Why are critics obsessed with movies being "light" or "funny"?

Something I'm noticing in the past few years - critics seem to virtually always demand that a movie be stuffed with humor or not be too "bogged down" with serious elements. When a film gets criticism, even action films, it's often because it was too serious and not funny enough. It's strange, because ten years ago the feeling was practically the opposite: critics wanted movies to be darker and broodier. Being dark was considered a virtue. What happened? I'm not saying pic related is a masterpiece or anything, but I'm speaking more in general: I don't understand this obsession with movies being filled with witty one liners and zingers and to be "light".

TDK was hot. And then it wasn't.

Sort of agree with you, I don't really remember critics demanding dark and gritty stuff since there were plenty of lighthearted movies like iron man 1 that got good reviews, and it's not so much as critics now only want quips and forced humor but that they want very safe "serviceable" and "fun" movies which so happens to have what your talking about. Someone said in different thread perfectly that new and current critics and retards on here and reddit are now just manchildren who want be reminded about their epic childhood 80's flicks and so long as it hits the right notes of being like I said "serviceable" and "safe" they love it and those buzzwords including "fun" now make it immune from criticism. Funny thing is that with that type of mentality of only wanting safe fun inoffensive schlock as they say, these babies wouldn't have even have gotten their favorite movies, movies made in a time when people were trying new things and taking some creative risk. Hopefully this is all just another phase.

It's called knowing your element. Capeshit is literally for children. It's not supposed to take itself seriously.

Batman is the exception, not the rule.

I think it has to do with the film and preconceptions around that film.

When you hear the title "Batman V superman: Dawn or justice!" That sounds like a kid has emptied his toy box onto the carpet and is playing with two super hero action figures.

It doesn't sound like a thin, faux philosophic thinking man's movie that explores themes of religion, heroism at the cost of self, corruption of power over time, destiny and such.

Superman should have some levity to him. He always has. But here he's clearly showing what he lacks.

And that's one of BvS's, Snyder's snd even Nolans's crimes... removing the fantasy element from what is, and has always been a power fantasy based genre. No kid should want to be like superman or batman after seeing these films.

Dark and serious, brooding and heavy... that's all fine. But I personally don't think any film featuring Superman as a lead should have these things dominating it.

Batman sometimes, but even then...that's the batman we've had since the 90s ended.

It's because everything needs to be light and disposable. Filmmakers want you watch something and forget about it the second you leave the theater so you'll crave the next film in the series. Making something serious or complex seriously impedes this. If you walk out of the theater talking about what happened instead of what happened next the filmmakers (really the producers) can't count on you for the next film.

Star Wars is the best example of this. The light hearted tone and constant jokes help mask sloppy plots and boring characters. Normies remember "oh that funny scene where Han Solo uses Chewie's gun" not how the hell did Han Solo show up five seconds after the Falcon took off. Serious movies actually have to be good on legitimate grounds.

Because when you have two murdering psychopaths duking it out, you aren't sure which one to root for.
Zach used Batman and Superman so people can pretend they're same old characters they've always loved.

>Superman should have some levity to him. He always has.
Batman v Superman was the first Superman movie I watched. I only knew the basics of the character from pop-culture osmosis. Everything made perfect sense to me, and when I read about other Superman media they sounded stupid as fuck. BvS is easily my favorite capeshit. Fanboys are just mad that it pointed out how dumb the traditional Superman concept really is.

Would you make a comedy set in auschwitz?

This is the same reason why super serious superhero movies don't work.

Ten years ago, you weren't aware of what real critics were saying, only fanboy-panderers. Critics have generally preferred it when genre shit knows its place. The whole point of working within a genre is to assent to certain limits, after all.

Great post.

Life is Beautiful

Superman isn't dumb, it's childish, because it's for children, and secondarily for adults who can enter into the child mindset.

>Would you make a comedy set in auschwitz?
It's not actually Auschwitz, but it's in an unnamed Nazi concentration camp, and it's a great movie.

Correct

You're so cute when you pretend you know a thing about critics or filmmaking OP :3

I don't care about that at all. BvS felt like fanfiction to me, and I mean that as praise.

This is what I fucking hate about the force awakens...It feels like it was made in a laboratory to perfectly appeal to the sensibility of modern critics. It's light, it's funny, it's slick, but you don't get much out of it.

