Current Events > The new BATMAN movie looks lame - why is it all dark and gloomy

(+) Yeah! (+)

And whats with the red everywhere

why do DC movies always have to be so dark

It's Batman so it has to be dark.

I wasn't interested until I saw the trailer. It looks surprisingly good.

Also, it's Batman...it's supposed to be dark and gritty.

DC is just bad

name recent "dark" dc movies that's not the Snyder trilogy

TheoryzC posted...

name recent "dark" dc movies that's not the Snyder trilogy

Aquaman?

It was Tim Burton's Batman that got that going and TAS which followed its example.

Batman was silly and lighthearted before that.

The Nolan movies had a good combination of real life day and night

the last Batmans went full gothic dark gloomy vibes

makes the movie feel less grounded in real world like Nolans movies

the only good dc movies are the dark ones. go watch WW84 if you want something bright

Verdekal posted...

It was Tim Burton's Batman that got that going and TAS which followed its example.

Batman was silly and lighthearted before that.

Year one and the dark knight returns came out before the tim burton movies.

unless you meant Batman was silly and lighthearted outside the comics before that, which is true

Turn brightness up on ur screen

I get why you wouldnt want to make a movie in the exact 60s Batman style today, but they should really go for that vibe

He's literally called The Dark Knight

MICHALECOLE posted...

Year one and the dark knight returns came out before the tim burton movies.

unless you meant Batman was silly and lighthearted outside the comics before that, which is true

Tim Burton's Batman movie came out in 1989. Unless there was a comic by those names that came first.

Tsukasa1891 posted...

Tim Burton's Batman movie came out in 1989. Unless there was a comic by those names that came first.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Knight_Returns?wprov=sfla1

1986

Its about a middle age Batman doing one final mission

Riddler looks like the Green Bastard from parts unknown.

Verdekal posted...

It was Tim Burton's Batman that got that going and TAS which followed its example.

Batman was silly and lighthearted before that.

pretty sure it was Batman Year One (comic) that started the trend.
even Burton's and TAS still feels silly and light-hearted.

DC is like that 40 year old who wears spiked wristbands and nothing but black t-shirts. On one hand, congrats for proving that dark 'n' edgy wasn't just a phase you were going through as a teen. On the other hand, it would have been better if it had been just a phase.

The grimdark fad is over. It's not one that particularly needs to be brought back either. DC's greatest weakness has been that they don't want to embrace anything that doesn't fit with the grim or gothic outlook of Batman, Harley Quinn, or Suicide Squad. They have all these great IPs, but they were bright colors like red, green, and blue. So we don't want that. More gothic clown makeup and black capes, please!

Correct. The movie didn't invent dark batman. Batman was originally dark in the late 30s

Comic Code forced him to go through a period of corny bullshit that ruined the character. But they eventually got back on track. The 1989 movie is based on the state of rhe comics in the 80s.

All DC movies look like their actors have some serious illness. They don't want to dial in skin tones, as is the style, but I think it makes it look a lot worse. They wont age well imo but it'll be a fun movie.

Joel Schumacher made 2 Batman movies just for you TC!

FortuneCookie posted...

The grimdark fad is over.

I love that DC's films tend to be a lot darker than Marvel's. Gives us two equally-viable flavors to choose from.

DC doesn't know how to make a movie that isn't about Suicide Squad, Batman, or Wonder Woman. This new Batman won't even last, they'll continuously recycle actors over and over again just to flog a dead horse.

Smashingpmkns posted...

All DC movies look like their actors have some serious illness. They don't want to dial in skin tones, as is the style, but I think it makes it look a lot worse. They wont age well imo but it'll be a fun movie.

Edward is killed by Voldemort. Luckily he put his Horcrux on Bruce Wayne when he split his souls after witnessing Thomas Wayne and Martha Wayne deaths

Waitthe story about a vigilante hero who dresses up as a bat in place called GOTHam City is dark?

Color me absolutely shocked

Gobstoppers12 posted...

I love that DC's films tend to be a lot darker than Marvel's. Gives us two equally-viable flavors to choose from.

It's nice that each company has their own voice, but it's a shame that all of their movies have to go through a filter. Everything Marvel is action with comedy. Everything DC is gritty drama with a side dish of action. It doesn't seem like either should be a one-size-fits-all approach.

In the case of DC, I feel like they're making 80% of their characters adhere to the strengths of 20% of their characters. I get that Batman is the breadwinner, but there's room for variety. The first Wonder Woman showed that there is room in the DC universe for more than just dark realism.

SSJPurple posted...

Waitthe story about a vigilante hero who dresses up as a bat in place called GOTHam City is dark?

Color me absolutely shocked

sometimes comic books that are dark dont translate to film

see: all DC movies except Aquaman and Nolans Batman movies

FortuneCookie posted...

Everything DC is gritty drama with a side dish of action. It doesn't seem like either should be a one-size-fits-all approach.

Yeah no for sure, DC is alllll gritty drama.

The Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey, and Shazam are just so damn gritty.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

Yeah no for sure, DC is alllll gritty drama.

The Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey, and Shazam are just so damn gritty.

shazam I dunno, I like it but the overall vibe and look of the film was gloomy even though its a comedy

Shazam, WW, Aquaman, The Suicide Squad, Blue Beetle, Static Shock, The Flash TV show, Supergirl TV show, Harley Quinn cartoon, Teen Titans Go, Superman and Lois

It's understandable that you're not in tune with all DC media but people need to stop with this "everything DC does it Batman dark and gritty" when that's clearly not the case

SaccharineSmile posted...

shazam I dunno, I like it but the overall vibe and look of the film was gloomy even though its a comedy

Shazam also had bad lighting.

