Rotting Corpse DC

Recently, one of the main autumn blockbusters “Justice League” was released, which, as usual, added fuel to the flames of fierce debate about the influence of the relatively new genre of comic book films on cinema and art in general. Fans are at each other's throats for the right to call their franchise the driving force in the market, or they belittle their opponents in every possible way, while everyone must admit that both sides have enough arguments. I somehow don’t want to talk about the unevenness and dullness of “The League,” but it would be at least interesting to understand the struggle of such titans as Marvel and DC in the film arena in a little more detail.

Every year, streaming services and television show a new level of series creation, competing in drama and production with major Hollywood projects, and Hollywood, in turn, drags its groaning mastodons of the world of cinema in the form of expensive series of films that have been going on for many years. Marvel is turning into a multimillion-dollar series, released 3 times a year, experimenting on a grand scale with production and setting, a strengthened fan base, a verified plot and familiar characters. Disney, with its space epic, is studying Lucas's national heritage more deeply, maybe a little cowardly, but tastefully. Smaller, in terms of ideas, but not budget, franchises, like “Fast and the Furious” and other summer blockbusters with more than three films in their treasury, are simply fulfilling the will of the studios to siphon money from the inexplicable world love for bad stories. Of course, there is also DC, which has its own path, different from the “children’s” Marvel (!), with loyal fans and the relentless enthusiasm of Zack Snyder, who has made himself a name as a well-deserved visionary of the genre through excellent action films. And if Marvel’s problems are quite clearly visible and widely discussed by everyone, then in the case of DC one can often find inadequate attempts to justify a universe that was ruined in its infancy.

Most likely, it will be difficult to find the culprit, such a mediocre product as the DC cinematic universe, without plunging directly into the creative process of the studio. However, it is very sad how Nolan's once fresh take on the story of the dark knight has grown into a reboot of the universe, with the previously planned course for realism, and ultimately arriving at a stone Henry Cavill in latex, soaring at the speed of sound (light/time?), across monochrome CGI spaces. Yes, there are references to comic books, yes, references to the Bible, but everything falls apart like a house of cards if you try to sit on all the chairs, combining realism, tasteless special effects and an unwieldy plot. It is also surprising how Snyder skillfully created interesting action in “300” and worked with suspense in “Dawn of the Dead”, how the same “Watchmen” in collaboration with DC, with a difficult to adapt script, turned into a cult film about superheroes, on a par with the Dark Knight. Now, even looking at the visual component of the reboot, I want to close my eyes from the useless waste of millions of dollars on the disgusting trash that is happening in the final part of Justice League. And this one is even sadder to watch when you realize how high-quality the work of the costume designers is, and how wonderful the location shooting is.

DC's slightly inadequate fanbase may continue to give a chance to the studio, which is most likely infested with greedy bosses who have absolutely no idea how a quality product is made. Playing in contrast to Marvel’s “kindergarten”, going into pretentious thoughts about God, then justifying failure with excessive seriousness and shifting course towards brightness and jokes, well, doesn’t this really indicate the studio’s complete failure as moviemakers? So far, the only project that did something interesting was Wonder Woman, because of the chemistry created between Diana and Trevor, which lasted until the finale of the film, where no amount of chemistry can save you from Ares. “Suicide Squad”, “Batman vs Superman”, “Man of Steel” had much more problems; these films are simply teeming with stupid moments, script absurdities, boring action and, as usual, terrible use of CGI. But they are still trying to raise them in the eyes of others, anyone who considers himself a DC fan. Although it would seem that they do not have the right to forgive, and even to protect those who do this with the product that they cherish so much. This is either Stockholm syndrome or a desire to prove that Marvel is worse.

Of course, you can still write endless petitions in order to get a good version of the League from Zach, which the evil producers are hiding somewhere in the bowels of the studio. Blame Joss Whedon, critics, Marvel, Tomatoes, sexists, but it would be wiser to postpone the unsuccessful venture until better times, reconsider Nolan's trilogy or try out Rocksteady's projects. The race with Marvel has not led to anything good, most likely it will all end in colossal losses for the studio if everything continues in this spirit, but for now, sadly, no changes are planned.