Misunderstood mythology of superheroes by Bea

      References:

1. ”A momentum-less ode to uncreative people everywhere that torches two of pop culture’s greatest characters and uses their ashes as a urinal cake.” (J. Olson, Cinemixtape); ”Batman v Superman is a hot, steaming heap of trash” (Sam Watermeier, NUVO Newsweekly); ”A ponderous, smothering, over-pixelated zeppelin crash of a movie scored by a choir that sounds like it’s being drowned in lava” (RT Top Critic  Chris Klimek, NPR); ”A joyless slog” (RT Top Critic Soren Anderson, Seattle Times); ”The sandbox they are given to romp around in is stupid, stupid stupid” (Phil Villarreal, ABC Tucson); ”Watching “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice,” one thing is clear: Director Zack Snyder loves sparks. They’re emanating from everywhere — everywhere, that is, except his hapless story about superheroes missing their mommies” (A.I. Alexander, The Patriot Ledger).

2.  ”There are fascinating questions here, but they’re buried beneath the debris of a convoluted, horribly written story featuring poorly written characters making inexplicable choices.” (Matt Goldberg, Collider); ”Megaton fight scenes are the reason people will put up with bad dialogue or bad logic in a film, so it’s an outright tragedy when Batman v Superman’s showdowns become as boring as the rest of it.” (Alex Abad-Santos, Vox).

3.  ”But following the initial loss of life at Wayne Enterprises, Batman’s motivations become vague bordering on incomprehensible. The closest he comes to articulating them is when he explains to his butler Alfred (now played by Jeremy Irons, in a perhaps inevitable passing of the generational torch from Michael Caine): “He has the power to wipe out the human race. And if we think that there’s even a one percent chance that he’s our enemy, we have to treat it as an absolute certainty.” This may be the most ostentatiously shoddy logic deployed by a theoretically brilliant character in recent movie history […] At one point, he taunts Superman like an overly theatrical WWF heel: “Tell me, do you bleed? You will.” What has Superman done to merit this degree of hatred? Leveled another city? Killed the president? Declared war on puppies? Nope. Alien monster that he is, he’s messed up the Batmobile.” (Christopher Orr, The Atlantic).

4.  ”(Were none of these people ever a twelve-year-old boy? In theory, that’s the target audience, yes?) The Marvel films have always emphasized geeky fun far more than their DC brethren”. Tim Grierson, The New Republic.

5. ”Everyone acts up a storm, plumbing psychological nuances that are not really what most people go to superhero epics for. But what’s a poor studio to do when Marvel has pretty much cornered the jokey, ironic detachment market?”: Bob Mondello, NPR; ”If the success of the delightfully twisted Deadpool proved anything, it’s that moviegoers prefer their comic book pics bright and loose with a side of self-knowing wit. (That winning combination also worked for Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers flicks.) […] A popcorn film — and this is a popcorn film — should never feel like Sunday night homework” (Mara Reinstein, US Magazine).

6.  ”viewers get down in the mire with protagonists who grimace, scowl and wince their way through heroics with the joyless determination of shift workers making the doughnuts” (ibidem).

7. Ibidem. ”I counted exactly one joke, already revealed in the trailer. Let’s hope they’re saving the laughs for Justice League: Part One” (Peter Howell, The Star); ”isn’t much fun. The Avengers and The Force Awakens (to name just two) have illustrated that it’s possible to have huge stakes without turning the movie into a relentless downer” (James Beradinelli, Reelviews); ”I can’t fault its competitor’s insistence that a movie based on a comic book might still want to be, you know, fun. When the dust from the titular bout was finally settled (or was it?), I walked out of Superman v Batman with an old childhood rallying cry restored: Make mine Marvel.” (Jonathan L. Fischer, Slate); ”This time Lex is conceived as a demented version of the Internet icon Mark Zuckerberg, whom Mr. Eisenberg played in “The Social Network,” but the dementia is more embarrassing than funny. (Oh, for the days of Gene Hackman’s exuberant evil.)” (Joe Morgenstern”, WSJ).

