Green Lantern wasn’t that bad.
That’s it. That is my hot take on a DC movie.
What’s yours?
Batman & Robin is lambasted a bit more than it deserves.
24 Likes
I agree with the green lantern movie. It could’ve been a lot better, but I don’t see why it’s that much hated.
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I enjoyed JL theatrical cut, and I’m a Snyder fan. I’m excited to see the Snyder Cut, but mustache stuff aside, I thought what we got was a pretty fun movie.
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The Dark Knight Rises is the best DC movie ever
Every DCEU movie, including Suicide Squad and Justice League, is great in its own way, and the universe as a whole has gotten too much hate
A Joker movie that has absolutely nothing to do w/ Batman is worthless
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The only good thing from Ben Affleck as Batman was his suit.
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I’m a shambling pile of DC movie hot takes in the form of a man, so let’s get started!
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Superman and the Mole Men is the single Superman movie that both most obviously understands Superman as a character and gets him across to the audience with ease. The special effects are trash but in a vacuum, the story is one of my favorite Superman movies. Shame the only way to watch it, as far as I know, is a DVD extra without subtitles for the Adventures of Superman season 1 box-set
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Superman: the Movie is not nearly as good as its reputation, and the fact that it frames Superman as a paragon of old-timey values in the corrupt modern world is a big part of that. Classically, the Man of Steel was always a progressive figure, not a nostalgic one, and by going the route they did, the Salkinds not only hurt their own movie but poisoned the well for the character to a certain extent. All that said, it’s still a really fun, charming movie, nothing I say about its approach to the character can change that it’s fundamentally just really fun and enjoyable.
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I hate that in Superman II, Kal mind-wipes Lois, without her consent, as an alternative to talking out their relationship problems like grown-ups. It is the laziest, most condescending ending to the movie I could ever imagine, and I hate it so much. Unlike its predecessor, I can’t even quite manage to remotely like Superman II, that’s how much that bugs me… Clark coming off as a wimp without his powers doesn’t help to be honest, but that’s secondary.
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Superman III is a campy hot mess but I kind of love it.
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Batman: the Movie, starring Adam West, is excellent, and an underrated classic. Unlike Mole Men, it doesn’t just hold up in terms of characterization or whatnot, but it’s also just a really fun plot.
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Supergirl is kind of depressing, there’s a recurring theme that Earth is a dreadful place where everyone is out for themselves. I don’t know if that was deliberate, but they sure bring it up a lot for something that wasn’t intended - and for something given no tonal weight in the slightest.
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Also in Supergirl, Linda Lee and Lucy Lane are clearly an S-Rank ship and you can’t change my mind.
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I think the Tim Burton Batman movies are pretty good, but the best things about them are Anton Furst and Bo Welch’s Gotham designs, followed by Keaton’s performance. I don’t necessarily like the plot of either film on its own, but such atmosphere!
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Batman & Robin is one of the best and most fun Bat-Films if you watch it with your friends and just kind of have fun, laugh at the movie, lean into the cheesy jokes and the goofy nonsense.
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Batman Forever, The Dark Knight Rises, and The Lego Batman Movie each make up part of a good Batman and Robin relationship. In Forever it’s clear that Bruce understands Dick on a deep and meaningful level, and in Rises it’s clear that Blake understands Bruce. The Lego Batman Movie has another element to them, which is that caring for Robin makes Bruce a better man. These different elements of their relationship have never quite managed to unite in a single film for some reason, and it’s time for that to change. Don’t be a coward, Matt Reeves! Put Robin in The Batman’s sequel!
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Batman v Superman: Ultimate Edition is really good actually. I can talk exhaustively about the problems and reasons it’s not approachable to most fans or viewers, and that’s absolutely at the writer and directors’ feet. All that said, Batman v Superman has a beautiful heart, a message of recognizing the “you” in “the other”, which strongly resonates with me and its many fans. There are still obvious reasons why it’s a film with a devoted cult-following instead of a hit with billions of fans, of course, but it deserves all the fans it can get.
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Wonder Woman has a brief touch with being the best super-hero movie of all time, between when Diana kills Ludendorff and when Ares starts throwing punches. The boss fight grinds all the emotional tension to a halt. And maybe Ares shouldn’t even have been in the movie at all.
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Also, Wonder Woman should have had those giant kangaroos that Amazons used to ride in the Golden Age. This is a simple matter of objective fact.
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Aquaman flirts with many themes, but never commits to one long enough to actually be “about” something, so the main thing it has going for it is just being fun. Which is fine, I like Aquaman, but I wish it committed to one of those themes some more, 'cause most of them are pretty interesting and worthwhile.
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Shazam is the best constructed DC movie by a lot. Its intense moment of personal realization is almost as profound and even more personal than Wonder Woman’s is, and it’s balanced with great action and lots of humor that founds its place with the audience.
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Unfortunately Shazam is also a movie that focuses a lot on cringe humor, and has little time for classic Captain Marvel tropes, so since I’m something of a pre-Crisis CM purist and I don’t like cringe humor that much, Shazam will never be one of my favorite movies, despite being generally great on its own merits.
