Sad Affleck

[stanley1883]

Why do comic book fans revel in bad reviews on comic book movies?

 

It just makes no sense. Its like people are hoping this film is a flop. We are in the greatest time every for comic book movies. Do we actually wish they weren't being made?

 

This is actually an interesting question as I haven't thought about it much. With this film in particular there were some casting decisions that I was against, namely Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor. While I do not want film to flop and I'm ecstatic that it was made, I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel good to be justified in the eyes of some critics, at least with regards to the Lex Luthor casting decision.

 

I would have loved it if I was made to eat my words regarding Gadot and Eisenbergs characters, alas that was not the case. I'm not enjoying the bad news, but I can't say I'm totally surprised.

[Prince Namor]

 

I hope it tanks. It might cause the Studios to put out a quality well thought out movie based upon the comic book it draws from. What makes the Dark Knight Returns so wonderful is that Miller took an ORIGINAL idea and crafted a great story around it. The same can be said for the Watchmen. Everyone was surprised by the Deadpool movie. Why? Because the Studio didn't screw around with the source it came from and it had a plot, decent acting, and was funny.

 

If people keep flocking to mediocre comic book movies then that is what the Studios will provide. The second Iron Man movie and The Avengers Age of Ultron come to mind. They were kind of like what Metal in the early 1990's became. It got over produced and the record labels signed and pushed subpar bands. That form of music died out as it became drivel. People turned their back on it as it was no longer original nor had any quality to it.

 

If I'm going to spend 15 to 20 bucks to see a movie I want it to be better than an average movie.

 

Just my .02

Anytime someone comments that, "they should stick to the source material" I am consistent with my response.

 

It is compostable_fertilizer to say that they should stick strictly with the source material.

 

What works on a written paneled page does not work well on screen.

 

Really? I guess The 300 and the original Sin City movie didn't work well on screen? Seems to me they worked very well and they were about as close as you could be to the source material.

 

+1. Add in Iron Man, Captain America The First Avenger (at least the first half), Cap Winter Soldier, Thor 1 and 2 (at least the scenes on Asgard) -- these all tracked the source material, both in look and character development.

 

In fact, I would say the opposite -- the more a film-maker deviates from the source material, the more likely they're going to muck it up. See, e.g., the first Green Goblin, the second Green Goblin, Fantastic Four 2005, Fantastic Four 2015.

 

I disagree with you.

 

And I totally disagree when people complain...

 

"Hugh Jackman is too tall to play Wolverine..."

"Those are not the X-Men uniforms..."

"Superman has never killed anyone..."

"Batman has never killed anyone..." (rewatch the Burton films)

"That's not the spirit of Batman..."

"Johnny Storm cannot be black..."

 

The list goes on...

 

Yep.

 

The Avengers movie wasn't taken from source material and it was the highest grossing Marvel movie of all.

 

(I concede your point with 300 btw... I have no comment though on Sin City since I was not personally captivated by the film and even though I watched it, I shrugged it off. However, I shrugged off the comics themselves as they did not appeal to me either.)

 

300 and Sin City weren't taken from 50 year old material that is practically worshipped by superhero fans.

 

Watchmen was taken from 30 year old material that was practically worshipped by fans and it's movie opinion is split straight down the middle. (I think it's a masterpiece, and one of the best superhero movies ever made).

 

There is no formula. Some things work and some things don't. The Guardians of the Galaxy movie features some of the least known Marvel heroes with no winning track record of comic book sales and it's the 4th highest grossing movie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

[kav]

Some really good films got low reviewer ratings so don't count this out yet. Law abiding Citizen got 25% from reviewers but 75% from viewers and is a great film.

[zosocane]

That's kind a crappy question for an interviewer to ask actors. They are contractually obligated to do promotional interviews. They shouldn't be made to answer for the larger movie not holding together well, or not having a great public response. They aren't in control of the things that make the movie good or bad, such as -script, direction, editing, etc.

 

"Hey there mister actor, thanks for sitting down to an interview with me. I want to ask you about this review I read, where the reviewer said your new movie is pond scum. In fact, a lot of people are saying your new movie just completely blows. What do you think about that? Tell us your thoughts."

 

Actually, Affleck was in control of deciding whether to sign on -- not Cavill who has a multi-picture deal so his hands were tied. Affleck got the -script and he knew who the director was, and if he watched MOS, being the veteran movie-maker that Affleck is, he would have known he was dealing with a director who is maybe too much a maverick. But sometimes the amount of $$$ being thrown, plus the lure of being Batman -- an opportunity Affleck won't get again -- are too hard to pass up.

 

Ultimately, the fact that BvS will likely bomb in the box office bodes well for Affleck, because I would be shocked at this point if Snyder is retained for the JLA movie.

