DC Extended Universe

[Triggermv]

So Suicide Squad has surpassed GotG for biggest opening in August and is already holding the #10 spot for domestic box office this year at just over $135 million.

My guess is that it will eclipse the $200 million mark, but may not beat BvS which made $330 million here is the US, but did far better overseas.

My question for those that saw it - did it leave the door open for a sequel (no spoilers yet, please)? There was rumor of a standalone Harley Quinn movie, but would you rather see that or a Suicide Squequal featuring fewer cast members?

See the end of my review above for answers to your final questions. As for wanting to see a standalone Harley Quinn movie? I'd say no. I liked her, but not that much. Again, my best advice movie forward is to do less sequels and spin-offs to this movie and more just integrating some of these good characters innovatively into other movies. Also, there is just too many other better things for the DCEU to explore right now than to focus on extending parts of things that failed the first go around. To hold off giving us a Green Lantern Corps movie in order for us to get a standalone Harley Quinn movie would be a travesty.

 

[Triggermv]

Figured I'd rate my top comic movies for those who care:

1. Iron Man 1
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. Batman 89
4. Avengers
5. TDK
6. Thor 1
7. TDK3
8. Suicide Squad
9. TDK 2
10. Captain America 2
11. Deadpool
12. X-Men 1
13 X-Men Days of Future Past

Feel free to pick apart...just off the top of my head.

Thanks a lot for posting this list. I wish more people would be willing to throw their own lists out like this. Overall, while it looks somewhat different than mine, I can respect it. My favorite part of lists is that they give good insights into what genres/types of movies hit home with some people and which ones don't. Maybe a few of the surprises for me as well was how you had The Dark Knight (2nd movie) as the lowest rated of that trilogy, as most think it is the best, and also how high you ranked Suicide Squad. Good to see someone enjoyed that movie. One other thing I actually love about your list is how high you ranked the good old original Tim Burton Batman. Would it be that high on my list? Probably not. However, I do love that movie (very high nostalgia for me) and just part of me loves seeing it high on other people's list. As a kid, that movie was the coolest thing ever.

 

[3GenClone]

If we're putting lists out there, here is how I would rank my top 10 DC (and DC-affiliated) movies:

1. Superman (78) - proof that DC is capable of making a fun superhero movie. I can still watch that movie today
2. Batman Begins - my favorite origin story of the DC universe
3. The Dark Knight - best villain and plot for a comic-book movie
4. Batman (89) - great villain, great Bruce Wayne, the style of Gotham City was awesome, and Kim Basinger
5. V for Vendetta - this movie gets a bad reputation for Natalie Portman's questionable accent, but I love everything about this movie
6. The Dark Knight Rises - OK conclusion to the trilogy, some great action scenes
7. Man of Steel - it was all over the place, but Henry Cavill was a pretty good superman
8. Constantine - another guilty-pleasure movie, I'll watch it anytime it's on TV
9. Watchmen - probably the best adaptation of taking a comic and putting it on screen. Zack Snyder was kind of limited by staying committed to the source material, but he made up for it with some breath-taking visuals and didn't pull-back on some of the more graphic moments.
10. Batman Returns - The Penguin kidnaps all of the first born-sons of Gotham and then straps rockets to the backs of Penguins to blow up Gotham City - all of this is done while keeping the tone from the 89 movie intact. DC should try and bring back Tim Burton as a consultant (too bad he primarily works with Disney).

 

[Triggermv]

If we're putting lists out there, here is how I would rank my top 10 DC (and DC-affiliated) movies:

1. Superman (78) - proof that DC is capable of making a fun superhero movie. I can still watch that movie today
2. Batman Begins - my favorite origin story of the DC universe
3. The Dark Knight - best villain and plot for a comic-book movie
4. Batman (89) - great villain, great Bruce Wayne, the style of Gotham City was awesome, and Kim Basinger
5. V for Vendetta - this movie gets a bad reputation for Natalie Portman's questionable accent, but I love everything about this movie
6. The Dark Knight Rises - OK conclusion to the trilogy, some great action scenes
7. Man of Steel - it was all over the place, but Henry Cavill was a pretty good superman
8. Constantine - another guilty-pleasure movie, I'll watch it anytime it's on TV
9. Watchmen - probably the best adaptation of taking a comic and putting it on screen. Zack Snyder was kind of limited by staying committed to the source material, but he made up for it with some breath-taking visuals and didn't pull-back on some of the more graphic moments.
10. Batman Returns - The Penguin kidnaps all of the first born-sons of Gotham and then straps rockets to the backs of Penguins to blow up Gotham City - all of this is done while keeping the tone from the 89 movie intact. DC should try and bring back Tim Burton as a consultant (too bad he primarily works with Disney).

