Zach Snyder's Justice League

[Brad Johnson]

Finally had a chance to watch it. It is a far, far better movie in every way than the Justice League theatrical release. More character development, better backgrounding, more coherent storyline, etc.. It still suffers from DC's propensity to try and stuff 10 pounds of movie in a five pound bag, but unlike the incoherent mess it replaces it's at least reasonably enjoyable. The added runtime gives the movie room to breath. Snyder uses it wisely, fleshing out character arcs and storylines in a way which ties everything together and smooths out the flow. The darker tone better suits the material, too.

Is this version now a great movie? No, but the rehash takes it from "That was awful" to "Okay, it's decent.". It's enjoyable enough that it feels much shorter than its four hour runtime. If you watched the original and thought "I really wanted to enjoy this but just couldn't because it's a mess", give this one a spin.

Brad

[K Frame]

So, we're up to what....

32,757 "super hero"movies, with the number growing exponentially every year?

[RoadKingLarry]

So, we're up to what....

32,757 "super hero"movies, with the number growing exponentially every year?

Bread and circuses.

[WLJ]

GOOD super hero movies are like hen's teeth now, they're all just bland and boring nowadays. Marvel had a good run until Disney decided that pushing "The Message" down your throat in all of their movies was far more important than making an enjoyable movie.

[HankB]

They're really running out of ideas for these superhero movies . . . not only has the novelty worn off, they're even hiring hack directors to make them. Case in point, 2022's  "The Batman" was an unmitigated piece of trash with terrible acting, dialog, and some of the worst cinematography I've seen in a long time.

I expect nearly all movies will get worse as the Motion Picture Association has mandated racial/ethnic/homo quotas in all phases of moviemaking for a film to even be considered for an award. Seeing as cr@pol@ movies seem to get most of the Oscar nominations anyway, maybe some studios and directors will just say "The heck with the MPA" and try to make good movies the audiences will actually like.

[RoadKingLarry]

Do they want to win awards or make bank at the box office?
I'm not sure they can do both anymore.

[Ben]

Yeah, these comic book movies were fun when they first came out, but it's oversaturation now. I have probably not seen at least the last half dozen or dozen of them by now, and don't really have any desire too.

[WLJ]

Do they want to win awards or make bank at the box office?
I'm not sure they can do both anymore.

Well to win awards just have to met the "inclusiveness requirements going in effect.

Article say 2025 but I read 2024 elsewhere

According to the Academy’s new regulations, which will come into effect for the 2025 Oscars, films seeking best picture nominations must meet two out of four requirements.

The requirements include having at least one lead character in the movie be from an “an underrepresented racial or ethnic group”, having at least 30% of the general ensemble cast be from at least two underrepresented groups (women, ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ people or people with disabilities), or having the movie’s subject focus on one of those groups.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/06/richard-dreyfuss-says-oscar-diversity-rules-make-me-vomit

[K Frame]

Yeah, these comic book movies were fun when they first came out, but it's oversaturation now. I have probably not seen at least the last half dozen or dozen of them by now, and don't really have any desire too.

The only one I have ANY interest in seeing is Deadpool 3.

[K Frame]

Well to win awards just have to met the "inclusiveness requirements going in effect.

Article say 2025 but I read 2024 elsewhere
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/may/06/richard-dreyfuss-says-oscar-diversity-rules-make-me-vomit

Richard Dreyfuss went absolutely NUTS on the new wokeness mandates. Said they want to make him vomit and a lot of other less than complimentary observations about the new mandates.

His movie career is now officially over.

And, I'm betting that some are going to clamor for his movies to be erased and any awards he's been give to be rescinded.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/oscars/richard-dreyfuss-criticizes-new-diversity-requirements-for-oscar-contention-they-make-me-vomit/ar-AA1aTNmN

[MechAg94]

I think audiences are getting tired of this stuff.  The last few movies have been bad.  The recent Ant Man movie did horribly at the box office. 

I went and saw the new Guardians of the Galaxy movie last weekend.  I liked it.  I hear many saying it is the best movie in a while.  James Gunn made it and he is at Warner with DC now.  However, I think it is trending below expectations so far.

On the OP, I agree.  The Snyder cut of Justice League was much better.  I still don't like the casting for Flash and making him a snot nosed kid character.  I didn't like having him turn back time at the end.  I think it would have been better if he just sucked it up and made it on time. 

[JTHunter]

Bread and circuses.

That's what the Left has been doing for decades to keep most people distracted from their efforts to run this country down.

[MechAg94]

Couple things I heard mentioned: 
First, A lot of the early Marvel movies were made with rather modest budgets compared to what they are doing now.  $60MM or maybe $100MM.  They also didn't gross a huge amount, but were still considered successes as they made a decent profit.  Part of Disney Marvel's issue is they are starting with larger budgets, then they are doing a lot of reshoots and redoing the CGI to the point the budgets are bloated.  If they were being efficient with their budgets, the money they are making might be enough to stay profitable.   

Second, there is some inflation at work here from what I hear.  The ticket prices are higher on average.  I have heard it said that the number of people actually seeing these movies is down, but the money still looks good at least in some cases which has hidden how poorly the movies have done since End Game.

On the story telling side, I think Marvel screwed up.  They wrote themselves into a hole with the End Game movie and killed off major characters that people liked.  Then they undermined other remaining characters and failed at introducing new ones. 

There was only about 20 people in the theater with me watching Guardians of the Galaxy 3.  It was a 4 PM showing, but it was still opening weekend.  They did seem to have a dozen showings per day so maybe that was part of it. 

[HankB]

Couple things I heard mentioned: 
First, A lot of the early Marvel movies were made with rather modest budgets compared to what they are doing now.  $60MM or maybe $100MM.  They also didn't gross a huge amount, but were still considered successes as they made a decent profit.  Part of Disney Marvel's issue is they are starting with larger budgets, then they are doing a lot of reshoots and redoing the CGI to the point the budgets are bloated.  If they were being efficient with their budgets, the money they are making might be enough to stay profitable . . .

In the same vein - the production budget for the first Star Wars movie was only around 11 million dollars, a paltry sum by current standards. Even with inflation, it makes you wonder where all the added dollars are going today. (OK, into someone's pocket, of course. Duh.)

[Jim147]

GOTG3 is looking pretty good for an opening weekend. I don't go to the theater but will watch it once it hits other options. I have seen the original Justice Leage a few times. The long version is much better but due to length, I've only seen it once.

[MechAg94]

In the same vein - the production budget for the first Star Wars movie was only around 11 million dollars, a paltry sum by current standards. Even with inflation, it makes you wonder where all the added dollars are going today. (OK, into someone's pocket, of course. Duh.)

I heard a comment recently saying making movies is pretty much an art form.  Big Corporations don't do art.  It runs completely against their makeup. 

That fits Disney to a tee.  Most all of their successful movies over the last 20 years are properties they acquired.

[WLJ]

I heard a comment recently saying making movies is pretty much an art form.  Big Corporations don't do art.  It runs completely against their makeup. 

That fits Disney to a tee.  Most all of their successful movies over the last 20 years are properties they acquired.

Yep, you could see the life getting sucked out of Pixar after Disney bought them with their movies becoming more and more lifeless.