I've re-watched Zack Snyder's Justice League the last few nights, the director's incredible four hour cut.
I watch tons of Marvel Super Hero films - there's so many - but there's something more compelling about DC's movies.
DC's characters appear crestfallen, hurt and in hiding. Batman, The Flash, Aquaman, Wonder Woman Cyborg, even a black-caped Superman; they're all damaged individuals, often bearing overwhelming guilt for not helping their dead, disappointed or imprisoned parents enough in their dark pasts.
This seam of melancholy is different to Marvel's sunnier noisy bromances and yes, I would say that the DC movie-verse is tinged with sadness, the death of Superman being the essential tragedy at its broken heart. It's not news, it's just taken me awhile to figure it out.
The whole world grieves when Superman passes. Things are greyer, it rains more, the world is suffering the death of a deity ( sadly I'm pretty certain there's no-one like Superman in the real world for whom the entire planet would grieve in this way. Or?)
Snyder's skill makes Clark's Mother's and Lois Lane's own private and dreadful mourning palpable to us all too. Lois's grief and Batman's guilt appear to be the film's driving force.
In Marvel it's the blip that ails the population's soul. Rather than a demi-god like Superman - Marvel doesn't have anyone supremely good like him really, other than Captain America - it's the 'blip', a universal event that instantly causes the loss of half the world's (and universe's) denizens - which brings about global confusion, apathy and mass hopelessness.
The music score of Snyder's Justice League is equally morose and fits the dark times perfectly, none moreso than in the almost-final bonus scene, Batman's apocalyptic future knightmare.
*Spoiler Alert!*
This dream offers no real hope either. The world is ravaged, reduced to a desert-like husk. Darkseid has won and even worse, a dark Superman is his ally, enraged with hatred by the death of his beloved Lois at Batman's hand.
The League looks beaten: Batman is weary, Aquaman is dead, the Flash looks nervous and when the cookie ultimately crumbles perhaps it is indeed only the Joker's insane laughter that makes any sense at all.
See what I mean! DC is compelling!
I haven't seen the Snyder Cut.
ReplyDeleteI feel DC comics took a major diversion in tone with comic The Dark Knight Returns and Watchmen. Grimdark became the main tone and I feel lesser writers have mistaken downbeat for complexity.
I prefer the Marvel films which depict tragedy without losing hope.
I gave up on the DC films when Zach Snyder (hmmm, where have I heard that name before?) had Superman deliberately kill General Zod. To me that was a bridge too far. Superman was always the boy scout with his moral center.
Having him give into Batman style nihilism, completely destroyed the character as well as the contrast between Superman's and Batman's world views.
Snyder did an OK job of filming Watchmen, but his grimdark overload has completely tainted all subsequent DC films...
Grimdark! Cool word! Is that genre lingo Looey, the overall look and feel of a film like this. Never heard it before. Alas, I'm a Grimdark fan then. Yep, my middle name is Grimdark!
DeleteYikes ! I think I will stick with Lynda Carter in Wonder Woman, and the Adam West version of Batman. A lot more fun.
ReplyDeleteHa ha, Linda had a cameo in Wonder Woman 1984 Paul. I love it when they acknowledge those icons if super hero TV. Lou Ferrino appears in the Hulk movie too!
DeleteI tend to agree with Woodsy - the DC universe has always been dark and gritty and despite it being an extreme fantasy fiction - it is also much more realistic and believable. Like Woodsy says "it rains more" - a simple difference between Marvels overblown sentimentality and colourful silliness. Theres also always the 11th hour redemption and saviour tipping up at the very moment everything in the Marvel universe is in jeopardy, whereas with DC, it all ends up in the toilet, being flushed down. The nihilsm does grate a little after a while, but it is more bearable than the kitschy schmaltz bromancing that Marvel constantly delivers, with its monologuing and quipping heroics. Bill
ReplyDeleteWatched Dawn of Justice again last night and started Man if Steel. It just doesn't get any better than the Cavill Supe trilogy, Hollywood's zenith!
Delete"The whole world grieves when Superman passes."
ReplyDeleteWHAT MADNESS IS THIS!
Isn't the real world becoming bleak enough without escapist fiction turning into a major downer?
I'm going back to playing with my toys now. I need a happy place.
Ha ha! That made me chuckle Terran! I know, grown men discussing the demise of Superman as if it's real! But hey, that's the power of comics and their movies, Grimdark or not. Better than watching the News! That's enough to make anyone retreat into the toy cupboard for good!
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