Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 17
  1. #1
    BANNED
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    291

    Default Please stop with all of these Fake Marvel Movie reviews...

    ...because eventually it's going to destroy the industry. I don't know if people are being paid to blog positive stuff about Marvel movies but it's obvious (to me at least) that a good majority of the movie reviews are fake. You may think you are doing Marvel and the comic book industry a favor but you're not. If an average everyday moviegoer goes to see an inflated comic book movie and comes out disappointed I'm sure he will be very skeptical to see the next one.

    It's already happening with the GOTG. I'm reading some online reviews (from real people) that are less than glowing and far from the perfect movie that most people claim it to be. Also if a movie that is crap makes a billion dollars at the box office do you honestly think that the movie studio execs will try to make a better movie? I don't think so.

    I doesn't matter if you are a Marvel, DC, Image fan or whatever. The only think that matters is a authentic solid comic book Movie. This is something that should be a basic right for true comic book fans like the ones that go out every Wednesday to get their comics. And this at the very least is what a true comic book fan deserves.

  2. #2
    Mighty Member billee0918's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    1,062

    Default

    Or MAYBE, the overwhelmingly positive critic and fan reviews and spectacular box office performance simply means that GOTG is a thrilling, hysterically funny, touching and action-packed delight of a film? Maybe that?
    Last edited by billee0918; 08-05-2014 at 04:58 AM.

  3. #3
    Teenage Exorcist just another user's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    1,442

    Default

    I haven't written any fake movie reviews, don't blame me.

  4. #4
    Astonishing Member Dispenser Of Truth's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    3,853

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by billee0918 View Post
    Or MAYBE, the overwhelmingly positive critic and fan reviews and spectacular box office performance simply means that GOTG is a thrilling, hysterically funny, touching and action-packed delight of a film? Maybe that?
    Well, it certainly wasn't that in my experience.

    Seriously though, while I think he's taking it a bit far, there's more than a little kernel of truth in what rightsuperhero is saying here. Julian Darius had a particularly scathing review up on sequart.org, and after tearing into the films' rampant amorality and lack of basic logic, he had this to say (and on the off chance he sees this, I hope I can be forgiven for copying and pasting so much here, but I'm trying to stick to relevant portions, and he says it better than I could anyway). You might disagree with his analysis of what constitutes ideal, but I dare anyone to say he doesn't have a point:

    "We now seem to live in a culture that believes “suspension of disbelief” is a license not to write stories involving super-heroes or magic but to have no internal logic, to continuously introduce elements and situations that make absolutely no sense, even on a story’s own terms. And if anyone dares to point out that this is objectively bad storytelling, fans line up to shout that pointing out what should be an obvious fact is “ruining our fun.” Quality means nothing. Writing means nothing. The spectacle is all.

    "Guardians of the Galaxy is a symptom of this disease. It feels unfair to single it out, especially because it’s not the worst offender. It is simply the newest offensively stupid movie in a long string of offensively stupid movies, which have nonetheless garnered praise from people who really ought to know better. As I write this, there are scores of critics, schooled in storytelling, who are swallowing what they know to be true, burying their criticisms in parentheticals and sentences that appear to be modifying generally positive reviews, simply because these critics are also intelligent enough to recognize that our culture is awash in a sea of stupid, in which the grossest of infractions of basic narrative logic are routinely forgiven because computer-animated anthropomorphic raccoons flying out of explosions look cool. No one, least of all an intellectual, wants to be seen as a party-pooper – or as an elitist, lecturing others on the basic rules of how stories work, while people obviously seem to be enjoying these “stories.” So in order to fit in and not rock the fanboy boat, we grade these movies on a heavy curve, praising a little humor or use of 1970s songs as if that’s oh-so-different. And so you’ll read about how “brave” it was to mount a summer blockbuster starring D-list characters in outer space, as if this “offbeat” story wasn’t sanitized and pasteurized in every way imaginable – and as if Marvel Studios wasn’t created based on the success of B-list and C-list characters who Hollywood considered unworthy of licensing.

