MovieChat Forums > Black Adam (2022) Discussion > Heroes fighting heroes: Bad Writing

Heroes fighting heroes: Bad Writing

posted 2 years ago by ace2 (573)
9 replies | jump to latest

This is a sign that the writing is WEAK. No faith or willingness to develop the villains, so they have to resort to contrived scenarios where heroes are fighting each other to get an emotional response. Typically the differences could have been resolved through a simple 5 minute conversation.

Marvel clearly showed that their most successful movies were driven by how good the villains and their motivations were -- surprisingly not the heroes. Though even they had a Thor vs Iron Man fight which made no sense.

[–] AnubisRaydeen (7897) 2 years ago

You haven't seen it.

[–] ace2 (573) 2 years ago

I have seen it, I'm talking about what comes next

[–] Burk48917 (11371) 2 years ago

This is exactly in line with the comics. He isn't a hero to the world, just his nation. Black Adam is often fighting heroes.

[–] DoctorThirteen (14090) 2 years ago

This is true. He's generally regarded as one of the bad guys of the DC Universe.

[–] ace2 (573) 2 years ago

This is true in the comics, yes. But by the end of the movie it didn't feel like he was a villain or even an anti-hero. He was closer to just a regular hero.

[–] ATG6 (3000) 2 years ago

It happens every time heroes meet for the first time and don't know each other. Remember Thor fighting Iron Man and Captain America? Thor fighting Hulk?

[–] BeenSavage (637) 2 years ago

Marvel clearly showed that their most successful movies were driven by how good the villains and their motivations were -- surprisingly not the heroes. Though even they had a Thor vs Iron Man fight which made no sense.

^^This and your topic in general; does Civil War ring a bell...? You can clearly have a good movie when it's full on heroes vs. heroes. It was the lack of star power (DC character wise) that didn't make this particular movie appealing.

[–] FilmFan1983 (128) 2 years ago

Actually these fights helped elevate the movie. It's also very topical. The issues they disagreed about are at the forefront of our public debate on a surprising number of issues. How much rights should violent criminals have if they are likely to kill again? Which method of interrogation is most effective? What purpose does the international order have when the overwhelming majority of people within nation states choose uprising? In addition to tackling all these interesting social issues, the film also delves deep into Black Adam's origin, constantly reframing his actions in interesting ways. All within an entertaining superhero movie.

The movie didn't need a great villain. There is literally no one who is his match, The psychological battle and internal struggle were far more interesting but the action was pretty good too.

[–] ace2 (573) 2 years ago

I appreciate this perspective but I feel like you are elevating the most interesting ideas in this movie, which I wish were more developed and ignoring what actually got the most screen time.

What rights do violent criminals have? Great idea, and I get where they were going. However they didn't have the courage to really show him doing anything the typical hero wouldn't do. Most of his kills were unknown "bad guys". Imagine how impactful the final sacrifice would have been if they had showed him killing someone innocent who also had some back story. Black Adam killed way less people than Superman did in MoS. (Sidenote: in Spiderman: No way home really liked the commentary on incarceration vs. rehabilitation for criminals)

International order? This was so interesting to me too, especially the line about the JS ignoring them and then only getting involved when they or the West felt threatened. I think this could have been a central theme, but they only spent a few minutes on it and went back to the simplistic heroes don't kill people / I am not a hero refrain.

Didn't need a great villain? True, it didn't need that terrible villain either though. I actually think the greatest struggles are when the sides are blurred and you can empathize with the motivations of the "villain". Killmonger and Baron Zemo were definitely wrong for what they did, but when they met their downfall it was almost sad.

Overall though I agree it was much better than the critics are saying.