Batman v Supes is a movie about a billionaire who dresses like a bat and fights an alien with a bunch of superpowers. The movie doesn't inspire, it doesn't motivate, the way a hero like Superman should. In the scene where he's saving a bunch of people, he looks pissed, he looks like he doesn't enjoy saving people and even looks down on the human race. Well then what about serious themes, the movie doesn't do that well either, it all ends up in a messy big cgi explosion climax. A movie like BvS just ends up being depressing, people go see these movies to for escapism. If it did the serious themes well, the mythology behind superman, it's parallels with classic heroes like Hercules, then it might be more successful but it doesn't do that. This is why shit like Marvel despite the constant hate for quips and all that shit are more successful. It's silly mindless fun entertainment.

The film hinged on Superman being as human as Batman, but only Affleck showed any genuine human emotion.

And it sucks because the guy playing Superman gets it, he can play Superman. He's just being directed to be like a Alex Ross image in every single frame, that isn't how acting works. Snyder ALMOST gets it and it's frustrating as hell.

I feel like even a movie like Jurassic Park today would be considered too somber. "Oh they're debating about morality of cloning over dinner, this movie takes itself too seriously..."

There are parts that wouldn't get into a kids film today, definitely.

But it also has Jeff Goldblum hamming it up and dinosaur shit and those fecking kids.

That's a musical, musicals are always shit.

What do you mean, you "don't care about" it? I've just stated its only correct audience and raison d'etre. You're a mongoloid.

It's not a musical.

But is it really that silly for superhero stories to be a bit more contemplative and reflective? I mean if you look at most simple stories of past cultures, they usually have some kind of moral or moral inquiry.

And honestly, isn't it kind of BORING if a movie is trying to be nothing but just a "light" movie that doesn't take itself seriously at all? What's fun about watching nothing but CGI action for two hours? At least with other action films you get some really cool movement and choreography, but in movies like the Avengers its just nothing whatsoever, no purpose and not even aesthetic enjoyment....Just garbage that we've been trained to enjoy and accept

Why are you saying "modern critics"? You have no idea what you even mean. It appeals to the scum it was made for, the same way Lucas's original slice of fascist garbage did.

I don't personally care if Superman is supposed to be "for children" or not. BvS was entertaining to me as an adult, and if the kids don't like it that's not my problem.

>you will never have shit taste this extreme

Life is beautiful is an example of a person using levity to discharge stress and overcome harsh circumstances. If anything it's a testament to the marvel formula and further testament to everything wrong with the DCEU so far.

Yes, it is completely silly. Retarded, in fact.

>And honestly, isn't it kind of BORING if a movie is trying to be nothing but just a "light" movie that doesn't take itself seriously at all?

Let me save you a decade of increasing anguish - you've grown out of capeshit. Whatever you do with that fact, that's what's happened.

>is it really that silly for superhero stories to be a bit more contemplative and reflective?

Yes.

Especially when it's basically

>I can punch hole in moon but feel bad inside :(

>But is it really that silly for superhero stories to be a bit more contemplative and reflective?
That hinges entirely on how well you pull it off. Nolan was able to pull it off on Batman Begins and The Dark Knight but failed on Rises, Watchmen sort of does it and to some extent Wonder Woman. But when you fail you end up with something that is very broody and unpleasant.

No, you see, you don't get to "not care" about FACTS. That's not how adult life works. Capeshit that fails to appeal to children is categorically bad filmmaking. There can be no real debate about this.

Every scene pretty much takes wholesale from the previous films. It has maybe a couple new ideas but they never make it feel like a "new" entry to the series just a, dare i say, glib facsimile.

modern critics like the JJ Abrams style of TV-like movies that are slick and competent but formulaic. The scenes are usually paced so you don't think or focus too long on a particular concept. Slick, competent, well produced, conveyor belt movies

It's a style that's infecting everything. Look at the trailer for the new Jigsaw movie, it is taking on that same template and will probably get love by the critics (at least way more than the other Saw films)

Not that guy, but if you can't understand why people including most adults didn't like it, that's your problem.

Nobody considers superman a killer of any sort, he is the boy scout whether you like it or not. If you were entertained that's fine, but you are not the target audience for superman.

The problem with Marvel isn't that it's "light", it's that all the violence feels so inconsequential. It reminds me of movies like Vera Cruz or The Wild Bunch. Lots of shooting but I don't care who wins. I felt actually emotion at the end of BvS.

>Capeshit that fails to appeal to children is categorically bad filmmaking
I've read some Harry Potter fanfic. When done well, it's better than the original because it takes something original written for children and makes it suitable for adults. BvS was like that.

>when a retarded person who will never live on his own outside of a permanent care facility starts trying to tell people about adulthood

I don't think I've necessarily grown out of it. I very much enjoyed Man of Steel, I enjoyed Snyder's unique vision and technique, and the moral sensibility he brought to the movie, that makes it seem like it's on another plane compared to most other Superhero movies. They can be great, if someone really cares, and wants to put some passion into it, instead of just making light forgettable romps like all the marvel films

The best movies are when the creators infuse passion into them that reflect some things in our real lives. Take E.T. for instance, we could say "just should have been a fun light kids movie", but Spielberg inserted his sensibilities and moral passion and it became something really special and memorable

Critics loved TDKR though...

