The Formula... For Splitting Fans Down the Middle

The Formula... For Splitting Fans Down the Middle

In the recent history of CBM's there have been two films that have given fans two very different reactions. The "formula" that these two films used is strikingly similar. HIT THE JUMP TO SEE THE COMPARISON.

Editorial Opinion
By Woodinator - May 22, 2013 06:05 PM EST
Filed Under: Other



When the Dark Knight Rises hit theaters there were two very different fan reactions;

1) Some praised it as an incredible work of art that completely wrapped up the trilogy in a way that brought tears to God's eye and made angels sing.

2) While others felt like the film not only fell flat but made the hero useless in the face of villains who weren't all that villainous to begin with and completely dropped the momentum that the trilogy had built for years.

Recently Iron Man 3 hit and fans had the exact same reaction. On the outside these movies would seem to have very little in common. However, these two films have found an unmistakable formula for polarizing fans! So for anyone out there that is attempting to achieve the same thing I have compiled below a list that when placed together is now scientifically proven to cause both strife and praise for your film:


HAVE YOUR HERO LOSE ALL OF HIS ASSETS




DARK KNIGHT: Bruce has all of his assets frozen in the stock market attack that Bane orchestrates. He is then stranded with nothing in a whole in the middle of nowhere.

IRONMAN 3: Tony Stark has his house blown up and all of his assets taken away while he is stranded in a small town with nothing but a suit that doesn't work and quarters for a payphone.


LOSS OF THEIR BRITISH "BUTLERS"




DARK KNIGHT: Bruce gets into a tear filled argument with Alfred that ends in Bruce firing his British butler.

IRONMAN 3: Tony while stranded loses contact with his "British" A.I. program/helper Jarvis.


BEST BUDDY ENDS UP HOSPITALIZED




DARK KNIGHT: Batman's go to guy, Commissioner Gordon is beaten badly by the villain. This prompts Bruce to done the cape and cowl again.

IRONMAN 3: Tony's best bud, Happy gets caught in the villain's attack. This leads to his hospitalization which prompts Tony to call out the Mandarin.


FEMALE COLLEAGUES TURN OUT TO BE (lame) VILLAINS




DARK KNIGHT: TDKR tried hard to fool everyone that Wayne Enterprises board member Miranda Tate was not in fact the villain; Talia Al Ghul... it failed.

IRONMAN 3: IRONMAN 3 attempted to take fan's breath away with the reveal that Maya Hansen was in fact working on the dark side... it failed.


VILLAIN TEASE




DARK KNIGHT: TDKR promised one of Batman's fiercest foes... it delivered a man in a mask with a morphine drip and added a strange twist that made it feel even worse.

IRONMAN 3: IRONMAN 3 promised one of Ironman's fiercest foes... it delivered a drug addicted actor and called it a twist.


CHICKS HAVE TO SAVE THE HERO




DARK KNIGHT: Not only does "Bane" turn out to not be the Bane we all hoped to see but Batman couldn't even defeat Bane lite... Catwoman had to.

IRONMAN 3: Not only does "The Mandarin" turn out to not be the Mandarin we all hoped to see but Ironman couldn't even defeat Mandarin lite... Pepper Potts had to.


SAPPY HAPPY ENDING




DARK KNIGHT: Bruce Wayne... The protector of Gotham! The M#$%^&* F&$@#^&* BATMAN! Walks away from his partially destroyed city to have a nice meal with Selena Kyle, nod at Alfred and live happily ever after.

IRONMAN 3: Tony Stark... The man with the shards that have been threatening his heart for three movies decides to go to the hospital and fix his heart so that he and Pepper can live happily ever after.

Well, there you have it friends. If you want to completely polarize your audience and confuse your fans just follow these few easy steps.