    ...

    "Perhaps more than any Marvel movie to date, Guardians of the Galaxy is explicit about what it’s doing. It sets up its own perimeters for how it wants to be criticized and understood. “Idiots unite!” is its rallying cry, calling upon us to find our inner idiot – which is smart marketing, because shutting off our brains is surely the only way we could enjoy this anti-intellectual, misanthropic, glitzy story that eschews the rudiments of narrative logic. If we’re unable or unwilling to do so, we have “sticks up our butts.” We’re the town from Footloose. And thus does the movie arm every fanboy who can’t distinguish between criticism and a personal attempt to ruin his fun… you know, by pointing things out that exist.

    "But at some point, we have to stop grading these movies on the curve, just because we’re happy to see comics turned into successful movies. We’re a long, long way from the first X-Men, when just making a movie that was fun and didn’t suck was good enough. At some point, we’re going to have to admit that Marvel Studios is really, really good at making slick and beautiful movies that are catastrophic messes, the moment you begin examining them. Pull any one of a hundred frayed threads, and the whole movie comes undone. And at some point, we’ve got to say that this isn’t good enough.

    "We’ve got to remember that the dream of comics being respected was never to see Thor 40 feet tall in 3D. It was never to see billion-dollar blockbusters. It was that comics, including but not limited to super-hero comics, could be every bit as literary and valuable as the greatest of novels or of films. The dream wasn’t that super-heroes could be the next Titanic. It was that comics could stand alongside Ulysses and Citizen Kane. That they could be just as sophisticated, just as meaningful. No, not every comic-book movie needs to have such aspirations, any more than every comic book needs to have them. But they shouldn’t so ubiquitously have contempt for these aspirations. And some of them, just once in a while, might dare to embrace those aspirations.

    "Now, that would be a daring super-hero movie.

    "In the meantime, I’m done praising pabulum, however entertaining or even well-made, simply by the standards of glitzy products. I’m done pretending that having a theme, usually just another coming-of-age story (often starring the same character who came of age last time around), is the same as saying something. I’m done pretending a few political riffs means a super-hero movie can stand alongside something serious. I’m done with the charity and misguided loyalty of grading on the curve.

    "We’re long past the point where doing so could be seen as supporting comics. Comics movies are doing fine. At this point, pretending another glitzy clusterfuck is anything other than what it is can only infantilize comics further. Because that’s what the world thinks comics are now: glossy entertainment with no nutritional value whatsoever. We’re the candy bars of pop culture.

    "And I just can’t take it anymore."
    Buh-bye

  5. #5
    Astonishing Member pageturner's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    2,089

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by just another user View Post
    I haven't written any fake movie reviews, don't blame me.

    How do you do that? Is that a reviewer that has not seen the movie? I am not sure what makes it fake?

  6. #6
    Ultimate Member
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    10,741

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dispenser Of Truth View Post
    "We’re long past the point where doing so could be seen as supporting comics. Comics movies are doing fine. At this point, pretending another glitzy clusterfuck is anything other than what it is can only infantilize comics further. Because that’s what the world thinks comics are now: glossy entertainment with no nutritional value whatsoever. We’re the candy bars of pop culture.

    "And I just can’t take it anymore."
    The movie "Watchmen" (one of my all-time favorites) has come and gone.

    It didn't make a billion dollars -- Iron Man (just like Transformers and the Twilight series) did.

    People like candy and some will eat it until they are sick in the stomach and cannot take anymore... that's just how it is.

    I guess I've just come to accept that -- in a world where Blade Runner was considered a "flop" and Gladiator was a "success" -- you can't expect the mainstream to do anything but be the mainstream.

    I don't think we've hit "Idiocracy" levels yet but Honey Boo Boo and Kim Kardashian prove that we're not that far away.

    Fifty Shades of Grey, my friend... it is what it is.
    Last edited by aja_christopher; 08-05-2014 at 05:50 AM.

