DC's new policy for their movies is no joke

Allegedly DC has made a "no joke" policy for any of their movies.

http://news.moviefone.com/2014/08/27/no-jokes-dc-comics-movies/

What are your thoughts on this?

I think its dumb the humor and different tones of each film is one of the things that makes the Marvel films fun.

Also a word of warning in the article there is a tweet by seth rogan that uses some colorful words

I can appreciate (what I'm assuming) to be the intent behind it.

They want to separate themselves from the Marvel movies, and that's understandable. If they tried to duplicate the Marvel formula it'd be a knock off, and icons like Batman and Superman deserve better than that!

I am wondering how they'll have characters like the Flash act. I mean just by nature the Flash is much more of a smart alec than Batman.

tmorrill wrote:I can appreciate (what I'm assuming) to be the intent behind it.

They want to separate themselves from the Marvel movies, and that's understandable. If they tried to duplicate the Marvel formula it'd be a knock off, and icons like Batman and Superman deserve better than that!

I am wondering how they'll have characters like the Flash act. I mean just by nature the Flash is much more of a smart alec than Batman.

Wally was, for sure. haven't been following Barry lately, but he's usually pretty straight.

An actual "mandate" seems a but strong, but I also appreciate and support the intent. One problem with the GL movie was that they tried to make it a jokey Iron Man movie and it should have been a movie about space cops. Even Marvel has had some trip ups trying to recapture the pitch-perfect humor of the original Iron Man.

Also, approaching their material differently (which makes sense given that DC has a more serious tone than Marvel these days) makes them compete less with Marvel. Instead they are simply a different product for a somewhat different audience. (That audience being me! Can't wait!!)

Man of Steel was not universally loved. Some even hated it. But from the significant number it resonated with I'm sensing a TON of passion. Hopefully, as general audiences understand more what to expect from these DC movies, they'll be better primed to appreciate and enjoy them.

With all three Nolan Batman movies it took some warming up for me to enjoy. But now I greatly enjoy that trilogy (with some significant exceptions in the third installment). There are also some eyebrow raising elements in Man of Steel for me. But while unexpected, I accept them as legitimate interpretations of the source material and really enjoy them.

So this move by WB seems like both a smart move and one that is consistent with the source material. I'm all for it!

Sounds like they're trying to make their movies more like the rebooted comics in tone. I think of Bruce Timm's animated DC world and how much fun and wit it had even with some seriously dark and meaningful stuff, and here I just see a mandate to keep sticks shoved firmly up these character's fortresses of solitude.
I can appreciate trying to be your own company, but getting rid of one of the most appealing aspects of comics AND movies to be different is not the right way to go about that. Why not just take out everyone's powers and watch Superman deal with Daily Planet politics? Let's spend a whole movie watching Batman brood without fighting crime or helping anyone! Wonder Woman travels to Man's world to help? Let's just watch the boat ride in real time! Now that's different!

Dunadwarf wrote:Sounds like they're trying to make their movies more like the rebooted comics in tone. I think of Bruce Timm's animated DC world and how much fun and wit it had even with some seriously dark and meaningful stuff, and here I just see a mandate to keep sticks shoved firmly up these character's fortresses of solitude.
I can appreciate trying to be your own company, but getting rid of one of the most appealing aspects of comics AND movies to be different is not the right way to go about that. Why not just take out everyone's powers and watch Superman deal with Daily Planet politics? Let's spend a whole movie watching Batman brood without fighting crime or helping anyone! Wonder Woman travels to Man's world to help? Let's just watch the boat ride in real time! Now that's different!

I agree. There's a balance needed in pursuing "realism" that the Nolan Batman films approached inconsistently. They also had too little Batman in The Dark Knight and WAAAAAY too little Batman in Dark Knight Rises. I think both of those are great movies "about Gotham city and those who live in it", but they were a bit TOO grounded sometimes to make the best BATMAN movies they could.

I've been listening to the Geek Out Loud's Steve Glosson talking about this very subject on his podcast recently - the whole difference between DC and Marvel. The reason I bring it up is because I'd never really thought about the differences in tone with the two franchises (marvel and DC) until he's been discussing it.

Anyway, I think DC might be tripping up a bit if they try to be too realistic. But I understand the desire to not come off as too schlocky as well. However, I think as Marvel has done with many of their movies, they've really captured the essence of who their heroes are, and still retained a lot of fun - maybe even a good sense of humor too.

I guess my take on it is that these comics, while some of them may be pretty painful to look back on - they were still about having fun. Yeah, they still worked to tell an interesting story, even if adults may look at elements as being goofy. But it's a lot like star wars and transformers - these were ultimately created for kids. But it's a fine line too. A lot of those kids have grown up and matured (debatable hah hah), and now have kids of their own. They still want deep stories and gripping drama, but I think we all still want to have that same sense of fun and wonder we had as kids too. And be able to watch, read, or play it with our children too.