5. Repeating Things We've Already Seen
I'm a firm believer in: if we've seen it already, do we need to see it all over again? That's to say, how many times can we watch the same origin story told with different actors and a few varying elements? It's fine on occassion, especially if people are unfamiliar with a certain property or character, but generally speaking, if we have an origin story down in a comic book, or in another film, why can't we move into bold, new territories? When Marc Webb delivered his Spider-Man reboot last year, everyone complained that it was a re-hash of Sam Raimi's film from back in 2002: and they were right. It almost felt like: "What was the point?" And the fact that so many people came out of the theatre clinging to this opinion means that lots of us are tired of seeing the same narratives being spun over and over again. There are so many individual stories to be told (some that haven't even been written yet), and filmmakers need to be far braver about the ways in which they tackle comic book adaptations - especially those that we've seen adapted before. How many times do we need to see Spider-Man bitten by a spider, for example? Where's the fun in seeing Bruce Wayne's parents being gunned down another time? Taking their cues from Man of Steel, then, which is really shaking things up with a Batman Vs. Superman story - one we've never on the big screen, mind - filmmakers should try to approach established material in ways that are innovative and daring. When in comes to comic book movies, what's worse than feeling like you've seen it all before? Think on the best comic book movies: they all took risks.