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The Film Directors Superhero Movie Haters Club


Devon Malcolm

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25 minutes ago, Merzbow said:

I get it's not Marvel but using a Disney owned movie as an example just shows what monopoly they have on blockbuster cinema.

And not just blockbusters. Their acquisition of Fox meant they took Fox Searchlight under their umbrella as well. Since then they have notably given almost no promotion to films like The Night House, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Antlers and Summer of Soul. Nightmare Alley is due out next month and I've seen almost no promotional material about it.

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1 hour ago, Hannibal Scorch said:

Free Guy was an original blockbuster which id really well this year, but I wonder what you think have been impacted.

Free Guy, which has a scene with Captain America's shield in it, and a lightsaber. (I'm being flippant but even their own stuff has all their other IPs all over it)

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1 hour ago, Merzbow said:

I get it's not Marvel but using a Disney owned movie as an example just shows what monopoly they have on blockbuster cinema.

it was a fox film pre acquisition, but yes i get your point, but it isn't the only film to use other IP's in this way (was much easier to clear the rights mind). But what blockbuster/popcorn flicks have been hindered by Marvel films?

@Devon MalcolmI guess it depends where you live. Down south I saw bus and bilboards for The Night House, Antlers and Ron's Gone Wrong. Nothing for The French Dispatch though. Lot's of ads on youtube as well for NH and Antlers as well.

Edited by Hannibal Scorch
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Can’t find it now (typical) but I remembered when I first saw the Ridley Scott thing, some spandex nonce replied with a clip I assume is from one of the latest ones. It’s a martial arts “fight” and the nonce captioned it “He finds this boring and shit”. 
 

Cue loads of replies saying how he has proven Scott right and replied with clips from Hong Kong / Jackie Chan films showing vastly superior fight sequences with no special effects shot with a vastly smaller budget. Self owns never looked so good. 

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A comic book movie isn't necessarily a Superhero movie though. From Hell, Road To Perdition, Persepolis and Ghost World are movies based on comic books.

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8 minutes ago, jazzygeofferz said:

A comic book movie isn't necessarily a Superhero movie though. From Hell, Road To Perdition, Persepolis and Ghost World are movies based on comic books.

Maybe that’s why the thread is titled “Superhero” and not “Comic Book”

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42 minutes ago, Keith Houchen said:

Maybe that’s why the thread is titled “Superhero” and not “Comic Book”

I thought somewhere somebody had conflated the terms though. 

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Just now, jazzygeofferz said:

I thought somewhere somebody had conflated the terms though. 

Yeah, as you point out there is a distinction. I didn’t know Snowpiercer was based on a comic until after I’d seen it, but as soon as I found out I could totally see some of the sequences as panels in a comic!

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I should probably weigh in with more than pedantry anyway. They're fine. As was mentioned elsewhere it's the thing of the moment because they're such big money, but as long as their fans are going to keep turning out en mass and forking over billions of dollars they won't be going away anytime soon. They can try some different styles, like the political thriller styling of Winter Soldier and the slightly more lighthearted feel of Ant-Man, but they're still a movie with a Superhero at the centre.

I have a feeling that unless some come out and tank at the box office we're stuck with them, although I hear the last few DC ones were pretty bad and still did big bank. The only way I can see it happening is if they stick out some kind of high school teen drama Squirrel Girl movie or something along those lines. 

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The main issue with film based on properties from Marvel/DC superhero comics is that due to strong emotional connection to the source material, the core audience are invested before the film even starts, so they have to do a lot less in terms of “being a good film” to satisfy their intended viewer. Having said that, despite an over reliance on MacGuffins, clunky exposition dialogue, lazy conveniences and an over-the-top level of people in mortal danger making wisecracks, I’ve never really seen anything in the MCU films that merits such vitriolic hate from a lot of film fans that don’t happen to be fans of the genre. I think there’s a lack of willingness not to just stop at “Not my cup of tea” the way I would about say Westerns, rather than “they’re all shit.” Which I blame entirely on the fact Marvel is everywhere and there’s no escape from it.

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3 hours ago, air_raid said:

I’ve never really seen anything in the MCU films that merits such vitriolic hate from a lot of film fans that don’t happen to be fans of the genre.

Romcoms get it constantly, you always hear people saying how they hate them because they stick to the same formula  

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3 hours ago, air_raid said:

despite an over reliance on MacGuffins, clunky exposition dialogue, lazy conveniences and an over-the-top level of people in mortal danger making wisecracks, I’ve never really seen anything in the MCU films that merits such vitriolic hate from a lot of film fans that don’t happen to be fans of the genre. I think there’s a lack of willingness not to just stop at “Not my cup of tea” the way I would about say Westerns, rather than “they’re all shit.”

100% agree. I find most of these films pretty dull and interchangeable and concur with Scorsese that they aren't really "cinema" but I also find them pretty impossible to hate because they are so inoffensive. I think a major part of that is that I know if I was 11 that I would absolutely love them to bits. I just wish that they would try and be a bit more creative and daring and used the billions of dollars they have to make the films actually look good or have action sequences that aren't just two guys against a green screen shooting lasers at each other, were bright & colorful, or that despite starring the worlds sexiest people weren't all so dry and sex-less. Basically I want tentpole blockbusters to be as fun, funny, creative and sexy as The Mummy.

Edited by LaGoosh
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3 hours ago, air_raid said:

The main issue with film based on properties from Marvel/DC superhero comics is that due to strong emotional connection to the source material, the core audience are invested before the film even starts, so they have to do a lot less in terms of “being a good film” to satisfy their intended viewer. Having said that, despite an over reliance on MacGuffins, clunky exposition dialogue, lazy conveniences and an over-the-top level of people in mortal danger making wisecracks, I’ve never really seen anything in the MCU films that merits such vitriolic hate from a lot of film fans that don’t happen to be fans of the genre. I think there’s a lack of willingness not to just stop at “Not my cup of tea” the way I would about say Westerns, rather than “they’re all shit.” Which I blame entirely on the fact Marvel is everywhere and there’s no escape from it.

I'm sure my love of Marvel absolutely comes from being obsessed with the comics, cartoons and video games when I was a kid. I didn't even mind some of the pre-MCU films that get quite a lot of hate these days.

Interestingly enough I usually go to see them with my mum. It's one of the few things we tend to do together these days. She's 75 this year and she bloody loves them and she definitely didn't have any connection to them before this. It's probably that inoffensive nature plus shit blowing up plus a few laughs here and there. She also likes stuff like Daniel Craig Bond movies and Fast and Furious so that's definitely her level. Marvel films are just regular summer blockbuster fare really.

So yeah I guess they're just very comforting and familiar to a lot of people. And on a personal level as someone with anxiety it's something that probably carries on across a number of things in my life. I often like the easy and less challenging things and 99.999% of the time I know exactly what I'm going to get when I sit down to watch a Marvel film.

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