Who is tired of Super Hero Movies?

[Papist]

This weekend I went to see Ant-Man with some of my friends. I was semi-excited to see the film because 1. I'm a huge geek and I love super heroes and 2. It is a Marvel movie, and that cinematic universe has been generally fun.

My friends absolutely loved the film, and especially appreciated the humor, but something strange happened with me. By the end of the film I just had a sense of "I think I'm burning out on all of this." Yep, it looks like maybe I'm just tired of superhero movies, and I'm not sure the general audience is going to put up with mediocre films for much longer.

Another geeks feeling the same way?

 

[biro]

There are a lot of films to keep up with these days. I am still going to see "Ant Man," but I think you have a point.

 

[seekeroftruth777]

I'm burned on comic book mkvies in general

 

[seekeroftruth777]

burned out*

 

[Cyrillic]

The problem with superhero movies is that they tend to suffer from several artistic sins. Having a manichaen division of pure good vs pure evil is a bad way of telling a story, for a host of reasons, and such a plot only rarely succeeds. One man - especially your average guy a la Clark Kent - saving the day and happy ends tend to be sentimentalist and kitschy. So is having a sad family story (Spiderman, Batman and Superman, I'm looking at you). Not really my cup of tea.

The superhero movies which avoided those traditional characteristics of the genre most were somewhat palpable. The Dark Knight was great, The Avengers and Iron Man were tolerable.

So, I'm tired of most superhero movies, but there's always room for a superhero movie as good as The Dark Knight.

 

[Papist]

The problem with superhero movies is that they tend to suffer from several artistic sins. Pure good vs pure evil is a bad way of telling a story, for a host of reasons, and only rarely succeeds. One man saving the day and happy ends tend to be sentimentalist and kitschy. So is having a sad family story (Spiderman, Batman and Superman, I'm looking at you). Not really my cup of tea.

The superhero movies which avoided those traditional characteristics of the genre most were somewhat palpable. The Dark Knight was great, The Avengers and Iron Man were tolerable.

So, I'm tired of most superhero movies, but there's always room for a superhero movie as good as The Dark Knight.

Tru dat.

I would add that many attempts on the part of directors to create the good superhero movies you are describing fall flat. Consider Man of Steel for example. You need a genuinely good artist in order to produce a true Dark Knight.

 

[Arachne]

I've never managed to drum up the slightest bit of interest in Batman. Ever. No matter who was in it. Same goes for Superman and most of the 'classic' superheroes. It wasn't until the X-Men that I got anything to do with that subgenre, mostly because of the stylistic departure from the comics (yes, I did expect yellow spandex, and I was very pleased not to get it. ) I enjoy the Avengers franchise and I can see myself following it at least a bit more, but... eh, can't get burned out on something I was never that much into to start with.

 

[AntoniousNikolas]

Having a manichaen division of pure good vs pure evil is a bad way of telling a story, for a host of reasons, and such a plot only rarely succeeds.

I think the problem here is trying to bring across the complexity of a character whose story arc has often developed over the course of several decades and hundreds of issues by multiple authors in a two hour film.  Dr. Doom, for example, might appear on the surface to be the very definition of the stereotypical, monolithically evil bad guy, but he's not.  He's much more complex than that.  In many ways - in many of the story arcs he's been a part of in Marvel's continuity - he is at least an anti-hero if not an out-and-out good guy.  For all of their other faults (and they are numerous) the X-Men films have done a decent job of bringing a similar complexity across with the character of Magneto.

 

[Cyrillic]

The old CCA might be somewhat to blame for the issues that I enumerated.

 

[Papist]

The old CCA might be somewhat to blame for the issues that I enumerated.

Almost certainly.

 

[AntoniousNikolas]

There is a marked difference in comics before and after its implementation.  I think it still left room for character development though.  It's not the fault of the CCA that a lot of comic book writers were and are (unfortunately) hacks.  Many nowadays seem to think that engaging with trendy issues (making a character who has been straight since the 1960s suddenly reveal he's gay instead of just creating gay characters) or playing the iconoclast (Captain Squeaky Clean is revealed to be a closet fascist and a serial killer) is a substitute for character development.

