Dawn Of Batman?
I’m very skeptical of the next DC movie, Superman vs Batman: Dawn of Justice. Very skeptical.
So far, the movie boasts Superman (this is his backhanded sequel), Batman, and Wonder Woman. There are rumors that Aquaman is also going to be in the movie. However, what’s really going to happen is that the movie is going to be a Batman movie, very much like how all the X-Men movies are really Wolverine movies.
When it comes to the cinema, DC has only two real properties that are truly cinematic. Those two characters are Superman and Batman. Remember that these are superheroes, and as such, they are only as good as the villains they fight. Batman has a few villains that are cinematic, Superman has a few, and that’s where it ends. Who are Wonder Woman’s villains that are powerful enough and interesting enough for her to fight? Who are Aquaman’s? (Will he even be called “Aquaman” in the movie? The name is lame, no?)
Calling the film a Batman movie is really what’s going to happen. Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman have powers, so they’ll have to do something that they always do: they’ll have to defer to Batman’s superior intellect. That’s the only way to show the world that Batman belongs with these titans.
There’s a LOT of worldbuilding that has to go on in this movie. They have to establish at least three characters and their motivations, if not more. They then have to make it so that Batman comes up with a plan to defeat the bad guy(s), while also showing him to be the World’s Greatest Detective and a superior strategist. They have to tell this story in a single sitting, not going too much above 120 minutes.
It’s a lot to ask for. And a lot of it is riding on the acting ability of Ben Affleck, the same guy who helped to destroy Daredevil as a film franchise.
I’m interested in the movie, like everyone else, but I don’t think it’s going to be a rival to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Marvel’s character roster is deep. Villains that will give the heroes a run for their money. DC, not so much. They may want to do a reverse of what Marvel is doing, creating their team movies first and then spinning them out into their own films, but they still have a problem with villains.
Really, they’re going to be stuck with rebooting Batman and Superman ad infinitum. Not until they create better villains for the other heroes that they’ll be successful in cinema.
But any film with Batman in it will be a Batman movie. Let’s hope the character is ready to bear some real responsibility now.
And that’s your Daily Dose!
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Category: Columns, The Daily Dose
I think the terrible writing destroyed Daredevil moreso than any of the performances did. How well was Michael Clark Duncan utilized in that movie? Oh right, The Kingpin was barely in it. The same thing will be true with this movie. They’ve got a lot to cover and a bad script will doom not just this movie, but those that they were hoping to spin out of it, including the Justice League movie way down the line.
If Afleck bashing is your basis for why this movie will be bad, I think you’re grasping at straws and fanboy bandwagon whining. A quick trip down his IMDB page shows plenty of good performances including another super hero related performance which many rate as one of his best.
Aquaman can be done well as a supporting character. Just look at John DiMaggio’s voice work on The Brave and the Bold for the best portrayal of that character ever. I don’t know if he’ll ever be able to carry his own movie though.
Also, did you mean that Superman, Wonder Woman, and Aquaman have powers or they have no powers? I think a stray “no” snuck into your article.
Thanks, Mike!
No, I’m not bashing Affleck. I could, but I won’t, because it’s easy. Everyone’s doing it.
I’m not saying that the movie will be bad. I’m cautiously optimistic. However, I don’t know if it’s going to do for DC what the Marvel movies have done for them: raise the level of awareness of characters that aren’t Spider-Man. Marvel basically had Spider-Man, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and Namor in cartoon form, as well as the X-Men, before remaking them into the cinematic powerhouses they’ve now become. What they’re now going to do is test their mettle by debuting characters that have never had life outside of the comics with GotG. If that movie is successful to the tune of anywhere near $300k, then we can all say that Marvel has the juice.
DC has to rely on Batman and Superman. They haven’t earned the trust of the masses yet. They’re doing well on television, but not in film. Ask this question: was Man of Steel successful because of the fact that Superman hasn’t been in theaters for 20+ years except for that terrible Superman Returns film, or did it stand up on its own merits? MoS was no Iron Man. Coupling him with Batman isn’t the answer, because, like I said, any movie with Batman in it instantly becomes a Batman movie, because he has no powers. (And thanks for letting me know about that extra “no.” I’ll be taking care of that in a moment.)
Batman is usually by himself. He works well that way. Now, though, he’s about to become the brains of the Justice League. We’re about to see if he can really handle that on film.
We should be seeing a new type of Batman in all of this, though. Batman the detective/strategist. The closest thing we got to the “detective” part of him was with Adam West. We should be seeing him very differently when this movie comes out.