Where has my DC universe gone?

Why do Marvel movies seem to fare better than DC movies? Aside from Batman and Superman, I would say that the DC universe suffers from poor writers, at least on the live action side of the house. If you look at the quality of stories coming from the animation team at DC you would expect that they could do better than they have been. I like my hero movies to be spectacular not just “sok”.

Let’s look at Green Lantern (2011). This movie was good. It was not bad, but it was not great, it was not... heroic. With a character like this you would expect that there are no limits to the possibilities with this story. The action was fine but it did not leave you on the edge of your seat or make you worry about the character. The humor was fine but again it was not as good as let’s say… Iron Man or even Captain America. It was just not timed well enough to give the audience relief from the action or the tension.

The effects were fine and I had no problem with any of the creative choices they did with the story I thought everything fit together visually. I did think that the sinewy costume for Hal Jordan was a bit much; they could have been pulled back on those effects to save money and spend it on the constructs the character made.

The DC animators made an origin story of Green Lantern called Green Lantern: First Flight that would have made a better movie. The story was much more intriguing than the film. I think they should give the animators a much bigger budget and have them start doing the live action films. It would give DC a lot more draw in the theater. With the quality of stories this team puts out I would pay money to see the animation on the big screen, but I would also love to see what they could do with a live action film.

John Stewart is my favorite Lantern and I want to see his version of this film. I have said it before that we need a lot more diversity in our hero community. I have not read the comic books the only things I know about him are from the animated series of Justice League. Hummm that’s an idea Justice League movie... I’m in.

Before they can even think about attempting a JL movie they need to get their house in order. With the pending reboot of the universe and the Wonder Woman movie failing to get off the ground (or the series) they have a lot to work on. I think DC needs to pull in all of their creative people and start fresh on a plan to roll out a Justice League movie. Yep don’t pussyfoot around it, just make it. Then focus on making stories that show us adventures going forward. Everyone knows how these heroes started. Just give us the goods on the big story and keep making movies that we will enjoy.

An article for another time will focus on the need to make an origin story for every hero. Really, do we need to see how Superman came to be? Is there a person on the planet who does not know this story? It kind of feels like they can’t give up the past, but that’s a topic for a different blog.

What hero movie was the best and which one was the worst in your opinion?