I like the idea of DC going dark and edgy. I would be fine with Marvel now being lighthearted fun, and DC being gritty and bleak. But DC's current products suck. They have mistaken darkness for quality, and almost everything they currently make shows it. Man of Steel was an awful movie, and not because it was dark or it differed from the comics. It was bad because it had characters with no personality, intelligence, or depth (though the movie tries to pretend otherwise) terrible pacing, random jumps from past to present, and a third act that was almost entirely a prolonged fight scene in which I couldn't possibly care less about any of the characters.
Also, Zod's killing itself isn't bad, but the lazy way it was done most certainly is. If Superman can turn his neck to break it, why can't he just turn it away from the people. And why is he sad afterwards, when the film has given absolutely no hint that this version of Superman is against killing. Comic Superman tries to never kill, this is a well known fact, but movie Superman is obviously going to be different and as such you have to establish what his ideals are, which the movie never even tries to do. There are plenty of other annoyances, but those are the big ones. It had a couple of good parts, like young Clark's powers going out of control, but those do not redeem an entire film that is boring, stupid, and pretentious.
Dc really needs to start making stuff that is actually good, and it really doesn't matter if it is light or dark. The Demon Knights comic was great, and ridiculously dark with morally ambiguous "heroes", regular acts of murder, damnation to hell, and mass slaughter of innocent villagers. But it wasn't great because of those, it was because of the characters having distinct, clashing personalities, the bits of humor, the occasional breather moments to balance things out, and the desperate and epic feel of the series. A dark or light tone can enhance a work, but neither will automatically make it good.
Also, Zod's killing itself isn't bad, but the lazy way it was done most certainly is. If Superman can turn his neck to break it, why can't he just turn it away from the people. And why is he sad afterwards, when the film has given absolutely no hint that this version of Superman is against killing. Comic Superman tries to never kill, this is a well known fact, but movie Superman is obviously going to be different and as such you have to establish what his ideals are, which the movie never even tries to do. There are plenty of other annoyances, but those are the big ones. It had a couple of good parts, like young Clark's powers going out of control, but those do not redeem an entire film that is boring, stupid, and pretentious.
Dc really needs to start making stuff that is actually good, and it really doesn't matter if it is light or dark. The Demon Knights comic was great, and ridiculously dark with morally ambiguous "heroes", regular acts of murder, damnation to hell, and mass slaughter of innocent villagers. But it wasn't great because of those, it was because of the characters having distinct, clashing personalities, the bits of humor, the occasional breather moments to balance things out, and the desperate and epic feel of the series. A dark or light tone can enhance a work, but neither will automatically make it good.