 

[Deacon Lance]

Having grown up reading most of Marvel's catalog, briefly owning a comic book store, and waiting for the big studios to do these movies right both effects and storyline no I am not burnout.  In fact, I am impressed with Marvel/Disney's ability to keep cranking out really good adaptations. 

 

[AntoniousNikolas]

Having grown up reading most of Marvel's catalog, briefly owning a comic book store, and waiting for the big studios to do these movies right both effects and storyline no I am not burnout.  In fact, I am impressed with Marvel/Disney's ability to keep cranking out really good adaptations.

Adaptations is the right word, and you kind of have to set aside any purist tendencies you might have in order to enjoy a given movie on its own merits.  It's pretty clear that they're setting Vision up to be Adam Warlock in the Avengers franchise,  And Ultron is Stark's creation, not Hank Pym's?  Sure, if it works for the movie. 

 

[podkarpatska]

Generally I am tired about the lack of original content in film. But if a storyline with familiar characters is well imagined or rebooted, there are still decent 'superhero' movies to be made...but...

 

[Rhinosaur]

Once the arc with Thanos and Civil War is complete, they will have to shake things up to keep the MCU interesting.  Personally, I think that the upcoming use of less-known characters like Black Panther and Captain Marvel could go a long way in keeping the franchise fresh.

 

[RobS]

Really depends on the source material, I think Batman can be a complex multi-layered character if done appropriately, but none of the films have ever done it. Batman is less a detective than he is some white billionaire Messiah (see TDKR). Nolan's trilogy is so steeped in conservative myths that it is difficult to watch.

Never cared about Superman in general, just seemed like an overall boring character. Maybe there are some decent storylines out there for Supe but haven't cared enough.

Marvel stuff has been the same formula since Spider-Man, and its really no wonder since it keeps raking in the dough.

The first Iron Man truly surprised me, and I expected same ol same ol.

I guess I like anti-hero stuff a bit more.

 

[vamrat]

Most super hero movies are harder to watch than a biopic about the last days of King Herod.

 

[Mor Ephrem]

...a biopic about the last days of King Herod.

Such a thing exists?

 

[Arachne]

...a biopic about the last days of King Herod.

Such a thing exists?

If it does, it had better star Sir Peter Ustinov, or I ain't interested. ;D

 

[Papist]

Never cared about Superman in general, just seemed like an overall boring character. Maybe there are some decent storylines out there for Supe but haven't cared enough.

Hipster.

 

[Rhinosaur]

I'm still looking forward to a Venom film.

 

[Papist]

I'm still looking forward to BvS and Captain America: Civil War next year, but beyond that, I dunno. Unless the quality of films increases drastically and soon I'm not sure I'll keep following these things. Also, if Snyder ruins Superman for a second time, I might be done with the DCCU entirely.

 

[AntoniousNikolas]

Nolan's trilogy is so steeped in conservative myths that it is difficult to watch.

I have to agree there.

Never cared about Superman in general, just seemed like an overall boring character. Maybe there are some decent storylines out there for Supe but haven't cared enough.

Here too.  DC ramped up his powers to such ridiculous levels over the years that I always find myself rooting for the bad guy just to make it interesting.  I always feel like Lex Luthor - or whoever else he's up against - is fighting an uphill battle, just staving off the inevitable, because at the end of the day Superman is pretty much invulnerable and invincible.  How is my viewing experience supposed to be any fun when I'm watching a weak mortal man try to take on a god using nothing but his brain and I'm supposed to be rooting for the god?  It's counterintuitive.

I never read DC comics though.  They were corny to me.  I was always a Marvel guy.  I didn't like anything to do with DC until those Bruce Timm cartoons, and that was mostly because they ripped off a lot of old Defenders and Avengers plots!  ;D

 

[Mor Ephrem]

...a biopic about the last days of King Herod.

Such a thing exists?

If it does, it had better star Sir Peter Ustinov, or I ain't interested. ;D

Absolutely!

 

[vamrat]

...a biopic about the last days of King Herod.

