With as much as I am a Marvel fan, I have found not going in with high hopes has served me well. I just sit back and enjoy the ride.

That's generally the best approach to take with any movie, Marvel or otherwise.

I've gone to see each Marvel movie with a single expectation: to be entertained for a couple of hours. And so far, I've not been disappointed, with the first Iron Man and Avengers being my favorite of the films.

I was even able to enjoy Man of Steel and the prequels simply because I didn't hold any fanboy notions of what those films should have been. Granted, they certainly could have been better, but I wasn't pissed that I'd wasted my money to see them, as I was indeed entertained for the length of the films.

I think this bit I saw on my Twitterfeed earlier today sums it up:

DC: Superhero movies need to be gritty and realistic and serious.

Marvel: "runs by wearing a lampshade"

I think this bit I saw on my Twitterfeed earlier today sums it up:

DC: Superhero movies need to be gritty and realistic and serious.

Marvel: "runs by wearing a lampshade"

I've seen similar, something that went like this -

DC: We do not think that the audience is ready for a Wonder Woman movie.

Marvel: We've got a raccoon with a machine gun riding a tree!

Weirdly enough, I was able to accept Phantom Menace for what it was (A flick with 'meh' characters and great action - like every other action flick on the planet) better than I was able to accept Man of Steel. I could abandon my Star Wars baggage, but just couldn't let go of my Superman baggage.

There is no arguing taste.

No kidding. I saw this trailer and thought "formulaic yawn-fest"...but to each their own.

Just curious, what are some other movies that use this formula? I'd be interested to see them

Man of Steel was technically solid, even exciting at times, but so utterly joyless. I much preferred the tone and humor in the first Superman movie/ Christopher reeve will always be my Superman

I think we can all agree on one thing - it's a great time to be a fan of superhero/comic book/geek genre stuff.

Man of Steel was technically solid, even exciting at times, but so utterly joyless. I much preferred the tone and humor in the first Superman movie/ Christopher reeve will always be my Superman

I think we can all agree on one thing - it's a great time to be a fan of superhero/comic book/geek genre stuff.

I agree with this in regards to Man of Steel, technically hit all the marks, but I liked Wolverine a lot more, just because I liked the story and the people more. That will be the trick in Star Wars 7, I know it will hit all the marks and be fun to watch, but will I like it in the intangible way?

Just curious, what are some other movies that use this formula? I'd be interested to see them

You probably already have. I don't really know what the movie is about, I'm talking about the few shots...the camera angles, the "shing" of double blades (Wolverine anyone?), the lighting...it's all been done.

And then there's a raccoon...which could have been hilarious, but was completely uninspired.

I think DC's biggest problem when it comes to their movies is they're really not willing to look past Batman and Superman in terms of viable characters for films, and instead seem to be focusing on TV series (Smallville to start, now Green Arrow and a new Flash series in the works).

Marvel's willing to give just about anything a try (they're making an Ant-Man movie for Stan's sake!), and seem to have generally figured that each franchise has to be approached on its own merits rather than trying to stick to a purely formulaic approach. DC tried using the Dark Knight formula with Superman, and it didn't pan out so well. The Iron Man series made great use of ad-libs and Tony being "one of us", while Thor (the first one particularly) had a strong Shakespearian element (especially the first one, which was fitting given it was directed by Kenneth Brannagh). The first Captain America had more of a "white and black morality" element to it (which again fits the character), though the second seems to be introducing "shades of grey" so it'll be interesting to see how someone as noble and upstanding as Cap deals with that sort of world (I'm guessing the answer is "not well"). The Ed Norton Hulk film wasn't great, but it was far better than the Ang Lee film, though the Hulk's a difficult character to do a film about in the first place.

Venthrac,

I agree on Christopher Reeve being the best portrayal of the character by far. It says something about his own acting chops that he could take what had been for decades one of the lamest disguises in the history of comic books and actually make it believable without having use any Silver Age nonsense like special classes or mass-hypnosis. Henry Cavill was good, but Reeve is just a tough act to live up to; I suspect it'll be much the same the next time Joker shows up on the screen after the amazing performance Heath Ledger gave in The Dark Knight.

Man of Steel was technically solid, even exciting at times, but so utterly joyless.

I actually like the first half quite a bit, but then it degenerated into a punch-fest. I have to say I'm sick of punch-fests...too many movies rely on it...and this worries me about E7 because Abrams seems to like them with Star Trek. I don't think there is a single one in all of E1-6, nor TCW, I hope they don't break the pattern.

I actually like the first half quite a bit, but then it degenerated into a punch-fest. I have to say I'm sick of punch-fests...too many movies rely on it...and this worries me about E7 because Abrams seems to like them with Star Trek. I don't think there is a single one in all of E1-6, nor TCW, I hope they don't break the pattern.

I have concerns of JJ in command of E7, but mostly because I don't like his style or his work. I didn't care for Star Trek '09 (and only got 20 minuets into The Remix of Khan). Yes, Star Trek V was a bad movie, but when it failed, it still failed as a Star Trek movie. This new stuff? I'm not seeing any of the spirit of Star Trek in there at all. . . .

Man of Steel was technically solid, even exciting at times, but so utterly joyless. I much preferred the tone and humor in the first Superman movie/ Christopher reeve will always be my Superman

That, above all other, was what pissed me off SO much about Man of Steel. It wasn't him murdering Zod, it wasn't the terrible script or the poorly written characters or how every line was pure exposition for the sake of moving the plot forward - it was how dour, how unhappy, how un-fun it was. Superman (both in character and in concept) is suppose to be light and fun and slightly cheesy.

If you have so little faith in the source material, if you think its so broken that you have to change the core theme to the degree that they did - then why not just come up with an all-new hero?

I can't wait for Guardians, looks spectacular.

I'm a fan of Slither though, and I thought the Dawn of the Dead remake was better than the original.

GROOT!

I've got to admit that this Marvel film looks less than stellar to me. Maybe it'll surprise me, but I'm certainly not going to fight the crowds to see it early.