Well folks, this blog is usually reserved for some fun projects but something has been nagging me for a few weeks now. This is going to be my review of how we now review movies. Essentially, we've lost that loving feeling, in a way.
Like many, I had been looking forward to seeing Batman V Superman. To make things even better, I was going to see it with my 11 year old son who is rapidly becoming a fan of all the genres I like. No need to think about who would like to see a particular movie or show with me, he's now my go-to guy for that. Seeing a new Star Wars movie earlier this year with him, well that was a special feeling. All those childhood fond memories of seeing certain movies for the first time are now happening again but now I can share the experience with my son, which is awesome.
So back to Batman V Superman, which never got a fair shake right from the start. Think about it, as soon as Ben Affleck was announced backseat directors and critics started bitching about it. Nobody could believe that Affleck would make a good Batman. There was also the stigma from Man of Steel to contend with. Certain people were disappointed with that movie so having the same actor reprise the role of Superman as well as same director didn't instill confidence in people, I guess. Jump to a few weeks before the film opens, we hear that Ben Affleck actually did a good job as Batman and that Gal Gadot also puts in a good performance, which I wholeheartedly agree. So the day the film opens, we get our first real reviews by so called experts, and they hate it! Aside from Gal Gadot, they can't seem to find anything redeeming with the film. And although a few critics note that Affleck puts forth a pretty decent Batman, mentioning it too much might be a little hypocritical as some of these same people blasted the choice of Affleck as Batman. We can't say he was good because last year we said he wouldn't be.
So reviews are bad, but people end up going to see it anyway. Which I guess miffed some critics as the following Monday morning, along with news that the movie has actually had a huge opening, these critics come out in full force to voice their utter disbelief that people didn't trust them enough to not go see this piece of shit. Really? Could they not just reconcile that their views on the movie were not automatically shared by one and all?! So for a full week following it's release, we were treated to the most negative marketing campaign they could muster together. Article after article, dissecting the movie every way possible and showing people all the negative aspects of this movie. Trying to convince people how wrong they were to go see this movie.
So second weekend comes around and surprise surprise, the ticket sales for Batman V Superman plummet. Critics rejoice as they have finally been vindicated. People have listened to them and not gone to see a movie on the big screen that they will end up renting or just downloading illegally anyways. But this is where I started to notice something. Although North American box office for Batman V Superman plummeted in it's second weekend, foreign box office didn't plummet at same %. Why is it that? Are moviegoers in North America more fickle than the rest of the world? Or are we just so critical of everything now, necessitating perfection and if we don't get it we throw a virtual tantrum on every form of social media we can find.
I'm sorry Zach Snyder ruined your life. I mean seriously, that he did not make the movie you had envisioned in your head, how dare he??? And I'm sorry you can't admit that Ben Affleck made a pretty good Batman. He probably didn't get your memo that he was supposed to suck. And you know what, I thought Henry Cavill, which I thought was good in Man of Steel, also upped his game for BvS. The only portrayal I had issues with was Lex Luthor. Have always enjoyed Eisenberg's performances but I felt he played it a little too crazy for this character. Did I enjoy the movie less, not really as I still go to the movies just for the pleasure of it. To sit for a few hours and be entertained by something I have never seen before. I don't feel swindled because the director chose to portray a character differently than in the comic book but I guess some people do.
So now the movie has crossed the 700 million dollar mark and the first article I see this morning is that even though the movie has crossed 700M in just a few weeks, that it's failure may very well cause Warner Brothers to scale back on number of movies it produces over next few years. Seven hundred million dollars in 2 weeks and change, a failure??? Wow, you just can't stomach that all your negative reviews have stopped this from being a profitable movie?
I guess since we live in an era where we can have 3 different Peter Parkers within the same decade, that we could reboot the justice league next summer. Why not?
Coming back to international box office. I remember another film that I enjoyed but was also torn to shreds by critics, Waterworld. Waterworld was deemed a flop in North America but it still ended up being a commercial success, despite it being way over budget. The reason? International box office was strong. Does that mean that other countries are stupid? easier to entertain? No, I think it comes down to the fact that they may appreciate more. That their expectations are not that a director will be 100% faithful to source material that will end up making a movie accessible to the small percentage of fans who are actually familiar with source material. I'm sorry Batman and Superman superfans but you are not as many as you would like to think. Studios need to make compromises to make a movie accessible to as many moviegoers as possible. Sometimes you stick to your material and put out an R rated Deadpool movie but when a movie,s budget is in the hundreds of millions, you kind of want to get more than just the hardcore fans into those seats. So at 700 million dollars and having already recouped it's production budget just in North America, can we stop calling this movie a failure? You don't have to like the movie but you can't say it isn't successful.
We are now a medieval king, sitting on a throne, chomping a turkey leg and screaming at the jester: "ENTERTAIN US!!!!" But we've seen a lot of jesters before and are no longer impressed.
And don't get me started on the season finale of The Walking Dead.
When I was a kid, going to the movies was a treat. We didn't care if it was a good or bad movie, as long as it was a fun experience.