  7. #7
    Savior of the Universe Flash Gordon's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    9,021

    Default

    Well, uh I thought it was a fun popcorn flick. I also think WINTER SOLIDER was a great film.

    I grew up on old sci fi serials so this felt very much like that. Ray guns and fisticuffs. I mean it's a silly flick, but it's based on silly characters. There wasn't a moment that I wasn't entertained.

  8. #8
    Mighty Member Zeitgeist's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Oz
    Posts
    1,439

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by aja_christopher View Post
    The movie "The Watchmen" (one of my all-time favorites) has come and gone.

    It didn't make a billion dollars -- Iron Man (just like Transformers and the Twilight series) did.

    People like candy and some will eat it until they are sick in the stomach and cannot take anymore... that's just how it is.

    I guess I've just come to accept that -- in a world where Blade Runner was considered a "flop" and Gladiator was a "success" -- you can't expect the mainstream to do anything but be the mainstream.

    I don't think we've hit "Idiocracy" levels yet but Honey Boo Boo and Kim Kardashian prove that we're not that far away.

    Fifty Shades of Grey, my friend... it is what it is.

    So Marvel films are for the lowest denominator now, like reality TV and Michael Bay films just because they're outrageously popular? That's pretty amusing to me, mostly because nobody really had an attitude like that when Iron Man first came out. Reminds me of the kids who love a band until they hit the mainstream, and then dislike them because they have to share it with everyone else.
    Last edited by Zeitgeist; 08-05-2014 at 05:42 AM.
    ♪ღ♪*•.¸¸¸.•*¨ ¨*•.¸¸¸.•*•♪ღ♪¸.•*¨ ¨*•.¸¸¸.•*•♪ღ♪•*

    ♪ღ♪░NORAH░WINTERS░FOR░SPIDER-WAIFU░♪ღ♪

    *•♪ღ♪*•.¸¸¸.•*¨ ¨*•.¸¸¸.•*•♪¸.•*¨ ¨*•.¸¸¸.•*•♪ღ♪•«

  9. #9
    BANNED
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    2,068

    Default

    This is as big a problem as invisible myspace pages were in the 00s.

  10. #10
    BANNED
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    VA
    Posts
    1,434

    Default

    Hey another user to put on ignore. Thanks buddy for giving people the impression all comic fans are elitist. I'm all for everyone having their own opinion but being told I'm lying and I'm a fake well I don't need your kind flooding the forum boards.

  11. #11
    BANNED THANOSRULES's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    962

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dispenser Of Truth View Post
    Well, it certainly wasn't that in my experience.

    Seriously though, while I think he's taking it a bit far, there's more than a little kernel of truth in what rightsuperhero is saying here. Julian Darius had a particularly scathing review up on sequart.org, and after tearing into the films' rampant amorality and lack of basic logic, he had this to say (and on the off chance he sees this, I hope I can be forgiven for copying and pasting so much here, but I'm trying to stick to relevant portions, and he says it better than I could anyway). You might disagree with his analysis of what constitutes ideal, but I dare anyone to say he doesn't have a point:

    "We now seem to live in a culture that believes “suspension of disbelief” is a license not to write stories involving super-heroes or magic but to have no internal logic, to continuously introduce elements and situations that make absolutely no sense, even on a story’s own terms. And if anyone dares to point out that this is objectively bad storytelling, fans line up to shout that pointing out what should be an obvious fact is “ruining our fun.” Quality means nothing. Writing means nothing. The spectacle is all.

