"Decline and Fall?"
"DECLINE AND FALL?"
Another idea came to me while I was contemplating the rivalry between the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) and the D.C. Comics Extended Universe (DCEU). This idea focused upon how the media and the public regard the two movie franchises. And on how I now regard them.
Looking back at the twenty-three Marvel Cinematic Universe films released so far, it occurred to me that I ended up being really impressed by only five films that I consider truly challenging or original. Five out of twenty-three. Most of these five films were released before 2015 and one of them during that year. I am not saying that the other twelve were terrible. They are not. I regard some of the twelve films as decent and entertaining films, but not exactly mind boggling. As for the others, I regard them as either disappointing or mediocre.
If I can only find at least five outstanding films out of twenty-three movies released by the MCU so far, why do so many people expect Warner Brothers' D.C. Comics’ D.C. Comics Extended Universe to be at the same level as the MCU? The latter has only been in existence for the past eleven years. Twenty-three films in the past eleven years. And as I had earlier pointed out, I do not regard most of them as outstanding. On the other hand, the DCEU has released seven films in the past six years. Nearly three years had passed between the franchise's first and second films. I believe that the DCEU has released four outstanding films out of seven . . . so far. As for the other three, I regard one of them as potentially outstanding, one as decent and entertaining and the third as rather underwhelming. To expect the DCEU to quickly reach the same level of the MCU’s success at this stage would be unrealistic from a financial point of view.
This brings me to a few questions. Why is it so important to many moviegoers and critics that the DCEU fail? Why is it so damn important that the DCEU should follow the MCU's formula in order to . . . work? Formulas are great when it comes certain professions that involve rigid organization, science, etc. But when it comes to the arts and entertainment, it is a death sentence. This happens to a good number of film franchises that adhere to a particular formula, because the audiences and the critics embrace it. Initially. But when a production team or studio stick to a formula too long, its franchise falls into danger of transforming into a dinosaur. Personally, I believe the MCU has reached this moment in its existence. But I believe it needs to escape from the artistic rut in which it has trapped itself after nine years by changing the formula or doing something different . . . like it did with the 2012 movie, "THE AVENGERS"; and during the spring and summer of 2014 with Season One of "AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D.", "CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER" and "GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY".
About eighteen months ago, I had believed that the DCEU was in no danger of becoming stuck in a rut. But considering Warner Brothers’ interference with its fifth film, "JUSTICE LEAGUE", along with the sixth and seventh films' attempts to "copy" the MCU’s success, it may have reached this point sooner than the other franchise did. It is not a good idea to copy an artistic body of work at a point when the latter is in danger of becoming a victim of its success. Warner Brothers/D.C. Comics should have continued to maintain own style, while utilizing different genres for its comic book films - either drama, comedy, film noir, science-fiction adventure, etc. Copying the MCU's style is simply not a good idea. Especially since I feel the latter has descended into a morass of mediocrity.
Perhaps both movie franchises are doomed to remain in an artistic rut. And perhaps both the MCU and the DCEU will never regain their old artistic level. Many moviegoers and critics see nothing wrong with the "MCU formula". And they seemed to take great umbrage against the DCEU films - especially those directed by Zack Snyder. Many people seemed to want a superhero movie in which all is right with the world, the heroes themselves have no inner conflict and the world has no problems with the heroes. People want a formula, conformity and nothing really challenging in their pop culture movies. Blandness. And Zack Snyder has refused to give them what they want. His films seemed to challenge the accepted views of what a comic book hero is supposed to be.
But more importantly, Snyder's first two films for the DCEU, along with a few of his pre-DCEU movies, also seemed to provide a challenging and ambiguous portrayal of today’s society. Since humans tend to constantly wallow in illusions, they do not enjoy being examined or portrayed as a whole in a negative or ambiguous light. More importantly, they do not want to be reminded that the world is scary and complicated. And because of their audiences' illusions, movie studios like Disney and Warner Brothers are more than willing to spoon feed them bland and formulaic films for the sake of undeserved acclaim and box office.