8.  ”Ponderous, self-important, too long by at least 45 minutes, and do we really need another scene (and then ANOTHER scene) of Bruce Wayne’s parents being shot?” (Nell Minow, Beliefnet). It still boggles my mind that a critic couldn’t see the narrative reason of showing this scene. An interesting example of a perspective that influenced perception of the whole movie is episode 25 of DC Cinematic Minute with Joseph Darowski: http://www.toooldmedia.com/doj-minute-25/

9.  Stuart Heritage, ”A good time (not a long time): why Hollywood is trimming down its bloated film lengths”, The Guardian, 9 November 2017. He starts his article with a highly professional opinion – a proof, that he watches a movie with an open mind & gives a fair, knowledgeable assessment: ”Only an idiot would be arrogant enough to expect good news about the Justice League movie at this point. Wonder Woman aside, the film has been exclusively foreshadowed by about a million hours of dreary, desaturated scenes of tortured men howling at drizzle in slow motion. The sort of person who gets excited about the Justice League movie is the sort of person who dresses in tinfoil and gets excited about lightning.”

10.  Such opinions were expressed by various professionals in reviews and comments. John Ostrander in his review of Suicide Squad wrote: ” My problem is that, at least with some of the media reviews, is that the critic is also tired of superhero and “tentpole” films and, overtly or covertly, would like to see their end […] Don’t tell me that some of the critics didn’t come with pre-conceived attitudes to some films. I know better. I saw and heard it.”; https://www.comicmix.com/2016/08/07/john-ostrander-reviews-the-suicide-squad/

11.  Another example: ”I got to see the movie on Monday night and absolutely loved it. My favorite in the genre since Dark Knight. Pure genius, insanely ambitious and incredibly emotional. I’m still processing the rich tapestry of themes and characters, but for me it was a profoundly spiritual experience. Very inspiring. Filled me with joy, compassion, generosity and wonder for this amazing, bold, complex world we live in. This is why I love movies and comic books. Can’t wait for everyone else to see it. Not everyone will ‘get’ it, but most people should be thoroughly entertained and engaged.” (ClarkJoe, a comment on Batman-news.com after BvS premiere).

12. Brett Culp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rKRmMQaLZz8; Keya Sengupta, Martha, Martha, and Motherhood: Maternal Love in the DCEU https://anerdwithwords.com/2017/11/12/martha-martha-and-motherhood-maternal-love-in-the-dceu/; Cherry Ng, The Controversial ‘Martha’ Leitmotif in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice https://medium.com/@cherrynghh/the-controversial-martha-leitmotif-in-batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice-58f02c5035c4

13.  http://captaindove.tumblr.com/post/141887747864/im-going-to-write-a-lengthy-post-about-batman-v

14. http://captaindove.tumblr.com/post/142968201174/i-saw-batman-v-superman-dawn-of-justice-for-the.

15.  See: https://superherotalksite.wordpress.com/2017/09/30/zack-snyders-dc-films-helped-people-overcome-depression-suicidal-thoughts-read-their-stories-here/; https://twitter.com/derbykid/status/859774562128580610; https://www.forsnydercut.com/zack-snyders-man-of-steel-the-hero-i-needed-by-manu/; https://twitter.com/fukujang0627/status/1009188721860608000; https://twitter.com/derbykid/status/859774562128580610; https://twitter.com/derbykid/status/1009820785354080256

16.  https://twitter.com/thebravestheart/status/969335175493640192

17.  https://twitter.com/UmarFarooqi_/status/969260897117130752

18. http://frankenbaby.tumblr.com/post/167796775527/keep-on-dumbing-down-the-content-manufacture

19.  Jude Brennan, Still Brooding Over Warner Bros.’ Heart of Darkness Ruling The DC Comics Universe? Why Praise Is Due; https://www.forbes.com/sites/judebrennan/2016/08/10/still-brooding-over-wbs-heart-of-darkness-ruling-the-dc-comic-universe-answer-perspective-is-key/#2b0e4ec715ee

20.  ”Snyder’s defiant approach to Superman, perhaps the most sacred of all pop cultural sacred cows, has the hero experiencing moments of doubt and pain, even resentment, as humanity argues over whether he’s a force of righteousness or a force of destruction” .”Snyder’s take doesn’t sit well with fans and critics accustomed to the big blue Boy Scout version of Superman who’s reigned supreme for the bulk of eight decades” (Michael Calia, In Defense of Zack Snyder; http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2016/03/29/in-defense-of-zack-snyder/#livefyre-comment).

21. https://www.forbes.com/sites/markhughes/2014/04/17/exclusive-interview-with-zack-snyder-director-of-batman-vs-superman/#91054f77bf45

22. Jan Vansina. Oral Tradition as History, Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1985    

Acknowledgments

I want to thank @captaindove, @frankenbaby, @thebravestheart and @UmarFarooqi for their input. Special thanks to @derbykid and @LiveLoveLupe for the correction and suggestions concerning the text.

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