    "Guardians of the Galaxy is a symptom of this disease. It feels unfair to single it out, especially because it’s not the worst offender. It is simply the newest offensively stupid movie in a long string of offensively stupid movies, which have nonetheless garnered praise from people who really ought to know better. As I write this, there are scores of critics, schooled in storytelling, who are swallowing what they know to be true, burying their criticisms in parentheticals and sentences that appear to be modifying generally positive reviews, simply because these critics are also intelligent enough to recognize that our culture is awash in a sea of stupid, in which the grossest of infractions of basic narrative logic are routinely forgiven because computer-animated anthropomorphic raccoons flying out of explosions look cool. No one, least of all an intellectual, wants to be seen as a party-pooper – or as an elitist, lecturing others on the basic rules of how stories work, while people obviously seem to be enjoying these “stories.” So in order to fit in and not rock the fanboy boat, we grade these movies on a heavy curve, praising a little humor or use of 1970s songs as if that’s oh-so-different. And so you’ll read about how “brave” it was to mount a summer blockbuster starring D-list characters in outer space, as if this “offbeat” story wasn’t sanitized and pasteurized in every way imaginable – and as if Marvel Studios wasn’t created based on the success of B-list and C-list characters who Hollywood considered unworthy of licensing.

    ...

    "Perhaps more than any Marvel movie to date, Guardians of the Galaxy is explicit about what it’s doing. It sets up its own perimeters for how it wants to be criticized and understood. “Idiots unite!” is its rallying cry, calling upon us to find our inner idiot – which is smart marketing, because shutting off our brains is surely the only way we could enjoy this anti-intellectual, misanthropic, glitzy story that eschews the rudiments of narrative logic. If we’re unable or unwilling to do so, we have “sticks up our butts.” We’re the town from Footloose. And thus does the movie arm every fanboy who can’t distinguish between criticism and a personal attempt to ruin his fun… you know, by pointing things out that exist.

    "But at some point, we have to stop grading these movies on the curve, just because we’re happy to see comics turned into successful movies. We’re a long, long way from the first X-Men, when just making a movie that was fun and didn’t suck was good enough. At some point, we’re going to have to admit that Marvel Studios is really, really good at making slick and beautiful movies that are catastrophic messes, the moment you begin examining them. Pull any one of a hundred frayed threads, and the whole movie comes undone. And at some point, we’ve got to say that this isn’t good enough.

    "We’ve got to remember that the dream of comics being respected was never to see Thor 40 feet tall in 3D. It was never to see billion-dollar blockbusters. It was that comics, including but not limited to super-hero comics, could be every bit as literary and valuable as the greatest of novels or of films. The dream wasn’t that super-heroes could be the next Titanic. It was that comics could stand alongside Ulysses and Citizen Kane. That they could be just as sophisticated, just as meaningful. No, not every comic-book movie needs to have such aspirations, any more than every comic book needs to have them. But they shouldn’t so ubiquitously have contempt for these aspirations. And some of them, just once in a while, might dare to embrace those aspirations.

    "Now, that would be a daring super-hero movie.

    "In the meantime, I’m done praising pabulum, however entertaining or even well-made, simply by the standards of glitzy products. I’m done pretending that having a theme, usually just another coming-of-age story (often starring the same character who came of age last time around), is the same as saying something. I’m done pretending a few political riffs means a super-hero movie can stand alongside something serious. I’m done with the charity and misguided loyalty of grading on the curve.

    "We’re long past the point where doing so could be seen as supporting comics. Comics movies are doing fine. At this point, pretending another glitzy clusterfuck is anything other than what it is can only infantilize comics further. Because that’s what the world thinks comics are now: glossy entertainment with no nutritional value whatsoever. We’re the candy bars of pop culture.

    "And I just can’t take it anymore."
    I'm just not sure if anything here is valid, correct me if I'm off but the Thesis is comics should be more sensible, grim and gritty?...pardon me but these seem like the ramblings of a mad, anti social person.

    Comics are comics...they are funny books..they are serious...there is a whole spectrum of the medium from 300 to Watchmen to GOTG to Scooby freakin Doo.

    DnA's take on GOTG had lots of humor and didnt always take itself seriously..sometimes it did.

    When Sin City comes out we will see a serious one...We've gotten plenty of stuff like Eastern Promises that were brought to film as well.

