Comicbook movie fatigue anyone?

I would say that the failure is not with the studios, but with the audiences.

Again and again, I hear "why don't they make the sort of movies they did when I was a kid" and the answer is that they do, and people don't go see them! Carrol Ballard made a bunch of wonderful films, suitable for the whole family - The Black Stallion, Never Cry Wolf, Wind, Fly Away Home. The last film he made, back in 2005 - Duma - was another excellent family film and people stayed away in droves. The studios will make any sort of film that people will go to the theater to see, but there is a huge gap between what they claim they want to see, and what they actually do see. It's like the difference between the ratings that people report in Neilson TV viewing "diaries" and what they actually watch. In the former, they are claiming to watch PBS, while they are actually watching a Real Housewives spin-off.

As far as Lynch, I'd be right there for another Elephant Man or The Straight Story, but another Inland Empire? No thanks.

 

Did you go to see the Florida Project?

If a film like that can get made, and even get and Oscar nomination, I would say there is no issue at all and Peter Weir (who I think is a genius) maybe needs to try a bit harder.

I just don't accept modern sci-fi/superhero/fantasy films are in any way stopping other films being made. The Phantom Thread, Florida Project and You Were Never Really Here can exist in the same world as Star Wars and Marvel.

 

Did you read Marvel/DC comics as a kid? Wasn't it always really cool when they would come together in something special to fight a really big threat? The movies are just like that and most people think that is great.

And in realism terms, it kind of makes sense. If someone is attacking NY then it can't be just Iron Man who is fighting, not as if Spider-Man, Dr Strange, the FF etc have all gone away on holiday together.

 

The problem with today's movie business isn't audiences - they're still showing up for good movies. They're just showing up for them at home. I'm the father of a 7-year old and a trip the multiplex is hardly the cheap date it used to be - with admission, popcorn, and parking (I live in the city) I'm throwing down around $50. If I'm seeing a movie with my wife, add to that $50 a sitter, plus dinner and drinks (gotta get the most out of our date nights). Sometimes we'll cut a corner and take the bus.

As a result, we've gotten choosy about the movies we see in the theater. And we've been allowed to be - the window between a movie's general release in the multiplexes and home viewing is increasingly shorter. I took my kid to see The Last Jedi in theaters in December - it's now the end of March and the movie is already available via OnDemand or Blu-Ray (or DVD, etc).

Now, there was no way I was going to see The Last Jedi at home. Same goes for Ready Player One which opens very soon. The reasons are obvious - spectacle, special effects, and an eager crowd joining me on the thrill ride. What doesn't make the cut though is usually the smaller drama or comedy. I'll wait out the ever-shortening window and pay the $6 to catch a movie like Lady Bird at home where the drinks are better and the snack options a little healthier. I suspect a lot of families are doing the same - waiting for the family friendly fare to arrive in their living rooms where no one gets herded into a mini van and the popcorn isn't $10 a bucket.

(For the record, if I hired a sitter and took my wife to see Lady Bird I would have needed those drinks to justify the night out. Just saying.)

...and this is where the superheroes come in to save the day for the major studios. The reason Hollywood keeps making these movies over and over again is because the same people lining up on opening day to see The Avengers All Hands On Deck are the same people who will see it again, then in a few months time buy the deluxe Blu-Ray, maybe pick up a t-shirt, etc. Then, they'll start getting stoked for the next epic superhero movie...and the one after that. In short, Iron Man's doing his part to keep the lights on at Disney.

 

I used to read Superman/boy/girl, Batman, Spiderman, Wonder Woman, The Flash, Green Lantern - that's about it (and cartoons of the same). Not much else.

Nope, not really. It just spread everyone out too much, diluting the story. Same thing applies to the movies. Also, when you have hundreds of different superheroes, they just become part of the general population. That's why I prefer standalone stories where the superhero stands out as a unique entity amongst mortals.

 

In response to the OP query, most of the DC comic book movies fatigue me.


Cat

 

So you're all-in for the 2019 release of "Oatsdad: The Movie"?

 

I agree about large casts. It needs to be a massive threat to justify the entire group together. Otherwise, it becomes like a scene in Teen Titans where the entire team (estimated over 20) all come at Dr. Light at the same time. You can guess the result consider that one member alone (Raven) caused him to immediately surrender just by her being there.

The Legion Of Super-Heroes (a team with more than 20 members) had the same issue. The solution was to split up the team into smaller ones that dealt with smaller threats. They also tended to group together based on cliques that had developed within the team.

 

Way before 'team up' books became the norm, the Justice League stories basically were: the group gets together because of a threat, and than the stories would be told in chapters where the larger group would split up into pairs or threesomes. Seemed to be the template for years, maybe the movies should look in this direction!

 

Even then, such events were better executed in the comics than the films.

 

They stumbled out of the blocks with Green Lantern. Thereafter, DC abandoned the universe building after the "meh" reception of Man of Steel. So one character at a time become 'Justice League'. So we've had this mess over 3 years now. Now, with at least 3 different Joker movies in the works, the mess only gets worse. IMO, DC/WB should scrub their movie schedule take a break from the comics for at least a year, then release something independent of the notion of expanded universe (which is DOA.)

 

X-Men get a bad rap on this forum.

 

Personally, I've always liked the X-Men movies, at least the good ones, better than the Disney-produced Marvel movies. X-Men 2 is one of those perfect superhero movies rarely mentioned in the conversation of greatest superhero movies, but certainly belongs there.

 

I grew tired of the unrealistic fights. Yeah, I know comic book stuff - suspend reality. But for me after a certain point that particular flight from reality gets annoying. People getting hit so hard it could kill someone in normal life. Or else detach the retina or cause severe concussions, brain damage, loss of hearing, broken facial bones .... and they keep getting hit like this over and over. I got tired of it all.

 

Also, the catastrophic damage done to infrastructure and buildings in these movies seems to get shrugged off pretty quickly.

 

But they'll keep making them and making them and making them and making them and making them and making them and making them and making them and making them and making them and making them.....

 

Instead of being "fatigued" by things you don't like, here's an idea : Ignore them.

 

I agree for the most part. Although there has been some lasting damage (Coast City CA was still destroyed years after it's destruction). In the Marvel Universe, there was comic series where they explain that the damage that happens during superhero battles are repaired by a company that specializes in those type so repairs (in one issue they bill Dr. Doom for the cost of some of the repairs, and Doom cuts them a check).

That is pretty much what I've done. Green Lantern basically killed my interesting in big-budget, big-screen superhero movies. There are a few great TV series (Young Justice [YJ] and Green Lantern - The Animated Series, both cancelled although YJ is returning) but that is about it as far as my interest in super-hero motion pictures in any form.

 

It does seem, that every person behind a mask, costume, or super power, has had a movie. We haven't gone to a movie theater
in two or three years.

 

Yes. I have zero interest in any superhero(s) movie no matter who's in it or who made it. So, I don't watch them. I haven't found this hard to do at all.

 

Not in the Marvel movies. In fact, the consequence of all that damage was used as a major plot point in the more recent films.

EDIT: Actually, in a way, it was a big plot point in Batman vs. Superman, as well.

 

What we term comic book movies or even books are just a modern updating and perhaps simplification of the longstanding categories of myth, romance and escapist narratives. In many cases these kinds of works endure far longer than more realist or socio-cultural topical movies because human customs and manners constantly fluctuate. The non-realistic movies and books are less tied down to a particular time and place.

So I think the only issue with them is how well they are done. They will never get old to a large swath of the population.

 

I agree that the team-ups suck. Just not interesting.

All of the characters have plenty of abilities and ways they can be exploited. Superman can do practically anything, just showing him beating people up is not interesting writing. The interesting part is how do you challenge Superman, how do you frustrate him.

But I'm in a minority today, most people just want the gadgets, name checks, and smashups.

 

I actually see this first hand. I have buddy whose a huge comic book fan and so he goes to see all the Avengers, Deadpool, Antman, etc. movies. He claims that he enjoys them, but they have gotten stale and repetitive. Yet he keeps going to see every one of them. Meanwhile, a movie like “Hell or Highwater”, or “Hostiles” comes out and he claims that they look really good and he wants to go see them, but he doesn’t.

 

It is baffling to me. The other part is people seeing the film that is making the most money at the box office. Why the hell would that be an important criteria for anyone other than the owners of the studios or the theater chains?

My wife saw 306 films in the theater last year. She saw a few films multiple times, and a bunch of classic films, but she saw more than 200 unique, new films last year. And she still missed a few films she wanted to see!