Such a thing exists?

I would hope not... but still, a movie about a guys willy rotting off would still beat any spandex-clad super heroes.

 

[Papist]

Nolan's trilogy is so steeped in conservative myths that it is difficult to watch.

I have to agree there.

Never cared about Superman in general, just seemed like an overall boring character. Maybe there are some decent storylines out there for Supe but haven't cared enough.

Here too.  DC ramped up his powers to such ridiculous levels over the years that I always find myself rooting for the bad guy just to make it interesting.  I always feel like Lex Luthor - or whoever else he's up against - is fighting an uphill battle, just staving off the inevitable, because at the end of the day Superman is pretty much invulnerable and invincible.  How is my viewing experience supposed to be any fun when I'm watching a weak mortal man try to take on a god using nothing but his brain and I'm supposed to be rooting for the god?  It's counterintuitive.

I never read DC comics though.  They were corny to me.  I was always a Marvel guy.  I didn't like anything to do with DC until those Bruce Timm cartoons, and that was mostly because they ripped off a lot of old Defenders and Avengers plots!  ;D

Another hipster.

 

[AntoniousNikolas]

Nolan's trilogy is so steeped in conservative myths that it is difficult to watch.

I have to agree there.

Never cared about Superman in general, just seemed like an overall boring character. Maybe there are some decent storylines out there for Supe but haven't cared enough.

Here too.  DC ramped up his powers to such ridiculous levels over the years that I always find myself rooting for the bad guy just to make it interesting.  I always feel like Lex Luthor - or whoever else he's up against - is fighting an uphill battle, just staving off the inevitable, because at the end of the day Superman is pretty much invulnerable and invincible.  How is my viewing experience supposed to be any fun when I'm watching a weak mortal man try to take on a god using nothing but his brain and I'm supposed to be rooting for the god?  It's counterintuitive.

I never read DC comics though.  They were corny to me.  I was always a Marvel guy.  I didn't like anything to do with DC until those Bruce Timm cartoons, and that was mostly because they ripped off a lot of old Defenders and Avengers plots!  ;D

Another hipster.

Geez, no.  I can't stand hipsters.  It's not my fault your favorite superhero is boring.    Really, I mean a bald guy with a high IQ and an alien god that can literally push the Earth out of orbit with his bare hands square off, and I'm supposed to root for the alien?  Or believe the bald guy isn't pumping water uphill?

 

[Luke]

This weekend I went to see Ant-Man with some of my friends. I was semi-excited to see the film because 1. I'm a huge geek and I love super heroes and 2. It is a Marvel movie, and that cinematic universe has been generally fun.

My friends absolutely loved the film, and especially appreciated the humor, but something strange happened with me. By the end of the film I just had a sense of "I think I'm burning out on all of this." Yep, it looks like maybe I'm just tired of superhero movies, and I'm not sure the general audience is going to put up with mediocre films for much longer.

Another geeks feeling the same way?

Yes, and it is complicated with the constant remakes of the super hero movies.

 

[Papist]

Nolan's trilogy is so steeped in conservative myths that it is difficult to watch.

I have to agree there.

Never cared about Superman in general, just seemed like an overall boring character. Maybe there are some decent storylines out there for Supe but haven't cared enough.

Here too.  DC ramped up his powers to such ridiculous levels over the years that I always find myself rooting for the bad guy just to make it interesting.  I always feel like Lex Luthor - or whoever else he's up against - is fighting an uphill battle, just staving off the inevitable, because at the end of the day Superman is pretty much invulnerable and invincible.  How is my viewing experience supposed to be any fun when I'm watching a weak mortal man try to take on a god using nothing but his brain and I'm supposed to be rooting for the god?  It's counterintuitive.

I never read DC comics though.  They were corny to me.  I was always a Marvel guy.  I didn't like anything to do with DC until those Bruce Timm cartoons, and that was mostly because they ripped off a lot of old Defenders and Avengers plots!  ;D

Another hipster.