'till next time, Woodinator
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gmoney0505
gmoney0505 - 5/22/2013, 7:54 PM
TDKR villains wasn't villainous. LMAO! Fail article
Woodinator
Woodinator - 5/22/2013, 8:01 PM
If there is another article similar to this one I haven't read it. I simply pointed out the similarities that I saw when I watched IM3... and then saw the split in what viewers thought of the film. I thought it was funny considering that the last time a film did this to the fans it was in TDKR.
Minotauro
Minotauro - 5/22/2013, 8:03 PM
Only thing not similar is their ratings.

TDKR 87%

IM3 78%

That's all I need to know from an objective viewpoint.
Woodinator
Woodinator - 5/22/2013, 8:44 PM
I checked it out Levitikuz. Nice article. They saw even more similarities than I did!

However, my article was meant to show that the two CBMs that have split fans down the middle were similar. They showed similarities just for the sake of similarities.

Good article non the less, thanks for the link man!
Wikan
Wikan - 5/22/2013, 11:33 PM
the reactions to me:
TDKR booooooooring and lame because its just police vs banes army in the end

Iron Man 3 Epic,funny,action packed
Wikan
Wikan - 5/22/2013, 11:34 PM
plus,the mandarin and bane are 2 different reveals. they're not the main villain,but bane isn't an actor that actually isn't really a villain
MoonDoggyX
MoonDoggyX - 5/23/2013, 5:06 AM
Haha! Awesome editorial! The thing is that they are both good movies. )ans are polarized because the deviate far from the source material. I say so what. I love comic books and movies. I want my comics to be good comics and my movies to be good movies. They are 2 different medium and sometimes what works well in 1 doesn't work well in the other.

What would people think about these movies if there were no iron man or batman comics? I think there would be no issue because there would be nothing to nitpic against. The first matrix deviated from the source material but no one complained because few had ever seen it.

To judge a movie by how close it sticks to a comic book is rediculous and pointless. Apples and Oranges... Besides, neither of these movies deviated asfrom the source as far as Dragonball or legend of chun li...
marvel72
marvel72 - 5/23/2013, 6:05 AM
iron man 3 apart from the mistreatment of the mandarin,its a good movie.

the dark knight rises portrayed its villains better but the movie was boring.
MrReese
MrReese - 5/23/2013, 6:28 AM
Meh I'd rather watch TDKR > IM3 anyday
Woodinator
Woodinator - 5/23/2013, 7:39 AM
@Moondoggyx: There is no "source material for the Matrix. There are "influences". The Matrix was an original piece of work that was influenced by many other works.

I assume you are referring to: Simulacron-3 but then again you could be referring to Ghost in the Shell, Simulacra and Simulation, or countless other anime/sci fi works.

Interesting fact though: The writer of Simulacra and Simulation, Jean Baudrillard, disagreed with how the Matrix presented his work... Even though The Matrix was never meant to be an adaption of his work.
Woodinator
Woodinator - 5/23/2013, 9:14 AM
@TheYoungMAn

I was not attempting to make "Iron Man 3 movie look good by latching it onto TDKR"

I was simply laughing at people like you who love one and hate the other when they were both the same freakin' movie.

I personally feel that they were both steaming hot piles of crap that ruined their trilogies.
marvel72
marvel72 - 5/23/2013, 9:22 AM
"cinematic masterpiece that is The Dark Knight Rises"

XD hahahahahahahahahaha
Woodinator
Woodinator - 5/23/2013, 9:25 AM
Only if...

Superficial = Plot line and character development
jaysin420
jaysin420 - 5/23/2013, 9:37 AM
Both extremely disappointing, but at least IM3 is at least kind of fun to re-watch.

The only thing fun about TDKR was Bane's voice.
MoonDoggyX
MoonDoggyX - 5/23/2013, 10:36 AM
@Woodinator - You are strong in the force, my friend.

My point still stands, though. Unless the studio completely slaughters the protagonist or the film just doesn't work as a movie, a lot of these complaints are non-constructive at best. "IM3 sucks because of the Mandarin twist" or "TDKR sucks because they changed bane, etc" is silly and may lead to studios listening to fanboys(girls) less. You want the "real" Mandarin or the "real" Bane go buy some comics or some of the animated films from either studio. They are still there intact.

Studios hire producers, directors, etc to make a product that sells so that they see returns on their $200+ million investments that are today's CBMs. WE as fans need these film to make money so that studios can and will make more comic book movies. TDKR and IM3 did just that both grossing over a billion bucks each.

I'm not saying that people HAVE to like these films just because they are made. I do, however think that we need to cut the people that make these films a little slack sometimes. And be a little appreciative because there are some of us on here who remembers the 1990s when Batman was pretty much the only CBM out.
Woodinator
Woodinator - 5/23/2013, 11:40 AM
@Moondoggyx
I actually agree with you to an extent... However in films like IM3 and TSKR the filmmakers should at least stay true to the character they have created within the trilogy itself.

I feel like the Batman in the first two films is betrayed by his characterization in the third film:
Gotham's protector that would stop at nothing to save his city... The same batman man that at the end of TDK states that he is willing to be chased, to become the villain, to protect the hero Gotham needs...
Then at the beginning of TDKR we find this "same" Batman has been sitting on his @$$ for 8 years?!! I had an easier time believing Val Kilner was the same guy as Michael Keaton.

The same could be said for Tony Stark. The entire event that led to Tony becoming Ironman envolved two things: 1) his inoperable injury. 2) the ten rings
However by the end of IM3 we discover that to repair Tony's injury he simply needed to go to the doctor and that the ten rings was a hoax.

If you want to change the source material to better suit the media you are using... Go for it! When do e properly it's amazing! Movies such as Hellboy, V for Vendetta, the original Crow film and even the first two Nolan Bat films have shown us this time and time again. But once a film "universe" has been established don't betray your own vision!

Consistency is AS important as source Material.
Woodinator
Woodinator - 5/23/2013, 11:41 AM
*TDKR

I also appear to be strong in the TYPO!

LOL
MoonDoggyX
MoonDoggyX - 5/23/2013, 12:18 PM
@woodinator - all very good points except for batman. The seed for the TDKR were laid as early as Batman Begins when Bruce asks Rachael if she'd be with him when Gotham no longer needs Batman. Then in TDK, Bruce was looking to retire and leave the safety of Gotham in the hands of Harvey Dent. In TDKR Bruce blames himself for not being able to save Rachael, convinced that she was going to leave Harvey for him. Batman is a criminal, and thanks to the Dent act Gotham is safer than its been in decades. Batman wasn't needed until gordon gets hurt...

What gets to me is this. Though admittingly flawed, these movies have commited no bigger crimes than the Avengers. Yet that movie is praised beyond belief. Don't get me wrong, i like the Avenger, too..
Woodinator
Woodinator - 5/23/2013, 1:00 PM
How did Avengers do this?
MoonDoggyX
MoonDoggyX - 5/23/2013, 1:33 PM
One minute the hulk is uncontrollable and Banner can't even control his transformation. 10 minutes later banner is transforming at will and hulk is taking orders from cap.

Another complaint going around is that the tone of iron man is too comical. Some parts of the Avengers, especially during the climax, can only be described as slapstick.

Still, i loved Avengers and IM3...
Woodinator
Woodinator - 5/23/2013, 6:52 PM
@moondoggyx

I kind of just wrote that off in Avengers. I liken it to a UFC fighter than if randomly punched in the face would go nuts like a rabid dog but at the same time can be in full control in the octagon under different circumstances.

I also enjoyed the comedy in both Avengers and IM3... It just felt more out of place in IM3 to me (and lots of other viewers).

As far as the seeds planted in Batman Begins... I agree IF Gotham didn't need him anymore. It definitely did. The amount of infiltration that "Bane lite" accomplished would not have been possible with Batman on duty. GOTHAM definitely needed him by the end of the film... Or he wouldn't have given "Robin lite" the "keys" to the batcave.
AmazingFantasy
AmazingFantasy - 5/23/2013, 9:58 PM
TDKR> IM3 any day of the week
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