You aren't the only one to say that about V for Vendetta. I maybe need to go back and watch that movie again. It has been a really long time and I don't remember anything from it.

 

[CloniesForLife]

I usually agree with Trigger's rankings and reviews so I am disappointed to see he did not enjoy Suicide Squad very much. Will still be seeing it soon hopefully but will curb my expectations.

 

[Triggermv]

I usually agree with Trigger's rankings and reviews so I am disappointed to see he did not enjoy Suicide Squad very much. Will still be seeing it soon hopefully but will curb my expectations.

Thanks man. Appreciate it. If it means anything, from a progression standpoint, the movie started off a little all over the place for me, but eventually got to a point where I actually was starting to have some fun with everything (around the great Deadshot scene). However, it was after that point where the mess of everything became a little too uncontrollable and the wheels fell off the bus. While it still has its flaws, the first 30 minutes could be considered pretty fun overall.

 

[Triggermv]

Oh yeah, one other thing along the editing critiques of this movie was that the rumor has it that Ayer essentially had his original cut of the movie, which was darker in tone like Batman vs Superman. However, after the negative backlash from that movie, reshoots were decided to make happen that infused more fun, humor, and technicolor to the movie, making a completely separate cut than Ayer's. In the end, the studio then tested both cuts to audiences and ended up going with the new more-fun cut. With that said, it always makes people wonder if the "new" cut was better or not, or if there is actually a better version of what we saw out there. Or, maybe the rumors are all bull-crap. Needless to say, it will be interesting to see if anything new or different pops up on the blu-ray release. At a minimum, more of the Joker scenes that got cut would be nice to see.

With that said, talking about this brings me back to remembering someone asking me in the Marvel thread about whether I've seen the "Ultimate" cut of Batman vs Superman yet, (30 minutes longer) and the answer is still shamefully no, with kind of a funny story behind why. What happened was that I'm finishing my basement soon and plan to get a new 65 inch 4k tv for down there. Keep in mind I'm a big visual tech guy too when it comes to that stuff. Anyway, with that happening in the near future, I decided to buy the 4K UHD Blu-Ray (included blu-ray version as well) instead of just the normal blu-ray version. Well, unbeknownst to me (I didn't read the label close enough), in that multi-pack, the 4K disc contains the Ultimate cut whereas the normal blu-ray disc only contains the theatrical version, so I was stuck watching the theatrical version again (worth noting second time around was a little better than first time). Therefore, NO, I'm still waiting on my new TV to watch the Ultimate cut, which sucks!!! Therefore, word to the wise, don't make the same mistake I did if anyone happens to get into the same situation. It is worth noting I DO have an Ultimate cut digital copy with it, but I currently don't have a great way to watch that even in 1080p, which is how I want to watch it at least.

 

[State43]

You can read my full review above, but my biggest advice is to come in with low expectations. This movie tries really hard to be a blend of Deadpool (I know you loved that) and Guardians of the Galaxy. While there is some fun to be had with that tone, some of it lands and some of it doesn't. In the end, whatever tone is taken, I think that you will find its hard to ignore that the biggest difference between Suicide Squad and those other two movies is that those movies were just good well-executed stories, and I can't say the same for Suicide Squad.

I appreciate getting your take. I know me and you have at times vastly different opinions on the same movies but I am sure I will be in the ballpark on opinions regarding this movie.

 

[Frak]

Thanks a lot for posting this list. I wish more people would be willing to throw their own lists out like this. Overall, while it looks somewhat different than mine, I can respect it. My favorite part of lists is that they give good insights into what genres/types of movies hit home with some people and which ones don't. Maybe a few of the surprises for me as well was how you had The Dark Knight (2nd movie) as the lowest rated of that trilogy, as most think it is the best, and also how high you ranked Suicide Squad. Good to see someone enjoyed that movie. One other thing I actually love about your list is how high you ranked the good old original Tim Burton Batman. Would it be that high on my list? Probably not. However, I do love that movie (very high nostalgia for me) and just part of me loves seeing it high on other people's list. As a kid, that movie was the coolest thing ever.