[Doohickamabob]

Watchmen was taken from 30 year old material that was practically worshipped by fans and it's movie opinion is split straight down the middle. (I think it's a masterpiece, and one of the best superhero movies ever made).

I read "Watchmen" for the first time just a few months before the movie was released.

 

I had mixed feelings about the graphic novel, partly because I went into it with the idea that it was this groundbreaking, genius-level thing, and had very high expectations. Unfortunately, as with many innovative works of art, it's hard to see how innovative they are when you're already exposed to many of the other works that have followed in its wake. I still thought "Watchmen" was a pretty cool read, and the characters and approaches were surprising and different. Aging, cynical superheroes, some of them actually really bad people, some of them scarred and haunted and unsure of their place in the world, etc. -- interesting stuff.

 

Anyway, I went to see the movie and I was impressed at how it managed to be almost an exact cinematic representation of the comic series. I mean, if you sat there and read the trade paperback, and imagined every page being a movie -- that's the movie!

 

I think the people who didn't like "Watchmen" are really just saying they don't like the story itself, rather than the movie.

 

Whatever else you think of Zack Snyder's other movies, that is one skillful piece of moviemaking craft.

 

[Dano]

Attacking nerd films is easy to explain. It gives people, like me, who otherwise wield no power in actual life the chance to throw around some power in the world of fiction. Laughing at Affleck or whomever feels good. Let me at it!

 

Dan

[RockMyAmadeus]

This thread is quickly turning into a Phil's scenario.

 

(Is that still current? Phil's? Or is the new insider-du-jour the Sausage Hut?)

 

[Doohickamabob]

That's kind a crappy question for an interviewer to ask actors. They are contractually obligated to do promotional interviews. They shouldn't be made to answer for the larger movie not holding together well, or not having a great public response. They aren't in control of the things that make the movie good or bad, such as -script, direction, editing, etc.

 

"Hey there mister actor, thanks for sitting down to an interview with me. I want to ask you about this review I read, where the reviewer said your new movie is pond scum. In fact, a lot of people are saying your new movie just completely blows. What do you think about that? Tell us your thoughts."

 

Actually, Affleck was in control of deciding whether to sign on -- not Cavill who has a multi-picture deal so his hands were tied. Affleck got the -script and he knew who the director was, and if he watched MOS, being the veteran movie-maker that Affleck is, he would have known he was dealing with a director who is maybe too much a maverick. But sometimes the amount of $$$ being thrown, plus the lure of being Batman -- an opportunity Affleck won't get again -- are too hard to pass up.

Making the choice to sign on and take a risk (and every film is a risk) isn't the same as being accountable for the outcome to the point where you're put on the spot over people's reviewes on the very weekend of the movie's release. I'm just saying it's bad form for the interviewer.

 

When you've got celebrities in a promotional situation like that, you're basically torturing them if you start asking them really embarrassing questions, since they can't react the way they really want to -- because then *that* becomes the story. No doubt Affleck really wants to say, "Look, we're here to promote the movie, not to explain why people don't like it -- so f--- off." But if he did, suddenly that's the big entertainment-news headline and he's sending the movie into even more of a downward spiral. If anything, Affleck deserves praise for holding back. (It looks like Cavill is doing an expert job of spinning things.)

 

Not that any of this really matters...

[Lucky Baru]

Comics were NOT on their last legs.

 

Gee, I guess the slump of the late 1970's to 1980's in comic sales never happened to DC. Take a look at the sales figures and where they were headed. They were headed downward. DC was pretty much flat-lined their sales from 1977 until 1987 at around 3 million to 3 1/2 million. Why did DC let Miller do something so outside of the norm with a major character? Why did DC publish The Watchmen? They knew if they didn't do something they wouldn't be around. The took a huge gamble. It paid off and shook up the industry.

 

BTW, I guess I missed the part of the Dirty Harry movies where he had a teenage female partner

 

Been done before. Byrne thought of that part for DKR.

 

I'm referencing your DKR is Dirty Harry and you bring up Byrne. Was he a writer on the Dirty Harry movies? Guess I missed that too.

 

who helped him battle mutants,

 

Been done before.

 

Again, I'm writing in direct response to your DKR is Dirty Harry. Not chatting about comics.

 

and after an electronic pulse goes off San Francisco became the safest city to live in because Harry's style of vigilantism made it that way. Also, I can't recall seeing that an old crime fighting partner of Harry's who happened to be an alien get sent by the US Government to remove him. I'll have to go back and watch those movies again and look for all that now that you have set the record straight and informed me that DKR is your basic Dirty Harry. Nope nothing original at all in that story.

