This is insane! I can’t believe they cast that Aussie pretty boy Heath Ledger for the role of The Joker! He’s barely cut out for teeny bopper rom coms! Obviously his performance won’t be able to touch the timeless classic that was Jack Nicholson. These new re-imaginings are crap; this whole film is bound to fail.
I was skeptical when I heard Ledger had been cast as Joker, but here’s the difference:
[ul]The first film in that series was excellent and Christopher Nolan had proven vision, competence, and an engaging aesthetic.
The first film in this series was a complete mess with Zack Snyder barely treading water in a soup of too many cooks.[/ul]
This new movie may turn out to be awesome . . . but the first in the series doesn’t stand as evidence that the filmmakers’ heads are anywhere but up their asses.
I thought Superman Returns was an abortion, and in light of that failed relaunch, I gave Man of Steel a solid B. It’s no classic, but it more than competes with the solo-character Marvel films – which has to have been the brass ring at WB. I mean, here we are discussing the coming sequel, so the first film already proved out as a launch pad for the new film DCU.
No. If you want to give a movie credit for the Superman & Batman movie, thank Avengers, not Man of Steel. Man of Steel simply failed to be so catastrophically bad as to kill Warner Bros.'/DC’s aspirations of making their own Marvel Cinematic Universe.
I see what you’re getting at, but it doesn’t work that way. There’s no way DC/WB would have launched right into hugely expensive and risky a group flick without at least one bankable solo movie - which was Man of Steel. It was supposed to be Green Lantern. After that tanked, the plans of retaining Bale as Batman for a Justice League movie (using GL as a springboard ala Iron Man) were shot. So MoS was their last chance, and it payed off. It’s right in league with Iron Man 1’s numbers 318 million to 291 million for MoS. That bankable success gets WB a serious shot at Avenger money - north of 600 million.
Which is far too few. They’re trying to fast-track what Marvel did with patience, a long term strategy, and vision.
Marvel got those numbers with a character that- outside of comic book readers- people didn’t know.
Superman is pretty much the comic book superhero. He’s an American icon. Man of Steel should have beat Iron Man on name recognition alone. I’m sure you’re sincere in your fondness for Man of Steel and lots of other people liked it too, but lots of people didn’t. Man of Steel’s box office came from being a well hyped familiar property being released in the summer. It didn’t get much word of mouth support. It didn’t excite people the way the first Iron Man movie did (or Nolan’s Batman movies for that matter).
Again, for all I know the Superman/Batman movie is going to be awesome. But the lack of confidence that so many people have in the project is well founded.
Shouldn’t you actually watch the film before making decisions as to whether an actor is right for the part? People were whining about Michael Keaton until the day after the film came out, after all.
Can I now decide that Ben Affleck is the wrong choice if you’re shooting a Daredevil movie? Because I’ve seen him try to use a scary voice as the most intimidating masked vigilante in NYC, and, man, he ain’t right for the part.
I’m on record as saying the new movie may well be awesome but, again, this is the second film in a series. People have the first film upon which to base their level of confidence in the creative team for this series. Some people liked Man of Steel and have high hopes for the series going forward. Other people thought Man of Steel was a mess and based upon watching the film have very little confidence that this series will be well executed.
For the record, I think Jesse Eisenberg is a great actor and could really surprise people by being a great Luthor. It was the whole “And we’re going to put Wonder Woman in the movie too!!!” announcement that finally squashed the little bit of benefit of doubt I was willing to grant. It definitely sounds like they’re trying to get their own Avengers success without putting in the hard work and thoughtful planning that made it work for Marvel.
Don’t forget the “And a cameo from The Flash!” announcement.
Right. Jesse Eisenberg is great at playing assholes, and what is Lex Luthor but a giant asshole?
I have no problem imagining Mark Zuckerberg as the most evil man on Earth.
Say you wanted to control everyone on the planet - how would you do it? Collect every bit of information about them and addict them.
This is a brilliant piece of casting.
:smack: I didn’t know that until just now reading your post!
Where’s the pukey smilie when you need it!?!?!?
Hackman’s Luthor was as bald as the comic books version - he just wore a piece, which came off when he was captured.
The movie is going to suck, undoubtedly, but not because of Irons and Eisenberg.
Fair enough, but in MY mind, Luthor never wears a toupee.
If it was good enough for Elliot S! Maggin, it’s good enough for me.
Lex Luthor is Captain Ahab - a great man with major character flaws. You can’t just shove Jim Carrey into the role and expect him to fit on the basis that they’re both jerks. Lex Luthor needs to have charisma and conviction, to be the kind of man who would oppose a god.
And that’s different from a giant asshole in what way?
Good thing that didn’t cast Jim Carey then.
As I said, Jesse Eisenberg is a far better actor than people give him credit to be. Check out his work in Zombieland.
No, no. The Squid and the Whale is his best performance.
It’s different because there are different types of asshole. There are zealots and fratboys and used car salesmen, and their assholishness is going to to show itself in vastly different ways. It’s the same reason why Reginald Hudlin’s infamous portrayal of Doctor Doom sucked.
I have seen Zombieland. I remain unconvinced.