Geez, no.  I can't stand hipsters.  It's not my fault your favorite superhero is boring.    Really, I mean a bald guy with a high IQ and an alien god that can literally push the Earth out of orbit with his bare hands square off, and I'm supposed to root for the alien?  Or believe the bald guy isn't pumping water uphill?

I'm just teasing. I like to accuse all Superman haters of being hipsters.

 

[scamandrius]

My big issue is that these movies tend to be released in trilogies (like the Chris Nolan Batman) or with related franchises (like the individual Avenger movies culminating eventually into the Avengers) and so it is just overexposure.  Occasionally, there is that one movie which stands out on its own, doesn't need a trilogy to develop the whole story or require other films so that the characters can all meet and have one big adventure.  One particular case where this happened was Man of Steel which I thought was the most refreshing film of the genre. Yes, it had a lot of the same cliches we have come to see in other superhero films, but I don't think it contained the Manichean dualism of pure evil vs pure good that other films rammed down our throats.  That said, I really don't go to new movies anymore.

 

[AntoniousNikolas]

I'm just teasing. I like to accuse all Superman haters of being hipsters.

So, what is it you find appealing about the character?  I'm being sincere in asking.  I just can't get past the fact that he has an enormous advantage over just about anyone he's gonna run up against (except when the writers go out of their way to create a hyper-threat, like Doomsday).

 

[Papist]

I'm just teasing. I like to accuse all Superman haters of being hipsters.

So, what is it you find appealing about the character?  I'm being sincere in asking.  I just can't get past the fact that he has an enormous advantage over just about anyone he's gonna run up against (except when the writers go out of their way to create a hyper-threat, like Doomsday).

I appreciate Superman as an archetype, a sort of Christ figure, an ideal that echoes throughout classical literature, mythology, and religion. I also enjoy seeing the daily tension he experiences between having great power - and thus the ability to make the world the way he wants - and a moral sense that tells him that he can't do that, that all he can do, at most, is serve as an example that hopefully inspires others. I like that he has to constantly keep his actions in check, because the world holds him to a high standard and because if he did not guard himself against vice, he would become a tyrant, the very thing he opposes. I like that no matter how many people he helps, he can never do enough, and that sometimes that means making difficult choices.

This quote sums up what it is about Superman that appeals to me:

"It is a remarkable dichotomy. In many ways, Clark is the most human of us all. Then…he shoots fire from the skies, and it is difficult not to think of him as a god. And how fortunate we all are that it does not occur to him. ~Batman, Superman/Batman v.1 #3"

And I still love this quote from Man of Steel (not a perfect movie, by any means):

Image resized for visibility.~A

 

[Papist]

^ And, yes, I'm so geeky that now I have the Theme from Man of Steel playing in my head.  ;D

 

[AntoniousNikolas]

Okay, thanks for explaining.  To each own, right?  I now get why you dig the character, though he's still not my cup of tea. 

 

[Papist]

Okay, thanks for explaining.  To each own, right?  I now get why you dig the character, though he's still not my cup of tea. 

Fair enough.

 

[TheTrisagion]

I mostly like movies where the hero dies in an excruciating manner by the end of the movie. In that, superhero movies fail miserably.

My wife says I only like twisted and depressing movies, so we usually end up watching stupid rom coms.

 

[AntoniousNikolas]

I mostly like movies where the hero dies in an excruciating manner by the end of the movie.  In that, superhero movies fail miserably.

My wife says I only like twisted and depressing movies, so we usually end up watching stupid rom coms.

Fun fact: the film 8mm was based on the day that Trisagion's wife found his secret stash of "twisted and depressing" films where "the hero dies in an excruciating manner by the end of the movie".  The Joaquin Phoenix character was based on Mor Ephrem.  I...was Nicholas Cage.

 

[TheTrisagion]

 

[Cyrillic]

Batman is less a detective than he is some white billionaire Messiah (see TDKR). Nolan's trilogy is so steeped in conservative myths that it is difficult to watch.

What? You didn't like part three of the trilogy, with the Scarlet Pimpernel dressed up as Batman?

 

[LenInSebastopol]

It's not called "burned out"; it's called maturity.
Yes, you can still be a geek, just an older one, if you're lucky.