Poll: Current Superhero Movies

[zenoaugustus]

With so many superhero movies that came out last year and coming out in the next few years, I asked myself the other day, are these a turn for the better. By these, I mean the movies were the protagonist(s) are portrayed as real people with real problems (i.e. The Dark Knight, Watchmen, hell even Ironman) or do you prefer the older superhero movies were the superhero is virtually the perfect person.

And I am sorry if this has been done before.

 

[aswiftlytiltingreality]

There's something about the flawed superhero that makes them so much more compelling. Especially, when they are very anti-hero. Something about it makes them much more plausible, much more entertaining.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

Depends. Batman worked dark. Incredibles worked light.

What I hope this sea of dark superhero movie doesn't do is start making all superhero movies dark. Would Spiderman, Captain America or Superman work dark? Hell no!

 

[zenoaugustus]

There's something about the flawed superhero that makes them so much more compelling. Especially, when they are very anti-hero. Something about it makes them much more plausible, much more entertaining.

That is one of the reasons that everyone loved Spiderman when the first few comics came out way back in the day. He wasn't an adult. He wasn't rich. He wasn't indestructible. He was a troubled teenager trying to figure out how to get through college while still saving the world. He did not even want his powers at some points and the guilt of his Uncle's death really drove the plot and made him a compelling, likable character, even if he does complain all the time.

 

[Audemas]

I loved Watchmen and Iron Man and I have to say I prefer them with real problems and it makes the story more interesting. Iron Man's realistic problem would be alcoholism.

 

[Good morning blues]

Superheroes were the most boring genres imaginable before this trend came along. Remember "Superman Returns"? It was a movie about a really strong man lifting things up, and it was two and a half hours long. Now that we actually get into political, social and ethical issues, now that we're allowed to examine what people really would do with superpowers, these movies are actually interesting.

 

[Charli]

I need only remind you of the 'Batman and Robin' movie to know my answer is a resounding YES. And don't ever look back.


It's been steadily snowballing this generation and I like where's headed.

 

[MonkOfDoom]

Depends. Batman worked dark. Incredibles worked light.

What I hope this sea of dark superhero movie doesn't do is start making all superhero movies dark. Would Spiderman, Captain America or Superman work dark? Hell no!

But thats exactly what gives characters like Batman credibility, while the lack of imperfections in superman's characters make him less believable.

Also they did try spiderman dark, and thats what made spiderman 3 retarded

 

[sheic99]

Depends. Batman worked dark. Incredibles worked light.

What I hope this sea of dark superhero movie doesn't do is start making all superhero movies dark. Would Spiderman, Captain America or Superman work dark? Hell no!

But the heroes in the Incredibles still suffered many common personality flaws. BTW, there are several dark Superman comics that are good (ie Death of Superman)

 

[SquirrelPants]

Depends. Batman worked dark. Incredibles worked light.

What I hope this sea of dark superhero movie doesn't do is start making all superhero movies dark. Would Spiderman, Captain America or Superman work dark? Hell no!

Have you read/seen Watchmen? Basically the characters are more realistic versions of these heroes(Dr. Manhattan is a lot like Superman, for example, and The Comedian is a more realistic Captain America.)
It actually works quite well, but if the universe was originally lighthearted(Which a good amount of the original Spiderman series was not, for the record), it wouldn't make a good transfer.

 

[MonkOfDoom]

But superman himself is not dark,also the topic is referring specifically to superhero movies

 

[Lord George]

Its just the genre adapting to the current state of western society, which is dark, paranoid and scared of everything. We therefore need heroes who are like that. Unlike the old style of superhero who were nigh on invulnerable, always perfect and reflected a society that thought itself untouchable.

 

[aswiftlytiltingreality]

There's something about the flawed superhero that makes them so much more compelling. Especially, when they are very anti-hero. Something about it makes them much more plausible, much more entertaining.

That is one of the reasons that everyone loved Spiderman when the first few comics came out way back in the day. He wasn't an adult. He wasn't rich. He wasn't indestructible. He was a troubled teenager trying to figure out how to get through college while still saving the world. He did not even want his powers at some points and the guilt of his Uncle's death really drove the plot and made him a compelling, likable character, even if he does complain all the time.

