Comments on: ‘Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice’,’ ‘Daredevil,’ And The Problem Of Tone In Superhero Stories

By: adam warlock

adam warlock — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:52:52 +0000

I disagree on Daredevil. Sure, it\’s dark and gritty but not entirely humorless and with armies of ninjas running around NYC, less "real" than season 1 was. Being more street level as opposed to 2 "gods" duking it out, I think DD season 2 is what I\’ve been waiting for. The Punisher/Daredevil argument blows the Batman/Superman one out of the water and the fights with the Hand are what I thought I was going to get in the disappointing second Wolverine film. I understand the need to go back to fun in super hero stories, I enjoy the DC TV shows with Flash & Supergirl bringing a usually lighter tone. It depends on the character and situation. BVS has taken things too far and one hopes DC\’s movie universe is going to realize their mistake and make amends with 10 more films greenlighted in the next 5 years.

By: JessicaVoorhees

JessicaVoorhees — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:52:52 +0000

This is like that goober who demanded an end to serious movies forever because he was mad Godzilla wasn\’t Transformers But With Lizards isn\’t it?

By: Virgil Dante

Virgil Dante — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:52:52 +0000

I\’m very happy to see this article as it echoes my experience with both of these "entertainments".
Daredevil is likely the most profligately bullet ridden affair I\’ve ever seen, and one can only assume it was either, backed, controlled or received inspirational support from the NRA and the Pentagon (seriously). The fact that all of the Punishers new bigger and better Guns along with their almost indiscriminate use, (were all of the Kitchen Irish or the Dogs of Hell present at the Carousel shootout ? Did they all deserve to be murdered?) are put on display primarily to excite teenaged boys, should disturb everybody, and when some alienated, disturbed kid gets hold of one of these Guns and mows down a school or a movie theatre, the people responsible for Daredevil will have the burden of responsibility squarely on their shoulders.

When Zack Snyder says "Tone is everything" I imagine a person who sat through a lot of Bergman films and completely missed the point of all of them. Its time for him to take his one dimensional "Dark" vision and shove it!

By: Glint

Glint — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:52:52 +0000

What\’s so frustrating is that they didn\’t learn from the source material. In comics Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns came out in \’86 and for 20 years afterward we had to deal with \’gritty, dark\’ takes on super-heroes where all too often they used violence or sex as proxy for a teenager\’s idea of what \’mature\’ is. (And Batman became an a-hole for the duration.)

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:52:52 +0000

There\’s nothing wrong with people discussing Tone in movies. Jessica didn\’t make superhero films the dominant genre, the audience did. What do you expect her to write about if not what\’s popular at the moment?

By: No

No — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:52:52 +0000

There is something wrong when a society of adults, including "critics," spend an ample amount of time deciphering films based on comic book characters, addressing the matter of "tone."

By: Get Real

Get Real — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:52:52 +0000

Jessica, you are so much smarter, more insightful and all around a better writer than most of your colleagues…that is all.

By: Daniel

Daniel — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:52:52 +0000

I am (as usual) with Jessica on this one. That we\’re even having a conversation about Batman fighting Superman being too serious is ridiculous: one guy wears a big red cape and the other dresses like a bat. THESE ARE SILLY FANTASY CHARACTERS FROM THE GROUND UP. It\’s part of their design. It doesn\’t mean they can\’t be used to explore serious ideas but a lack of awareness about their limitations is a tragic case of missing the obvious. An almost three-hour grim slog where Superman & Batman represent the same dark, grim POV? Yeah, no thanks.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:52:52 +0000

Aren\’t superhero movies Jagernauth\’s territory? Or does the fact that this is a "thinkpiece" make it ok for Kiang to write about superheroes? Is this a budding turf war at Playlist?

By: Pick

Pick — Fri, 13 May 2016 10:52:52 +0000

The biggest difference between DC and Marvel movies to me are the characters. SPOILER alert: This is highly subjective, but did anyone really care when that Agent in The Avengers and Quicksilver in Age of Ultron died? As imperfect and overly serious Man of Steel and BvS are, I always find myself caring about the characters. I just can relate to them. SPOILER alert: I was just as worried about Diane Lane being captured as Superman was. Any Marvel character could fall dead any second and I wouldn\’t even blink. In terms of tone here, I do enjoy both DC and Marvel, but Marvel is the definition of "fun" and "fun" only – there is no depth, no heft, no stakes. I walk out of every Marvel film and never felt inspired by anything I\’ve just seen. I applaud DC with sticking to Snyder, a polarizing filmmaker. Every DC movie has its directorial stamp. Marvel movies could have been directed by anybody, the tone is consistently fun, crowd pleasing, flashy, easy to swallow.