Yeah, I loved Ledger's Joker, but for some reason, I didn't care for the end of that movie. TDK had the worst villain, but I have a soft spot for origin stories and love the League of Assassins storyline. The last one I thought had a really good story and the prison was awesome. It wrapped things up well too. I agree on the 89 Batman...maybe nostalgia more than anything, but that movie was SO cool for a kid who grew up watching the campy TV series. Keaton was good, Nicholson was good...we'd just not seen anything like it at the time.

 

[Rural]

The Burton Batman movies look like cartoons compared to the way Nolan approached the material.

Not saying it's not possible to prefer them but just a totally different look.

 

[3GenClone]

The Burton Batman movies look like cartoons compared to the way Nolan approached the material.

Not saying it's not possible to prefer them but just a totally different look.

The Burton-Batman films could also be a result of the "style" of movies was at that time. Movies like The Untouchables, Batman, and **** Tracy all had a similar look and feel, such as big cars, and bulky coats and costumes. Compare those films to a movie that covers the same subject matter, like Road to Perdition and you start to notice the stylistic difference.

The progress of Batman's cinematic style is very akin to the scene in Back to the Future 3 where Doc Brown from 1955 dresses Marty like a cowboy to send him back to 1885, only he is dressing him like how a 50's cowboy looks on TV and in the movies.

 

[Triggermv]

The Burton-Batman films could also be a result of the "style" of movies was at that time. Movies like The Untouchables, Batman, and **** Tracy all had a similar look and feel, such as big cars, and bulky coats and costumes. Compare those films to a movie that covers the same subject matter, like Road to Perdition and you start to notice the stylistic difference.

The progress of Batman's cinematic style is very akin to the scene in Back to the Future 3 where Doc Brown from 1955 dresses Marty like a cowboy to send him back to 1885, only he is dressing him like how a 50's cowboy looks on TV and in the movies.

I agree, as the Burton vs Nolan Batman movies really get down to two different takes on those universes, and also were a big product of the era they were making their films in. While Burton certainly adds his own flare to all his things, one could argue that his Batman world he created was more just an attempt to bring the look and feel of a comic book to life. His goal wasn't to put a Batman out there that fits into our current world we live in, but more of a magical different one. On the flip side, Nolan's Batman world was obviously intended to be a MUCH more grounded take on the character where one could almost envision Gotham existing perfectly in our current world. While this way of going at it was probably a better way to appeal to the masses whether comic book geek or not, there were definitely some die-hard fans out there wishing it was LESS grounded. For those casual viewers of Batman, not sure he could have done any better. Those movies were fantastic. However, the Batman of the comics exists in a world of meta-humans, superpowers, aliens, other dimensions, supernatural elements, time travel.... etc, whereas, outside of maybe Bane, there didn't exactly exist a single super-powered individual in the whole Nolan universe. I don't think he even wanted to touch those elements. Granted, Burton's world didn't contain a lot of those things either, but there is no doubt he at least tried to add more of a magical looking and feeling component to the world. Truthfully, for those who have been waiting on a true adaptation of the comics, while the latest DCEU haven't been great movies so far, they are definitely the most true to the comics movies, for the most part at least.

 

[HFCS]

BvS wasn't as bad as the reviews, but there were some really bad scenes that sorta dragged the rest of the movie down (Martha - SMH). I thought the social commentary on how the world turned on Superman was pretty well done over all. The courtroom scene was pretty powerful too.

I haven't watched the extended version, but I hope that makes a few scenes flow a little more smoothly.

I had high hopes for Suicide Squad, but I may temper them a bit based on reviews. It would probably be better to go into the movie with realistic expectations and come out pleasantly surprised.

I wish I could see people who think BvS is more like a 70% than a 35%, and see if they feel the same about Suicide Squad. RT is toast on these hero movies going forward, there's no way BvS was that far below average with some of the really bad hero movies that get over 50%.

I have a gift card at probably the world's best movie theater and was going to use it on Suicide Squad but now I'm not as sure and it's killing me knowing how off I feel some public opinion has been lately on these.

 

[HFCS]

The DCEU needs to go back to basics. Too much doom and gloom. The last time I checked, superheroes were meant to INSPIRE. There was nothing inspirational in BvSM and I assume much the same in Suicide Squad.

I think lots of hero movies should be dark. I think the fight scenes with Cap Am are so bad they are unintentional humor in terms of swinging too far the opposite direction.