I wasn't really big on Spiderman when I was growing up, but I grew to like him. I really enjoyed "Watchmen" because of how the heroes were. The Comedian was my favorite because no matter how terrible he was, he said things that were right and he still fought to do good things and so I couldn't hate him. The same with Ozymandias, except he was a stuck up prig so I didn't like him at all.

 

[Badmojojojo]

I must be old school. I prefer my superheros to be extraordinary. That's why they are superheros! If everyone could do it then it would not be super.

A character does not have to be flawed to be interesting. It is the environment and surrounding characters that conflict with that superhero persona that create drama for me. Superman in space or stopping a real estate scam repeatedly (come on Lex, you are better than that) is not interesting, but watching Superman deal with a public that hates him for not killing criminals or a Luthor that wants to become president and outcast the hero would be awesome!

I did not like Batman Begins or Dark Knight not because the character was flawed, but because the character did not maintain his identity. I kept thinking, "Why would he choose to do that? That makes no sense." Same with The Joker.

 

[TheDustyBanana]

There's a certain amount of camp instilled into each superhero no matter how hard they try to make them "serious" or "dark" or whatever. Being dark and gritty can work for some superheros like Batman but even then if you think about it's still a guy in a rubber bat suit beating up thugs which is inherently ridiculous.
Stuff like Watchmen works because they're more or less original characters and not established icons like Superman or Spiderman. And even though I liked Spiderman 3 overall but the attempts at making him "dark" and "edgy" were pretty stupid even in context (...especially in context).

Anyways, that's just my two bits.

 

[zenoaugustus]

Personally, I thought The Dark Knight deserved at least a best picture nomination, showing how far the superhero genre of movies has come.

 

[zenoaugustus]

I need only remind you of the 'Batman and Robin' movie to know my answer is a resounding YES. And don't ever look back.


It's been steadily snowballing this generation and I like where's headed.

I agree completely.

 

[Hunde Des Krieg]

Depends. Batman worked dark. Incredibles worked light.

What I hope this sea of dark superhero movie doesn't do is start making all superhero movies dark. Would Spiderman, Captain America or Superman work dark? Hell no!

Did Spiderman 3 work? No. But you might be able to make a dark Captain America. Maybe.

 

[zenoaugustus]

Depends. Batman worked dark. Incredibles worked light.

What I hope this sea of dark superhero movie doesn't do is start making all superhero movies dark. Would Spiderman, Captain America or Superman work dark? Hell no!

Did Spiderman 3 work? No. But you might be able to make a dark Captain America. Maybe.

Spiderman 3 was just a crappy movie though. It might have worked better if Sandman (I still say "who?" to this day) was not in the film and Venom actually had more than 13 minutes of screen-time and wasn't killed off.

 

[13lackfriday]

There's something about the flawed superhero that makes them so much more compelling. Especially, when they are very anti-hero. Something about it makes them much more plausible, much more entertaining.

That is one of the reasons that everyone loved Spiderman when the first few comics came out way back in the day. He wasn't an adult. He wasn't rich. He wasn't indestructible. He was a troubled teenager trying to figure out how to get through college while still saving the world. He did not even want his powers at some points and the guilt of his Uncle's death really drove the plot and made him a compelling, likable character, even if he does complain all the time.

I wasn't really big on Spiderman when I was growing up, but I grew to like him. I really enjoyed "Watchmen" because of how the heroes were. The Comedian was my favorite because no matter how terrible he was, he said things that were right and he still fought to do good things and so I couldn't hate him. The same with Ozymandias, except he was a stuck up prig so I didn't like him at all.

Haha, likewise.
Haven't really come around to reading the original graphic novel, but based upon what I've heard of the Comedian from other sources, I have to agree with your analysis.
I hated how self-righteous Ozzy was in the movie, and how he had to sputter out a lame justification for his horrific actions just to save his own scrawny, yet perfectly sculpted neck.