Superhero Look-Alikes

Matt Zoller Seitz bemoans what he sees as the repetitive look and feel of present-day superhero films:

“At some point somebody straps on power armor or climbs inside a robot. Machines bash other machines for a while. The bashing is choreographed and shot and edited pretty much as you expect, with few aesthetic surprises. You hear metal groaning and rubble crashing to earth. Walls crumble, craters open, bridges collapse. Spider-Man skydives into the Manhattan grid, Thor whooshes hither and yon, Iron Man plummets from in the ionosphere and is saved by the Hulk, and somehow none if it has the visceral or dramatic weight that it should.”

Tim Wainwright, who counters that the every film genre has its share of treasures among the trash, champions for more superhero movies. And Derek Thompson considers “blockbuster sameness” and what’s driving it:

“Hollywood’s assembly line of double- and triple-checking the viability of its $200-million products isn’t debased. As one industry vet told me, the exhaustive process of smoothing and refurbishing makes many bad movies better. But studios are so worried about what audiences think—and so skilled at soliciting their feedback—that they ensure that the next blockbuster always reminds audiences of the last blockbuster.”

(video: Honest Trailers take on the original Spinder-Man trilogy.)