Matt Reeves has directed some great films so Im optimistic.

...thus, 1966 and Lego remain the best Batman films.

Questionmarktarius posted...

...thus, 1966 and Lego remain the best Batman films.

No, it's Dark Knight Returns.

I wish Superman could return to what he was but he's dark and gritty now too, wonder how long before wonder woman becomes dark and gritty

Verdekal posted...

It was Tim Burton's Batman* that got that going and TAS which followed its example.

Batman was silly and lighthearted before that.

Killing Joke and Death in The Family*

@Verdekal

Zikten posted...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Knight_Returns?wprov=sfla1

1986

Its about a middle age Batman doing one final mission

Isn't he like 70 in that? Great comic (graphic novel) BTW, only batman comic I've ever read. Mowing down mutant cyberpunks in his bat-tank. I liked the girl Robin too. And the part where Superman takes a nuke to the face...

Edit: just read the wiki and it says he's 55...

Let me put this as simply as possible, Batman

SaccharineSmile posted...

shazam I dunno, I like it but the overall vibe and look of the film was gloomy even though its a comedy

I laughed over the fact it was one of the first movies they did that tried to take a more light hearted approach but they went with the most dark and gritty version of Shazam. Whole movie was based off the new 52 version of him which had him as a troubled 16 year old iirc instead of a goody goody 10 year old.

Its supposed to be dark. Its Batman. My only problem so far is the Superman walk through a hail of bullets. Thats not Batman. Thats Superman.

mooreandrew58 posted...

I laughed over the fact it was one of the first movies they did that tried to take a more light hearted approach but they went with the most dark and gritty version of Shazam. Whole movie was based off the new 52 version of him which had him as a troubled 16 year old iirc instead of a goody goody 10 year old.

I hadn't watched it yet becuase it looked like one of those cheesy coming-of-age movies and I can't fucking stand those. If it's dark then maybe I'll give it a try...

indica posted...

I hadn't watched it yet becuase it looked like one of those cheesy coming-of-age movies and I can't fucking stand those. If it's dark then maybe I'll give it a try...

I mean it is mostly the former, but boy are there gruesome deaths.

mooreandrew58 posted...

I laughed over the fact it was one of the first movies they did that tried to take a more light hearted approach but they went with the most dark and gritty version of Shazam. Whole movie was based off the new 52 version of him which had him as a troubled 16 year old iirc instead of a goody goody 10 year old.

You watched the wrong movie cause it definitely wasn't Shazam lol

Frank Miller popularized the dark Batman in the late 80's after having done the same for Marvel's Daredevil.

To see how Batman was portrayed before that see Adam West's Batman or the Saturday morning cartoon version.

The OG Batman from the '30s and '40's had some grit too but in a more detective "The Shadow" vibe. Congress and the Comics Code watered that vision down by the 1950s leading to Adam West's campy version.

SaccharineSmile posted...

The Nolan movies had a good combination of real life day and night

the last Batmans went full gothic dark gloomy vibes

makes the movie feel less grounded in real world like Nolans movies

We've already had an entire high-quality trilogy dedicated to the notion of 'Batman in the real world,' and it's time for a change of tone. There's a lot of different (and perfectly valid) ways to portray the character and the world around him, and it's no good getting stuck in a rut.

The last trailer for The Batman definitely piqued my interests, and I'm welcoming the dark, gritty, edgy tone. I'd like to see them make a genuine effort to portray Bats like he was in The Dark Knight Returns: a self-important, overly poetic, borderline psychotic crusader waging a brutal holy war on crime. Batman 1989 / Batman Returns and BvS made various attempts at this, but the former movies still had a little too much camp in them, and apart from one standout fight scene, the latter only referenced TDKR superficially. I don't know if that's what they're going for in this movie, and I don't know how well it would succeed even if they tried it, but I'm eager to give the movie a chance and see how it turns out.

indica posted...

Isn't he like 70 in that? Great comic (graphic novel) BTW, only batman comic I've ever read. Mowing down mutant cyberpunks in his bat-tank. I liked the girl Robin too. And the part where Superman takes a nuke to the face...

Edit: just read the wiki and it says he's 55...

They did an animated movie of it. It's really good

if i'm being honest i just dgaf about batman

It looks like Batman Beyond

Zikten posted...

They did an animated movie of it. It's really good

It was pretty good as far as accurate adaptations go. But it falls into the same trap that all adaptations do where the source material has way too much narration / inner monologue, and Batman has to awkwardly vocalize certain thoughts. And another user pointed out recently that the final showdown between Batman and Superman is padded out to a degree that makes the fight implausible, something I'd forgotten about the one time I watched it.

Tbh I'd rather just spend that time re-reading the GN.

Gobstoppers12 posted...

Yeah no for sure, DC is alllll gritty drama.

The Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey, and Shazam are just so damn gritty.

FortuneCookie posted...

they don't want to embrace anything that doesn't fit with the grim or gothic outlook of Batman, Harley Quinn, or Suicide Squad.

Suicide Squad and Harley Quinn definitely have the gothic aesthetic. I haven't seen "The Suicide Squad," but Suicide Squad was visually gloomy and emo.

Shazam is great, but where's the sequel? They've been talking about a Black Adam film for years now. Where is it?