The Nolan Batman movies were very dark and the action is generally better that Marvel's efforts. Just different styles and we've got people who are very brand loyal now to the light hearted cheesy action style. (which I like, I don't like people thinking it's the only way a hero movie can be good)

 

[Triggermv]

I think lots of hero movies should be dark. I think the fight scenes with Cap Am are so bad they are unintentional humor in terms of swinging too far the opposite direction.

The Nolan Batman movies were very dark and the action is generally better that Marvel's efforts. Just different styles and we've got people who are very brand loyal now to the light hearted cheesy action style. (which I like, I don't like people thinking it's the only way a hero movie can be good)

I feel for you man with a lot of your thoughts. There is no doubt that the general public and critics obviously prefer the more light-hearted funny brand of superhero movies at the moment, which I do enjoy a lot as well. However, I do wish people would be more open to the idea of that way not being the only way to produce these movies. Personally, I love some of both. In fact, I have always liked the fact that DC was going a different, more dark and serious route to these movies, at least more so than Marvel has done, and I hope they continue that route. However, at the same time, I still want good movies. I definitely didn't not like Batman v Superman or Suicide Squad because they were too dark or too serious. I didn't like them because they were complete messes of storytelling and editing by a ship that doesn't seem to know where it is going right now. Therefore, I hope DC doesn't auto-correct their route too much, but just focuses more on giving the public good movies, whether dark, serious, or not, and I think the public will eventually come around. I mean the public loved the Nolan trilogy, they love the Netflix Marvel stuff, as well as others. Personally, I'm hoping Wonder Woman proves that as it still seems more dark and serious than a Marvel movie, but still looks awesome at the same time. I'm just hoping it actually comes through as that.

Again, I feel for you though. Not everyone needs to like the Marvel way of doing these movies and I'm a big variety guy where I want some of everything. Things get bad when they get too much of the same. There can be good movies on all sides of coins.

 

[besserheimerphat]

Has anybody seen the BvS Ultimate edition yet? My wife picked it up for me on Blu-Ray today. I actually haven't seen the theatrical version, so I will be going into it totally fresh. I'd heard that the Ultimate edition was significantly better but I won't have a frame of reference when I watch it.

 

[BuffettClone]

Has anybody seen the BvS Ultimate edition yet? My wife picked it up for me on Blu-Ray today. I actually haven't seen the theatrical version, so I will be going into it totally fresh. I'd heard that the Ultimate edition was significantly better but I won't have a frame of reference when I watch it.

I'm in the same boat as you, I just picked up the ultimate edition without seeing the theatrical version first. I've heard it helps fill in a few plot holes but it wasn't significantly better. That's just what I've read but again, have no comparison ability.

 

[3GenClone]

I only saw the Ultimate Edition, so I don't know what was added from the theatrical cut, except for the scene that necessitated the R rating.

While the story was kind-of all over the place, I didn't really think the film was as bad as the RT scores were giving it. It's about on-par with Man of Steel, but I liked MoS better.

I believe there was a scene added with Lex Luthor which I thought setup future movies pretty well. I believe the scene was first released on YouTube and then it was added in the Ultimate Edition. I won't spoil it, although it was really brief.

 

[State43]

Just saw Suicide Squad and um.... God damnit DC, getcho life. I am glad I tempered my expectations. If it were not for Will Smith, it would have been truely terrible. There was a lot of parts I liked but a lot I didn't like. I thought BvS was way better than this.
Dead shot was great, Harley was good at times and despite many other people's thoughts, I kinda liked The Joker. Waller was great too. The rest.... Meh
The movie itself was very clunky, scenes weren't explained and pace was rushed. Croc, Katana and Boom were kinda pointless. Diablo was simply not good. Even during his confession, I almost felt nothing.
Overall, disappointing despite my already low expectations.
5/10 because I am a nerd for this stuff.

 

[Triggermv]

Just saw Suicide Squad and um.... God damnit DC, getcho life. I am glad I tempered my expectations. If it were not for Will Smith, it would have been truely terrible. There was a lot of parts I liked but a lot I didn't like. I thought BvS was way better than this.
Dead shot was great, Harley was good at times and despite many other people's thoughts, I kinda liked The Joker. Waller was great too. The rest.... Meh
The movie itself was very clunky, scenes weren't explained and pace was rushed. Croc, Katana and Boom were kinda pointless. Diablo was simply not good. Even during his confession, I almost felt nothing.
Overall, disappointing despite my already low expectations.
5/10 because I am a nerd for this stuff.

Can't say I'm surprised by your review as your thoughts were very similar to mine. I know you were very excited for this movie (as was I), so hopefully I didn't ruin it for you at all.