  12. #12
    Ultimate Member
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Posts
    10,741

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Zeitgeist View Post
    So Marvel films are for the lowest denominator now, like reality TV and Michael Bay films just because they're outrageously popular? That's pretty amusing to me, mostly because nobody really had an attitude like that when Iron Man first came out. Reminds me of the kids who love a band until they hit the mainstream, and then dislike them because they have to share it with everyone else.
    For the record, I never liked Iron Man. I like Robert Downey Jr. (even more so in films like "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" than as Tony Stark) so he made the first Iron Man tolerable to me. But Iron Man is what made RDJ a "star" (similar to Johnny Depp with "Pirates" whom I preferred in films like "Edward Scissorhands" and "Ed Wood") so it's just that age old conflict of "art vs. commerce" at work.

    Sometimes you can nail both ("Schindler's List", "Black Swan", "Star Wars") but it's a rare happenstance.

    And I'm not saying that Marvel films are "lowest common denominator" but they are generally made for "mass consumption" (i.e. to make money) and the masses aren't always the most selective when it comes to their entertainment choices.

    That's just my take on the matter -- in reality Marvel is a business (and a corporate entity no less) and they are simply doing what corporations do: producing a product that generates as much income as possible.

    And, personally, I don't really have a problem with that at all, especially when they are using said income to produce so many new and interesting comic book titles (Magneto, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, etc) for those of us who enjoy seeing stories that are a little more "challenging" and a little less mainstream.

  13. #13
    Astonishing Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    2,613

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Dispenser Of Truth View Post
    Well, it certainly wasn't that in my experience.
    ....
    Not going to read through the entirety of the original post as it's really overwritten but I do disagree with this:

    "We’ve got to remember that the dream of comics being respected was never to see Thor 40 feet tall in 3D. It was never to see billion-dollar blockbusters. It was that comics, including but not limited to super-hero comics, could be every bit as literary and valuable as the greatest of novels or of films. The dream wasn’t that super-heroes could be the next Titanic. It was that comics could stand alongside Ulysses and Citizen Kane. That they could be just as sophisticated, just as meaningful. No, not every comic-book movie needs to have such aspirations, any more than every comic book needs to have them. But they shouldn’t so ubiquitously have contempt for these aspirations. And some of them, just once in a while, might dare to embrace those aspirations.
    I don't think that was ever really the dream of the comics industry.

    I also don't see why it's wrong to overlook technical flaws in the script or direction if the result is still entertaining. If you really stepped back and examined a lot of scripts with a microscope you'd see that things happen because drama demands it happens, not because it's what a logical person would do in a situation, and when a situation is well-removed from reality it becomes even more ridiculous to try to apply hard logic to what a character who doesn't exist in a logical world would do.

  14. #14
    Astonishing Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    2,613

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by THANOSRULES View Post
    I'm just not sure if anything here is valid, correct me if I'm off but the Thesis is comics should be more sensible, grim and gritty?...pardon me but these seem like the ramblings of a mad, anti social person.

    Comics are comics...they are funny books..they are serious...there is a whole spectrum of the medium from 300 to Watchmen to GOTG to Scooby freakin Doo.

    DnA's take on GOTG had lots of humor and didnt always take itself seriously..sometimes it did.

    When Sin City comes out we will see a serious one...We've gotten plenty of stuff like Eastern Promises that were brought to film as well.
    I find it kind of interesting that he says not every comic property needs to aspire to be high art yet he took the time to write such a lengthy diatribe about how GotG only aspired to be a fun blockbuster. I also find it weird that he claims that critics with zero attachment to the parent medium or property are turning a blind eye to the critical flaws because they don't want to upset the apple cart, even though those exact same critics graded Transformers 4, the only billion dollar film this year, quite unfavorably. They also were not too keen on ASM2, a film that also managed to make upwards of $700 million.

  15. #15
    BANNED
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Posts
    52

    Default

    I think the OP's original post is fake. I said it. Must be true then! I'd explain why but think you should just take my word for it.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •