing ridiculous stuff with a straight face, with the added benefit they also can whip out the tears and emotion when it's time for drama.

"You need to have an emotional moment where you break down in tears over your tragic past while bonding with a bug in a jar."

Most actors would struggle with that.  To an ex-wrestler it's just another day. :)

Rama Set

Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1031 on: February 18, 2022, 01:18:46 PM »
Most actors would struggle with that.  To an ex-wrestler it's just another day. :)

Tom Hanks played half a film in an incredibly compelling fashion with a volleyball as their scene partner. I don’t think most actors would struggle with this in the slightest.

*

Offline Iceman

  • *
  • Posts: 1825
  • where there's smoke there's wires
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1032 on: February 18, 2022, 01:29:35 PM »
Fair, but Tom Hanks is also Tom mawfuckin Hanks…

*

Offline JSS

  • *
  • Posts: 1618
  • Math is math!
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1033 on: February 18, 2022, 02:33:26 PM »
Fair, but Tom Hanks is also Tom mawfuckin Hanks…

^ This

*

Offline Roundy

  • Abdicator of the Zetetic Council
  • *
  • Posts: 4183
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1034 on: February 18, 2022, 04:42:51 PM »
Peacemaker is the best thing to come out of the DCEU (whatever that even means anymore) yet. I've never been a fan of John Cena as an actor but he's fantastic in this; he certainly seems to have found his niche.

Those opening credits are the best of all time.

The Eagly special effects didn't seem so egregiously bad to me. The cow was laughable. But James Gunn seems to have a thing for big, goofy, fake looking monsters so it's all good. I feel like it's part of the joke.
Dr. Frank is a physicist. He says it's impossible. So it's impossible.
My friends, please remember Tom said this the next time you fall into the trap of engaging him, and thank you. :)

*

Offline honk

  • *
  • Posts: 3347
  • resident goose
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1035 on: February 19, 2022, 05:35:06 AM »
And in perhaps the most predictable news imaginable, there's this (article contains spoilers), because Snyder fans were emboldened by the release of the Snyder cut and now they will never, ever shut up. Imagine being this fanatically loyal to a grim, cynical, and soulless vision of capeshit dreamed up by a director as dumb as he is pretentious.
ur retartet but u donut even no it and i walnut tell u y

*

Offline Roundy

  • Abdicator of the Zetetic Council
  • *
  • Posts: 4183
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1036 on: February 19, 2022, 06:36:55 AM »
And in perhaps the most predictable news imaginable, there's this (article contains spoilers), because Snyder fans were emboldened by the release of the Snyder cut and now they will never, ever shut up. Imagine being this fanatically loyal to a grim, cynical, and soulless vision of capeshit dreamed up by a director as dumb as he is pretentious.

Jesus, Snyder devotees have a lot in common with Trump devotees.
Dr. Frank is a physicist. He says it's impossible. So it's impossible.
My friends, please remember Tom said this the next time you fall into the trap of engaging him, and thank you. :)

*

Offline JSS

  • *
  • Posts: 1618
  • Math is math!
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1037 on: February 19, 2022, 12:05:47 PM »
capeshit

That was one of my favorite lines from the show.  Perfectly expressed what I expect real law enforcement feelings on super hero/villains would be.  Not lofty discussions on justice and morality, just, oh crap not this shit again.

*

Offline honk

  • *
  • Posts: 3347
  • resident goose
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1038 on: March 01, 2022, 04:59:39 AM »
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_batman

I've made the mistake of reading too many reviews for movies too often in the past to fall into that trap now. But at least the consensus looks good. I guess I'll share my thoughts when I see the movie.
ur retartet but u donut even no it and i walnut tell u y

*

Offline Roundy

  • Abdicator of the Zetetic Council
  • *
  • Posts: 4183
    • View Profile
Re: Superhero Movies & Comics General
« Reply #1039 on: March 02, 2022, 06:39:36 PM »
https://www.cbr.com/peacemaker-anti-gravity-helmet-cant-work/amp/

I enjoy CBR's pointless little articles about seemingly everything pop culture related from time to time, but this one is just silly. The whole concept of antigravity makes no sense in physics, so any time the concept is introduced it contradicts physics. So duh, Peacemaker's antigravity helmet makes no sense, any more than antigravity makes sense on Star Trek or whatever. So nitpicking beyond that just seems like a dumb exercise. Somebody had a deadline and couldn't think of anything worthwhile to write about, lol
Dr. Frank is a physicist. He says it's impossible. So it's impossible.
My friends, please remember Tom said this the next time you fall into the trap of engaging him, and thank you. :)