>Snyder's unique vision and technique

How is copying random comic panels unique vision or unique technique?

>When done well, it's better than the original because it takes something original written for children and makes it suitable for adults.

As the work is intended for children, a version for adults is not an improvement, but a degeneration. You're missing the point of genre itself.


How childishly spiteful you all get when someone states the reality of the situation - you are manchildren, being buried alive in your own failure to develop by profiteers who don't give a shit if they're mass-producing the suicides of the future.

>The problem with Marvel isn't that it's "light", it's that all the violence feels so inconsequential. It reminds me of movies like Vera Cruz or The Wild Bunch. Lots of shooting but I don't care who wins. I felt actually emotion at the end of BvS.
what? Everyone knew Supes was coming back.

Rejecting what you deem childish doesn't make you an adult.

They aren't going to let you live on your own. just accept it.

I honestly think film culture, and culture in general, has gotten more childish. I mean even if you go back and watch Superhero films from the 80s, they have noticeably more mature themes.

Man of steel isn't terrible but I wouldn't call it the best superhero movie or anything. God-tier sound track though.

Has there ever been a movie as humorless as this?
Even scenes that should give the audience feelings of awe, and amazement fall flat.

some scenes were laughably bad

I really liked that attempt at quipping from lois in the beginning that just comes off as her being a massive cunt.

You're in the process of growing out of it. Snyder has no moral sensibility, and in less than a decade you'll be embarrassed by the high regard in which you currently hold him.

>The best movies are when the creators infuse passion into them that reflect some things in our real lives.
This is a meaningless statement. The best movies are by people who haven't been trying to leave "real life" in the first place, but recognize that imagination is part of the fabric of real life.

E. T. *is* just a fun light kids' movie. It was, followng Raiders, part of Spielberg's intentional selling-out after New Hollywood ended and the misanthropy he revealed in 1941 exposed him critically in a way he didn't want to deal with.

You are the one rejecting the reality you can't deal with.

>As the work is intended for children, a version for adults is not an improvement, but a degeneration.
It's obviously an improvement. Do you expect children to catch all the references in BvS? Why would I watch a Superman film for children? It would be intolerably boring.

Does it bother you that BVS has cameos of these people

Projection.

Just watch the RLM reviews again
Basically, Batman can be gritty - that's in his character. But general audiences don't want to see dark and gritty Superman, Lex Luthor, etc. The Dark Knight aesthetic works with Batman. Not much else. Because the source material lends itself to dark movies. Superman doesn't. Generally
I'm not saying I agree with that, but I do.

Yeah, there was that scene where Clark steps into the bathtub early on? Felt so bogged down by this weird sincerity to it. Didn't really feel like 2 characters interacting, more like a flashback scene in a movie after the wife dies. Like it was supposed to make you cry

Well because tje world runs on three things:
>comedy
>sex
>children

Sex will obviously always sell. Anyone will have a reaction when you mention children. And in real life if you can make someone laugh a lot they will like you and want to be your friend.

Let me tell you, most critics didn't even properly watch the film. They just decided to jump on the bandwagon that had formed months prior. Zack Snyder has always been hated by the liberal media. This was their chance to strike the killing blow.

This, don't put a edgy spin on children's story and expect an Oscar. Nolan's trilogy only worked because it was trilogy About Batman's philosophy rather than a trilogy about batman

That's bullshit and RLM are huge Disney bought hacks. This version of Superman has been portrayed a million times in comics, most prominently in the Alex Ross comics. They are still stuck on the Donner mentality when Donner stuck to giving us ONE side of Superman where there exists a thousand more. Zack did right by destroying the boy scout look of Superman. We have already seen that version on film countless times. Let us see new aspects of Superman portrayed in comics but never brought to cinema.

tl;dr RLM are clueless hacks

Who said it was a children's story? The Dark Knight Returns, Peace on Earth and Kingdom Come are all made for the older comic book audience, not the kids.

Don't come to BvS expecting Marvel's kiddy trash.

>anyone who doesn't like what I like is being paid by disney

yea okay

bvs is a childish version of all of those arcs

Yeah ok man go suck more mouse cock rewatching The Farce Awakens. That's the exact moment anyone with self respect would've dropped those glorified Disney hacks.

Your disney obsession is pretty sad, breh.

You're not wrong. Proof: Jurassic World.

