• Aquaman

    Water disappointment. The party line of D.C. diehards, at least until Wonder Woman’s well-received idealism, was that their films offered “dark” or “serious” stories in contrast to Marvel’s fast-talking raccoons. But that description always fell way short of capturing the fundamental experience of watching films like Superman v Batman: Dawn of Justice or Suicide Squad: one of pure bafflement. The folks at D.C.’s film factory have proved themselves, again and again, to be accidental artisans of “wait, what?” cinema. The DCU is basically the Brexit of the modern multiplex: supposedly smart, competent professionals making a series of very bad decisions…

  • Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

    Do you believe in Superman? Judging by Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, Zack Snyder doesn’t. Indeed, the Man of Steel sequel/Batman reboot/shared-universe kickstarter (breathe!) doesn’t seem to have much faith in anyone or anything. It’s a superhero story with little story and even less heroism. We’re now two films deep with DC Comics and Warner Brothers’ marquee film franchise, and they’re still embarrassed by their frontman. Superman is such a phenomenally over-powered alien-god that his stories require an equally rich sense of humanity for his struggles to connect. How can Clark be good? Can he inspire Earthlings or is he doomed to endlessly save us from ourselves? How…