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