Friday, October 2, 2015

Q Attack, Round 21 - Are we Oversaturated with Superhero Movies?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3498820/
Tiger and Rabbit don’t go to the movies but that doesn’t mean they don’t love their films. Superhero flicks are always a popular choice but are we oversaturated with them? Tiger and Rabbit discuss past, present, and future superhero films as they examine this growing movie genre.

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Tiger: Are you ready yet, Rabbit?

Rabbit: Just hold onto your nose, I’m almost done.

Tiger: What’s taking you so long?

Rabbit: Patience, young Padawan.

[beep]

Tiger: What was that?

Rabbit: The microwave, popcorn is done! Let’s start the movie!

Tiger: *shakes head* Rabbit, we’re going to talk about movies not watch one.

Rabbit: What? We’re not going to watch Daredevil?

Tiger: *smacks Rabbit on the head* Why would you even bring up that terrible movie?!

Rabbit: Itaiii! ^rubs head^ That hurt. It was better than the Catwoman movie at least.

Tiger: Ah geez, that was really bad too.

Rabbit: Or the Green Lantern.

Tiger: Okay, please just stop. We’re here to talk about superhero movies and whether or not we’ve been oversaturated with them, or at least will be soon.

Rabbit: Yeah, no kidding. I saw the list of the Marvel movies alone, ka-ray-zee!

Tiger: It seems to me that Marvel really changed the landscape of superhero films. The Nolan Batman trilogy and the first two Spider-Man movies also had a big impact. Before them, most of the movies seemed mediocre at best.

Rabbit: I liked the Fantastic Four movies and the Blade series.

Tiger: The Punisher movie was pretty bad.

Rabbit: We should probably note that we aren’t really comic book readers.

Tiger: Yes, we’ve only read a hundred or so different series over the years.

Rabbit: Like Atomic Robo!

Tiger: That was a funny series. I always wanted to get into comics but when I start reading them, I’m reminded at how poorly written they are.

Rabbit: Or how they create so much drama and kill people off just to have it all be a dream or something like that. I do like the movies though. Avengers was probably my favorite one out of the more recent movies.

Tiger: Captain America baby. I love Cap, always have, and the Winter Soldier was an awesome flick. It had some great action but also a really good plot. I also liked the Edward Norton Incredible Hulk movie, that one was decent. I thought Thor was really going to suck but that one was fun too.

Rabbit: Yeah, not much substance but definitely a fun movie. We should probably also mention that we don’t go to the movies very often. What was the last movie we saw in a theater?

Tiger: Pirates of the Caribbean 2 I believe.

Rabbit: ^embarrassed look^ So yeah, it’s been a while.

Tiger: We just aren’t the movie seeing kind.

Rabbit: Plus, we aren’t always welcome.

Tiger: Well, most theaters do have a policy about bringing animals into an establishment unless they are service animals.

Rabbit: See! I told you we should have become seeing-eye animals!

Tiger: I don’t think that would’ve helped us.

Rabbit: I guess not. ^pouts^

Tiger: You just want a vest, don’t you?

Rabbit: They’re cool.

Tiger: *shakes head*

Rabbit: Spoilsport. Anyway, I’m looking at some of the movies that have been announced and I can definitely say I’m excited to see what the rebooted Fantastic Four will be like.

Tiger: I’m more excited for the superheroes we haven’t seen yet like Dr. Strange and Deadpool. I’m not a big DC fan but I’ve always loved the idea of Batman going against Superman. Wonder Woman could also be really cool.

Rabbit: I think Captain Marvel and the Black Panther were great choices too. But I question if they aren’t overdoing it with another Wolverine movie.

Tiger: I’m bummed about how the Amazing Spider-Man movies have turned out so far. I’m not hopeful that the reboot will be better-

Rabbit: You mean a re-reboot?

Tiger: Plus, it's great for fans that Sony and Marvel were able to work out an agreement so Spidey can be with the Avengers.

Rabbit: As for the Avengers, I liked how fun the first one was. Age of Ultron seems a lot darker, that’s cool, but I hope it still feels like an Avengers movie. There are just too many movies to talk about. I can’t believe that they have movies announced until 2020.

Tiger: Speaking of those, the Green Lantern movie should be amazing compared to the first one. I mean, you can’t get any worse than that one, can you?

Rabbit: I doubt it. It’s definitely hard to get excited when so many movies are announced in advanced. It reminds me of E3, you see a trailer, get all hyped up, but then it says coming out six years from today.

Tiger: It is ridiculous how far in advance things get announced nowadays. According to the internet, there are roughly 38 titles announced for 2015 and beyond.

