The DCCU has been largely a series of near misses. “Green Lantern” could’ve been a contender. Ryan Reynolds was a decent choice to play Hal, and he did the best he could with what he had to work with. The SFX were great, and the score was okay. The fatal flaw of “GL” was that the writers didn’t really “Get” Hal Jordan. He can be summed up in one sentence; “When your worst fear happens before your eyes, there’s nothing left to be afraid of.”
“Man of Steel”, for all of it’s flaws is still the best Superman movie, to date. And I’m saying this as probably the only member of this group old enough to have seen “Superman: the Movie” in the theatre. Its major problem is that Superman doesn’t work well as a dark, brooding character. Supes works best when he’s inspirational.
“Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice”, tries to cram WAAAY too much into a two hour and twenty minute movie. As a result, EVERYTHING gets short shrift, and we wind up with a muddled mess. Jesse Eisenman’s WTF portrayal of Luthor didn’t help.
“Suicide Squad” was boring. There. I said it. Despite one stand out performance (Margot Robbie…she dominated every scene she was in), didn’t give a damn about any of the characters. Even Rick Flagg, the film’s Good Guy was dull. Yawn.
I found “Wonder Woman” to be highly watchable. Good cast (Gal Gadot is gorgeous), acceptable reimagining of WW’s origin, decent score, nice growth arc for Our Hero. The biggest problem with this film is that in the Third Act, Ares lacked any real gravitas. After all the build up, I expected more badassery from the villain, or at least, a more chilling voice.
Like “Green Lantern”, “Justice League” is a So Close and Yet, So Far movie. All the elements were there, and it had its moments, but it never really gelled. It was watchable, but it was no “Avengers”.
“Aquaman”, I quite enjoyed. To me, it felt like an Arthurian Epic. High stakes, a noble, yet flawed hero, a coherent narrative, a decent score, Maybe not a great movie, but a good one.
“Shazam” Is probably the DCCU movie that I enjoyed the most. It’s the first of these flicks to actually have a sense of humor, and I liked the characters. When Billy starts actually starts channeling the Wisdom of Solomon, things really start to happen. Fun movie.
As for “Birds of Prey”, I’ve seen a trailer and thought; “What the fuck is this?” I”ll probably buy the Blu-Ray, at some point (I’m a completist), but I dunno if I’ll watch it.
2 replies on “Regarding the DCCU”
I think you hit the nail on the head with this comment: It’s the first of these flicks to actually have a sense of humor. One of the things about Marvel is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Iron Man set the tone for bad stuff happening but let’s have fun. It’s why Wolverine was everyone’s favorite X-Men character. He had a total WTF let’s smoke a cigar feel.
The DCCU is too dark and serious.
The only one I enjoyed (and have only seen them in the comfort of my home) was WW, though I agree Man Of Steel was pretty good. But I have a real soft spot for Diane Lane.
I also saw Superman the movie theatres.
Interesting to hear if any younger members chime in.
I originally wrote this piece for a Facebook group that I’m in. I probably should’ve edited it, before posting it here.