Fantastic Four is not an origin story, either. I am under the impression the closest thing to an “origin” for them is that blurb that Legally Distinct Ed Sullivan gives of them going into space and coming back changed.
It was datelined 3 July. The moratorium on reviews was lifted today, so I don’t think it was a legit review.
James Gunn has said:
[quote=“Maus_Magill, post:81, topic:1011886”]It
It was datelined 3 July. The moratorium on reviews was lifted today, so I don’t think it was a legit review.
[/quote]
Here’s an actual review:
I didn’t realize the embargo was just ending and a bunch of reviews would be up.
They are really coming in now:
No official tomato score yet.
If that is true, then that is good- thanks!
Yay!
I bet just to get clicks.
It’s now at 85% on RT with 110+ reviews.
Metacritic has it as 71 - generally favorable.
To be honest, I thought the main criticisms from the review applied equally to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (and to a lesser extent, to The Suicide Squad): too many jokes that are only mildly amusing and way, way too many secondary characters.
I’m not a big superhero fan, but it seems like Gunn wants to embrace the comic book nature of these films. So many of the DC movies have been trying to be serious and adult which has been translated as dark and grim, seemingly embarrassed to be originally silly stories in the funny papers, but James Gunn seems to want to embrace that. Not at the expense of keeping it grounded, it can’t be freewheeling weirdness, but keep it light and fun among the heavier issues.
Hope it works out. We need the change.
Just saw it. I think they have finally figured DC out. It really does embrace the comic book nature. I would say the tone is similar to Peacemaker, in a good way.
I really enjoyed that show.
Now I’m looking forward to this film even more.
The BBC gave a mixed review, commenting that it feels overstuffed (which is how I felt about Guardians of the Galaxy 3).
It’s definitely going to be mixed. It’s one of those movies that some people are just going to not like. It’s not Snyder’s film. I thought it fun and can’t wait to see it again. If you liked Guardians, then you will like this. Not as jokey, but definitely that tone.
I’ve got a ticket to see it on Monday afternoon. Looking forward to it. I heard the writer/director say that it’s very much about kindness. I expect that some will find that something to criticize.
It depends tho on which comic book era he is trying to emulate, because Supes’ story got rather dark during some periods. From what I’ve gathered this flick seems to derive directly from the Silver Age (his dog Krypto is from this period note), but I’m not an expert here.
Here is the interview with James Gunn from The Times that I referred to.
“I mean, Superman is the story of America,” Gunn says. “An immigrant that came from other places and populated the country, but for me it is mostly a story that says basic human kindness is a value and is something we have lost.” I ask if he has considered how differently the film might play in say, blue state New York — aka Metropolis — and Kansas, where Kent grew up? “Yes, it plays differently,” Gunn admits. “But it’s about human kindness and obviously there will be jerks out there who are just not kind and will take it as offensive just because it is about kindness. But screw them.”
Superman combined features of several characters preceding him. Seigel and Schuster were big science fiction fans, and published their own fanzine. They would’ve known about John Carter, who could leap prodigious distances on Mars because he was born on a higher gravity planet. And about John W. Campbell’s Aarn Munro, who was born on a high gravity planet and could leap great distances on Earth. Or about Hugo Danner, hero of Philip Wylie’s Gladiator, whose father injected his wife with a formula that gave the boy, when he was born, incredible strength and super-tough skin. Or about Clark “Doc” Savage, who was “The Man of Bronze” (Superman was “The Man of Steel”, so there!), who was incredibly strong and smart, and who retreated to his “Fortress of Solitude” when he needed a break. The advertisements for Doc Savage’s magazines were headlined, in huge letters, “SUPERMAN”.
Superman is actually surprisingly hard to write a good for. He’s basically a physical god, so you need to either nerf his power (and that gets old quickly) or go for character development, which is a lot of Smallville’s success, and the success of some of the storylines that focus more on, say, Clark’s and Lois’ relationship (when done well). Otherwise, it gets boring quick.
[nitpick] Kansas farmboy [/nitpick]
That’s a story where Superman’s powers couldn’t help him with his teen age kids, couldn’t cure Lois’ cancer, and so on. Character development and having to deal with things in the same manner as non-powered humans.
I really enjoyed it, too.
I’ve been a comic book fan for over 50 years now. I even briefly worked in the industry.
I’ve read a fair number of Superman comics. Overall, most of the stories were mediocre, a few were masterpieces, and a certain other number were shit. Which shouldn’t be surprising for an IP that’s 90 years old.
I’m part of a group of tabletop RPG players and gamemasters; a fair amount of what we play are superhero RPGs, and as there are several big DC fans in the group, adventures/sessions with the Justice League are common.
I’ve read a fair amount of Superman comic books over the years, seen a bunch of the movies and TV shows, etc. Even so, and even speaking as someone who’s a pretty good roleplayer, I have never felt like I could do Superman / Clark Kent justice. I leave playing that character to my friends who love Supes, and I usually end up playing Hal Jordan / Green Lantern, for whom I have a lot better feel.