I don’t really read comic books. They don’t appeal to me
that much and most of the few that I have read are of the French “Asterix et
Obelix” issues. But I have seen quite a few movies based on comic books and even
though I don’t feel like I know the universes just because I have seen a few
films, I definitely recognize how rich and artful the stories can be. The DC
cinematic universe Is quite Versatile; most of the films might be superhero
films but there are many films that are more dramatic in nature and show the
true potential of comic book storytelling. Films like “V for Vendetta” “Constantine”
“Road to Perdition” “A History of Violence” in my opinion show a great
potential for expansion in their universe.
But of course when one thinks DC there are two franchises that
always come to mind: Superman, and Batman. Superman started the comic book
movie genre with “Superman” in 1978, even though it wasn’t the first one to
come out. It was very good for its time and only after it came out did people
start to see comic books as a viable source material to adapt movies from.
Today it might seem very outdated and disjointed as a film but after 35 years
it still manages to bring a smile and some thrills on my face especially when
Superman flies through the air with John Williams’ game changing score. The
next installments each had an exponential growth of sequelitis that eventually
led to the horrible “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace”. They tried to make things right with “Superman
Returns” but it didn’t really take off. Now with “Man of Steel” being the new
version sadly there hasn’t been a Superman movie so far to really satisfy the
fans that much.
Now Batman is another story. Superman was the only superhero
on the big screen until Batman came along and took over the DC universe. Tim
Burton, at the time was perfect for the job because his gothic style perfectly
matched the character of Batman and it made for a very fun movie to watch. That
was until the franchise suddenly gave the reins to Joel Schumacher. Anyone who
has seen the two Schumacher Batman films knows exactly what went wrong. What to
do now? Reboot it of course. That’s when Christopher Nolan Came along and gave
everyone, fans and casual viewers, the franchise that no one knew they wanted.
Tim Burton’s Batman was pretty well received by most fans so they didn’t really
request anything better but when Nolan gave us the Dark Knight trilogy everyone
praised him as a god. And he truly deserves all the praise because he kept DC
alive. “The Dark Knight” is the Cadillac of comic book movies and whether you
prefer Marvel or DC you have to admit that it still is a fair fight to put “The
Dark Knight” against any Marvel movie.
So is batman the only thing that holds DC high enough? I am
going to say no but even if the answer was yes I still think that “The Dark
Knight” alone would be enough to keep DC at a close race with Marvel (At least
up until now). So what else does DC have to offer? Well as I said before there
are some very unique films like “V for Vendetta” and “Road to Perdition”. They
stand alone and luckily they are good enough to be considered when listing
worthy entries, but my favorite of the onetime films has to be “Watchmen”; a
film that I think doesn’t get enough credit for how artistic it is, and gets
way too much heat just for showing Dr Manhattans genitalia (something that
Marvel Studios wouldn’t have the balls to do –No pun intended-).
DC movies are overall a great treasure to exist. Superman
has some interesting entries, and hopefully soon some satisfying ones, Batman
absolutely steals the show even though he does have simultaneously the best and
worst movie of the universe, and each one of the one off movies is just as good
as the next. Let’s just hope that the new Superman, Batman crossover film will do
justice to both characters and finally put the actual “universe” on track.
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