No it's not. You don't even know what your argument is anymore. First that BvS isn't childish enough, now that it is too childish. I suggest you cease posting and ponder on your lack of attention span instead.

Does it upset you that even patricians of the highest caliber consider this flick pleb tier trash?

Obama fucked shit up and now we have Trump, the world is a horrible dark place that we need to lighten up with quips

Tell that to the RLM hacks that automatically give anything branded by the mouse a good review even if it's the most basic, cynical assembly-line production of Marvel Studios. I find it funny how their entire act is about being jaded on films yet they eat the simplest turds Disney delivers to them. I wonder just how brain dead one need be to still take those hacks seriously.

Ya getting your fags confused, fag.

BvS is a very childish retelling of no less than four comic arcs that were cannibalized to serve a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.

>[random e-celebs] are disney shills!!

>they shit on rogue one

... uh huh

Disney aren't dumb enough to make it that obvious. The deal is they praise the main series but they can shit on the spin-offs.

Yeah sure I am you cocksucker. BvS is based on more mature-geared comics and the film itself takes itself fully seriously.

This isn't a Marvel where Cap America quips after almost crushing Spidey to death. If you enjoy that, then watch that. I won't go to Marvel complaining it's too light. I get that's their thing. Kids also film.

They knew after TFA people were doubting their non-existant integrity. R1 was the sacrificial lamb. No one can praise R1 with a straight face even though it's still slightly better than The Farce Awakens.

Have any proof of this?

No. you don't. Your desperation to defend zack snyder has made you practically a paranoid schizophrenic.

>BvS is based on more mature-geared comics

And the things it cannibalized from said comics are just a few larger themes and some images. the meat of the movie was filled with adolescent power-fantasy bullshit that was completely at odds with the themes that gave said arcs such prestige.

/thread

taking capeshit seriously is embarassing.

It's too good for this world. The media is overwhelmingly liberal and the smaller blog sites are also in bed with Disney. BvS is a film for the honest era. We live in an era of deception. People will see the sun in time.

Why are autists and pajeets obsessed with slobbing on Snyder's knob?

They should've called the film The Death of Superman. People would go in expecting that sort of tone, the deconstruction of the character. Plus you would go through the film thinking Batman would kill Superman only to be surprised to see Doomsday show up.

>t. mexican

Completely false. BvS gives even more weight to the legend.

>BvS is a film for the honest era
Yet Zack Snyder is a dishonest hack

You're completely wrong and your attempts to substantiate your argument have been and will always be utterly laughable.

Sounds convincing until you remember Winter Soldier, Logan and Fury Road were pretty much universally loved by critics despite their more serious tone.

You don't have to keep making excuses for BvS's critical reception, Zack.

>original star wars is fascist
have heard the ot called a lot of things but never fascist

they hate all the jokes in marvel stuff because they don't translate to their languages

>0.02 rupees have been deposited into your account

the saw franchise was always shit tho

"why are critics asking for adaptations of light, colorful superheroes to be light and colorful and not 2 and a half hour slogs of hamfisted symbolism that ultimately amounts to nothing and boring characters?"
i don't know op, why did your mom still have you when she found out how fucking soft you were in the head?

>random
Snyder is drawing from the most iconic images from the comics in the last 30 years. He is fulfilling a duty in translating a visual medium to another visual medium, paying tribute to the aesthetic and narrative of these comics. People prefer seeing the formula or template followed, but Snyder's films are by far the most accurate to their source material.

>Superhero comics are trash
>The guy who worships at the altar of superhero comics makes trash movies
pottery

>Snyder is drawing from the most iconic images from the comics in the last 30 years.

And jamming them into his movies utterly randomly, ignoring all the themes of the arcs they were drawn for and occasionally ignoring the meaning of the scenes themselves.

snyder hates comics though. The only one he likes is watchmen. and he doesn't even understand that one.

Worlds Finest would have worked too, keeping the "Man of Steel" title theme

>light, colorful superheroes
Superman is only light and colorful if you refuse to think. The issues raised in BvS are a natural consequence of the Superman concept.

Batman was a non character in TDK and was only there to move the plot. Even when he did something that could be considered "offensive," they gave alfred expositional lines to make his actions seem more agreeable so that people would feel comfortable with it, as if someone was telling them "yeah this is ok." In BvS people had to interpret scenes for themselves with no exposition to explain things.

The complaints about BvS come from retards which make up the great majority of capeshitters, who can only interpret things at a surface level.

The issues raised in bvs are all the result of lex zuckerberg manipulating the media, thus, no issues are actually raised.

I like how
>poorly written
has become
>you have to figure it out!