Continued from Part 1
Please remember these are my opinions, and if you don't like them you are free to rant on Facebook that I ruined your childhood- in fact... I encourage you to.
Last time I hit upon the more flawed visions of Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman- this time I am going to chat about stuff getting better,, and approaching perfection.
Now I firmly believe in my Spark that DC isn't doing it as good as Marvel- not yet, but they are getting better and coming up fast.
Smallville- ten seasons from Superboy to Superman. Not as much action series as night-time soap, at times, but they managed to put a very human face on our favorite kryptonian visitor. It recognized that Superman had a mythology that was deep, and told the stories in a new way- not of a god pretending to be a man, but god raised as a man, and struggling with the dilemma of what his powers could do, and what they should not. It even manages to bring out a sort of Proto-Justice League and show us the Justice Society of a bygone era
Batman Begins- This is the High Point- a gritty, real world Batman that looks at how Bruce Wayne could actually become the Dark Knight Detective. It crossed the border from a good superhero film(FCBNO*) to actually being a good film- A Masterpiece of Cinema in my opinion.
The Dark Knight- This one may actually have surpassed it's predecessor, showing the fall and the long dark night of the soul of the heros journey. Batman ends the film as outcast in order to save the reputation and works of a good man who fell to madness.
The Dark Knight Rises - I personally don't think this one is as strong as the two before it but it still solid as hell. My biggest Criticism of this is that it sandboxes the character into a world where they can do no more with him. He has a beginning, a middle, and in the Dark Knight Rises, he has an end- whether you believe he died in a blast, and Alfred's viewing of him later is but an old man's fantasy, or that he survived and retired happy with Selena Kyle, this is the end of Batman. And as we know, Heroes never die, they just get rebooted.
Gotham- What Smallville did for Clark Kent, Gotham does for...James Gordon...? That being said, it takes an interesting look at the roots of the characters around Bruce Wayne. Young master Bruce is the least interesting person on the show, with the various budding psychopaths who will become his nemeses shining out.
Man Of Steel - This Film took some flack- a lot of folks didn't like the long fight scenes, and there was criticism of Superman killing Zod at the end. I love this film. It makes an amazing reboot to the origin, manages to be epic and human at the same time. And it does a wonderful job of setting the stage for
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice- This film has detractors- I am not one of them. I liked this movie when i saw it on the big screen, I liked it when I watched it again on the DVD screen. Things this film definitely did right- For the first time, we see Batman fight like a horrific ballet of violence-every move leading to the next, every move a movement in a greater symphony. We see Batman as a planner and a setter of contingencies. His takedown of Superman is believeable.
Oh, and Wonder Woman. I could watch Gal Gadot all day. Feminine and lethal all at once
Honrable Mentions in DC Cinema- Green Lantern- I liked it, would not mind seeing a sequel, even tho I know that will never happen.
Watchmen- What can I say about this? Alan Moore hated it, but Alan Moore hates everything. This is a pretty faithful adaptation of the graphic novel. and as we saw above with Dawn of Justice, Zack Snyder knows how Superheroes should look when they fight.
Arrow- A gritty look into the character of Green Arrow. It feels like they wanted to make Batman and got Oliver Queen instead, but it gave us...
The Flash- Which is SUPERB and
Legends of Tomorrow- which puts Brandon Routh in a smaller set of Tights than Superman's
Oh- and Supergirl- The hours of the day I am not watching Gal Gadot, I could easily watch Melissa Benoist. She's perfect.
*For Comic Book Nerds Only
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