 

Done before, done before, done before. Names and cities changed to make it seem new. Yawn.

 

OIC, another lets flip it to comics instead of Diry Harry.

 

Yes, I agree it isn't top-shelf literature. However, DKR and the Watchmen were original.

 

In their presentation. Even Watchmen, which I consider a masterpiece isn't 100% an original idea.

 

Never said it was 100% original. However, I can't come up with another comic that was published before The Watchmen looked at how messed up in the head you have to be to put on a costume and one of the main characters can't have sex unless he's dressed as his alter-ego.

 

Maybe you'd like another one of those since nothing is original.

 

Good one. You really got me there.

 

Thanks

 

Boy, have fun sitting alone in that theater when you go.

 

To what? BVS? It'll hardly be an empty theater.

 

Little lost. The two sentences before that are about the FF movie which you agree sucked. How come you have a hard time following that you'd be sitting alone in another FF movie or is this another attempt at bait and switch?

 

You missed the entire point of my post. I'd like comic book movies to have a plot, be original, have quality acting, have a story that makes sense.

 

And... yeah. Who doesn't?

 

You

 

[mrc]

 

Batman vs Superman, reviewed by Mark Kermode....

 

 

..."I thought Ben Affleck was good as Batman"

 

 

[Doohickamabob]

Attacking nerd films is easy to explain. It gives people, like me, who otherwise wield no power in actual life the chance to throw around some power in the world of fiction. Laughing at Affleck or whomever feels good. Let me at it!

I am all for attacking Affleck, especially considering what a jerk he was in "Dazed and Confused." Running around obsessively trying to spank freshmen with a big wooden paddle -- what a creep!

[Lucky Baru]

Sausage

 

Thank you

[Dano]

Attacking nerd films is easy to explain. It gives people, like me, who otherwise wield no power in actual life the chance to throw around some power in the world of fiction. Laughing at Affleck or whomever feels good. Let me at it!

I am all for attacking Affleck, especially considering what a jerk he was in "Dazed and Confused." Running around obsessively trying to spank freshmen with a big wooden paddle -- what a creep!

 

Don't get me wrong, attacking Affleck is just as good as praising him. It's when we get apathetic about all this fiction that the producers start to sweat. Ben won't be on the street anytime soon.

 

Dan

[Mark 1]

I wanted the movie to be great and be a success. I am not one who wants these movies to fail.

 

DC just can't do it right it seems.

[Buzzetta]

I wanted the movie to be great and be a success. I am not one who wants these movies to fail.

 

DC just can't do it right it seems.

 

I remain optimistic about Suicide Squad and a Ben Affleck directed Batman movie.

 

Throw Ben Affleck against something like the Black Mask where it is a thinly disguised version of "Heat" or "The Town", and I think we've got something good there.

[drbanner]

Ben Affleck reacts to bad reviews.

 

This could end up as the most expensive bomb in the history of movie-making, even worse than the 1st Hulk movie!

 

SoS is such a great song...experiencing a bit of a revival recently with the Disturbed remake and I've also seen it on one of the TV talent shows.

[Real Elijah Snow]

Wonder Woman was one of the bright spots in the film. The casting, aside from Luthor, is actually a great fit all around.

Why do comic book fans revel in bad reviews on comic book movies?

 

It just makes no sense. Its like people are hoping this film is a flop. We are in the greatest time every for comic book movies. Do we actually wish they weren't being made?

 

This is actually an interesting question as I haven't thought about it much. With this film in particular there were some casting decisions that I was against, namely Wonder Woman and Lex Luthor. While I do not want film to flop and I'm ecstatic that it was made, I'd be lying if I said it didn't feel good to be justified in the eyes of some critics, at least with regards to the Lex Luthor casting decision.

 

I would have loved it if I was made to eat my words regarding Gadot and Eisenbergs characters, alas that was not the case. I'm not enjoying the bad news, but I can't say I'm totally surprised.

[Doohickamabob]

Wonder Woman was one of the bright spots in the film. The casting, aside from Luthor, is actually a great fit all around.

They should have cast Alexandra Daddario as Wonder Woman.

[Real Elijah Snow]

They can cast her as everything if I'm getting a vote

Wonder Woman was one of the bright spots in the film. The casting, aside from Luthor, is actually a great fit all around.

They should have cast Alexandra Daddario as Wonder Woman.

[Broke as a Joke]

I'm sure Affleck doesn't really give a damn about the critical response to this movie. This was paycheck driven, and if he does indeed end up directing a Batman movie down the line that's even a bigger bonus to him.

 

Snyder has to go though. I know WB loves the guy but it's obvious he can only operate on this desolate, dark side with material.