Rabbit: Man, you think they were going overboard with all these superhero movies. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy them but you know what you’re getting before you even see the film. They all tend to follow the whole “beat the bad guy, save the world, all done with perfect hair” plot-line so they’re pretty predictable.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Cinematic_Universe
Tiger: So are you saying we’re oversaturated with superhero movies?

Rabbit: If we haven’t been yet, we will be. Those darned movies just keep coming and coming and coming. I get that it was cool to see the likes of Batman and Iron Man on the big screen, but now they’ve run their course. It’s time to move onto something new rather than rebooting the same old characters over and over again. How many times do I need to see a new Batman anyway? I get the Tim Burton movies weren’t the greatest so it’s understandable that fans wanted a better version. We got it with the Nolan movies and Bale but now we’re getting another Batman! When is enough, enough? Now lesser known superheroes are getting movies. I know people who love the Inhumans but your average moviegoer isn’t going to know them from the Justice League. I think it’s time to move on rather than resurrecting the same characters over and over again or making films about characters no one knows about.

Tiger: I’m actually excited about some of the new superheroes they’re choosing to make movies of. The Sinister Six sounds like it could be awesome and I think the Inhumans is a great choice for a movie. Superhero movies can be more than just loud explosions and great fight scenes; we saw that with the Winter Soldier. I don’t expect a superhero movie to win any top awards but they’ve definitely come a long way from the early days. Nolan’s Batman movies were terrific and they had a lot of substance to them. I do agree with you about the reboots, I get it if the first one was terrible to sort of start again with the second, but I hate seeing the same things over and over again. That’s why I hope the movies like Captain Marvel or Black Panther do well because we haven’t seen them before. As long as we keep getting quality superhero movies, I don’t think we can ever have enough of them.

Are we Oversaturated with Superhero Movies?

Tiger     vs     Rabbit

3 comments:

  1. A great question to pose, TvR. I've got to go with Rabbit on this one - even though I, too, love a good superhero flick.

    You (two) were spot on with your comments: the first two Spider-Man films, Nolan's Batman trilogy and, to a lesser extent, Bryan Singer's first two X-Men films were all stunning. They pulled what were initial thought of as 'niche' films for comic book fanatics out of their ghetto and on a huge stage. But, what's more, they did it with passion, with heart and with well-scribed human stories that meant they were so much more than simply summer blockbusters with expensive special effects.

    I think the real trouble with superhero films in the last 15 years has been the swarm of reboots that have been pushed on us. It seems every time that actor or director pull out a project mid-series (ie Superman, Spider-Man, Batman), we get a reboot, and its always an origin story. We don't need to keep being served origins stories!

    It's no surprise that Hollywood loves money. But since the studios insist on blitzing us with films based on as many Marvel and DC characters as they can get their mitts on - no matter how unknown the character - they should at least attempt to tell original stories, stories we don't expect to get from the now-standard comic book film template.

    I recently re-watched the 2000s' Spider-Man trilogy. To this day, Spider-Man 2 is, for me, the perfect comic book film. It builds on the first film's character relationships beautifully, ratcheting up the emotional action, and there's a reason for all its set-piece moments. The Dark Knight is equally perfect, with every scene, every action working to make up an exquisite whole. The third films in both these series were not as strong as their second entries, however, that shouldn't mean that their plots and universes should just be abandoned. (I would have much preferred to see a Spider-Man 4 and 5, continuing the story arc of Sam Raimi's Peter Parker, with a new actor if need be, than those dismal Amazing Spider-Man films.)

    Even if cast members, the director or core members of the create team are not returning to a series, that doesn't mean there shouldn't, or can't, be standalone stories in the universe they helped create. Hollywood should approach comic book films more like the James Bond series - where the actor, and even the series' fictional chronology, has changed multiple titles over the last 50 years, but its themes and characters are reused in new ways. That way, maybe they'd begin to explore existing comic book plotlines, or invent their own, that strive for the level of focus that Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight achieved.

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    1. There are so many reboots to keep track of and now we have the superhero TV shows like the ones on Netflix and the rumored X-Men TV series. They just keep coming and coming! I feel like it's at the expense of other genres too, where's all the Sci-Fi movies?

      -Rabbit

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    2. I agree that going back to the origins stories all the time is getting old. I'm glad that they're focusing on some of the lesser known heroes though, I think that is a great way to keep everything fresh and experiment with subgenres too, ala Guardians of the Galaxy and it's fun Sci-Fi flare.

      -Tiger

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