The Four Color Media Monitor

A writer for the NY Observer lamented the poor quality of recent DC adaptations to film, and made some astute points:

As a fan of DC Comics, I’ve been dismayed to see many of their greatest characters completely butchered as of late. I’ve loved almost all of the Marvel movies that have come out (with the exception of Ant-Man—ugh!), which is why Warner Bros’ efforts to bring the DC Universe to life have me all the more disappointed. If Marvel could make such an incredible franchise using mid-tier characters like Iron Man and Guardians of the Galaxy, how is it that DC can screw up Batman and Superman of all things?

For me, it boils down to this: The writers, producers and/or executives don’t have respect for the source material. All they care about is making a shit ton of money.

See, this is just the problem, and it's practically been that way almost ever since they bought them in the mid-70s. They only did it for the all the adaptation and toy manufacturing potential. It was never about respect for the creations. But if he thinks the movies are bad, he should take a good look at how the modern editors/writers/artists back at the publishing arm butchered all the superheroes and their co-stars, to say nothing of becoming a closed store where only people who suit their visions may enter. It's the same with Marvel.

In fact, one could say the poor approach to moviemaking easily derives from the poor approach to comics writing they suffer from. They've borrowed some of their limpest ideas almost entirely from what pretentious modern writers like Geoff Johns put together; that's why the Green Lantern movie was so crummy. What they should really do is let a screenwriter research material from all eras and decide what ideas will make the best movie product. But they're just so insular, there's no chance they'll ever provide the creative freedom some previous generations were given.

Labels: animation, Batman, dc comics, Green Lantern, marvel comics, Superman