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Even thought I’m looking forward to the Snyder Cut, Justice League is underrated; it’s a lot better than people think it is. It isn’t perfect: it’s too short, Vic and Diana have really truncated arcs, Arthur has fairly little characterization, etc. But a lot of what it does, it does really well.
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Superman’s comeback to help the League is cheesy yes, but in all the right ways. “Is this guy still bothering you” could have been written by Jerry Siegel, detractors tend to forget that a b-grade quip is often part and parcel of Superman’s MO. And seeing him just wail on Steppenwolf is always a treat to me.
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Cyborg and Superman’s “I really like being alive” and then “I take it back, I wanna die,” was genuinely moving, and then genuinely hilarious.
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In JL, Bruce really shows his character growth from BvS, too. In BvS he says Clark “was never even a man,” but in JL he recognizes, “Clark was more human than I am.” In BvS he says “the world only makes sense when you force it to,” and in that view he misunderstood the world, but in JL he says “I don’t have to recognize this world, I just need to save it.” Bruce was one of the best parts of JL.
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In Aquaman, Arthur’s concern for marginalized communities that live out in the middle of nowhere from JL is way more toned down, basically all the way to just what kind of place his hometown is, and that’s a massive waste, as it was the most interesting thing about him in JL by a lot. I hope that trait from JL is still there in the Snyder Cut - but I don’t necessarily have high hopes. I think that seems more like a Whedon thing.
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In the JL theatrical cut it’s clear that Wonder Woman is the team’s true leader. That is also my ideal of the League, even though it was truncated in the film itself.
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There are some films that you come out of thinking “That was really good, but I know it’s going to be hella controversial.” Man of Steel was one of them, BvS was another. Birds of Prey was not like that. I knew coming out of that theater that BoP was the most fun and delightful live action DC film probably ever, and that it was going to be a huge hit. Its lukewarm reception continues to baffle me. I’ve come to the conclusion that maybe they just shouldn’t have called it Birds of Prey, as it’s not much like the comics of the same name, but as a Harley Quinn film, instant classic, for my money!
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JL: The New Frontier is excellent, and one of the best DC films ever. Definitely my favorite of the animated ones.
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JL: Gods and Monsters is excellent, and one of the best DC films ever. Definitely my second-favorite of the animated ones.
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Superman vs the Elite is not that good, and neither is the comic it’s based on.
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Batman: SubZero is better than Mask of the Phantasm.
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Oh god, I did too much. Sorry about the wall of text, everyone!
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It’s the swing dance revival scene, right? That’s what puts it over the top for you.
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Superman vs the Elite is very divisive.
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Suicide squad wasn’t that bad either. It still could’ve been better but it’s not as bad as a lot of people say
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Naw! That was great.
I agree with some of your hot takes; disagree with others. But, hey, that’s what hot takes are about, right?
BTW, I have Mole Men on DVD from Cheezy Flicks. It’s a decent, not great, transfer but no captions or special features.
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The followimg
Are leaving
HBO Max
Soon
Grern Lantern including a longer version
Killing Joke
Assault on Arkham
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I think I can make everyone mad with at least one honest opinion.
The Dark Knight Returns Part 2 is the best superhero movie ever made. It is even better than the last two issues of the comic.
Reign of the Supermen is the best Superman movie.
Justice League Gods and Monsters is a masterpiece
Superman Doomsday handled adapting so much source material and used the Eradicator nearly perfectly.
Batman Returns is the best live-action superhero movie.
Adam West’s Batman movie should be considered a must watch for Batman fans.
Flashpoint is an average movie.
Superman Doomsday is an average movie.
It should not have taken 4 movies of being the protagonist to be make DCAMU Damian a good character. It should have taken 1 at most.
Green Lantern First Flight is amazing.
Green Lantern Emerald Knights is a snooze fest.
The plot of Green Lantern should have been Alan Scott trying to connect with his son, but being too distracted in defeating Grundy. This would drive his son away to become the villain of the next movie, as he fails to grasp that even our greatest heroes are fallible.
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Hot take: for the most part DCEU ‘muscle suits’ look ridiculous
I can’t get over it. Think it might just be the way the abs pop out.
Ex: I like the classic yellow Aquaman design but the abs stand out so much. Superman’s suit has the same thing with it.
I prefer something like Homelanders suit where there’s definition of the abs clearly there but it’s not so over the top. Maybe it comes down to lighting too. I did notice in Season 2 the abs distractedly stood out. IDK if it was always like that and lighting helps conceal it (in Season 1) that I didn’t notice or it’s a new suit for the show.
Season1 (left):----------------Season 2: (right)
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I thought Superman brainiac and doomsday were kind of boring.
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1st Half of the Killing joke animated movie was the BIGGEST disappointment of all animated adaptations I’ve ever seen.
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Batman The Killing Joke is actually a pretty good movie. I think it adapts the story fairly well and the Bruce with Barbara thing (while weird) is from a Batgirl comic that came before The Killing Joke. I think the film carries over the whole story pretty well and I love all the voice work.
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Mark Strong was a fantastic Sinestro, perfect casting job.
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Yeah I agree mostly just can’t get over the 1st half … and her proclaiming over the phone… “it’s just $&@“ 
thought it just took away from her. 2nd 1/2 Beautifully done well and true to its content.
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