In 2005, an indie director named Christopher Nolan, with the help of David Goyer, released Batman Begins, a re-imagining of the Caped Crusader. Before, Joel Schumacher ruined the public image of Batman with his campy, over the top adaptations. Nolan and Goyer did what no other superhero film, except the Crow, had done before; strip away the camp and make a serious, darker, more realistic take on a vigilante. Since then, nearly every comic book film has followed suit and introduced darker stories to the film medium. This includes: Wanted, Punisher: War Zone, Watchmen, Kick-Ass 1 and 2, Super, Chronicle, Dredd, the Wolverine, and Man of Steel. But how serious is too much serious? Worst Offender: Man of Steel: A major critique, from both fans and critics alike, was how seriously Man of Steel took itself in its story, themes, and messages. MoS is completely opposite to Richard Donner's Superman The Movie. The legendary 1979 film prided itself in being light-hearted and inspirational. MoS instead took the Christopher Nolan dark and gritty route to reboot Superman for a new generation. Writer David Goyer attempted to retain the inspirational messages, but the darkness overpowered any light shining on the film. Goyer had great ideas behind his script, but his execution, along with Snyder's all-flash-no-substance directing style, fell flat and hurt his story. For example, a major reoccurring theme is being an outcast and eventually finding your place in the world. Clark Kent is bullied throughout school and must deal with the adversity of growing up as well as mastering his powers. The film jumps from young Clark to present Clark revealing his past experiences made him stronger. But all emphasis is forgotten as we enter the CGI-heavy, explosion filled, disaster-oriented action scenes in the second half. The film is as gritty as The Dark Knight Trilogy. A couple of scenes can possibly frighten young children. Specifically: Superman sinking in an ocean of human skulls, Faora brutally murdering human soldiers, thousands of civilians dying in Metropolis, and Superman snapping the neck of General Zod. This was an attempt to bring realism into Superman, but it strips away essential components of his character. Snyder and Goyer failed to understand what makes Batman and Superman so different. Batman represents the dark, shadowy side of a superhero while Superman is the ideal figure of inspiration. Best Example: The Wolverine: Everyone's favorite X-Men character finally received a darker, more faithful adaptation this summer. His previous solo outing saw a complete butchering of not only his character, but fan favorites like Deadpool and Gambit. James Mangold handed the Wolverine well, though major improvement is there, and delivered an enjoyable film. One needs to see the extended, unrated edition to fully form an opinion on the movie. The theatrical version does not do Wolverine justice compared to the unrated version. It's considerably bloodier and more violent. A deleted scene is included where Yukio mows down a couple of ninjas with a snow removal machine spraying their blood everywhere. It's quite obvious why this scene was removed from the theatrical version. Anyways, where the Wolverine is serious like Man of Steel, it also knows to enjoy itself. The film has a few hilarious scenes to contrast the darker moments.
