Blog: "Why Zack Snyder is the best comic book movie director in the business"

[The Laughing Fish]

I found a blog that offers a counter argument against the vitriol aimed at Zack Snyder, explaining why he thinks he's "the best director in the genre right now".

Source: http://www.theflitecast.com/posts/2016/9/7/why-zack-snyder-is-the-best-comic-book-movie-director-in-the-business

Note: don't make any comments in this thread if you still haven't watched the film yet.

Personally, I don't call myself a huge fan of Snyder. Most of the films he directs are usually adaptations and remakes. But honestly, he's not Satan incarnate either, and he's no worse or pretentious than other overhyped directors we've had over the years. In fact, his first two DCEU films he's done so far has explored some interesting subtext than some people are giving him credit for.

Out of the all the points this blogger offers, this one has the most merit:

5 - HE BELIEVES IN "SHOW, DON'T TELL"

One of the fastest ways to bog down an audience at a movie is to dump a ton of expositional dialogue at them all at one time to describe exactly what is happening at that point in time instead of actually showing you what is going on. Movies are a visual medium and one of the cardinal rules of it is "Show, don't tell." A lot of movies in the last 20 years have gotten away from that ideal though and now it's all about the most quotable lines and drawn out speeches from characters that get the attention and praise instead of what is actually on screen in front of you. Fortunately, that is not the case with Snyder as he paints a beautiful picture for you to look at that tells the story with action instead of dialogue. When people were looking for Bruce to speak aloud his thoughts of sparing Superman's life during the "Martha" scene, we were given the look on Bruce's face and the visual realization by himself that he had become a monster and had to stop to begin redeeming himself. Instead of being told in a news report how many casualties there were during the Black Zero event in Man of Steel, we saw the carnage ourselves and it was left to us to reason how horrible the devastation was. That's so much more powerful than a line of dialogue or a big drawn out speech from any main character and it's just one more aspect of filmmaking that Zack Snyder understands but almost never gets credit for.

As far as BvS is concerned, I agree that this is a strength. Another good example was the Ultimate Edition scene where Clark realised Batman has tacit supported by the police as he saw a cartoon sketch satirising the GCPD, which filled in the gap why Superman didn't dare to take Batman to the police during the Batmobile scene. Unfortunately, excessive expository dialogue has become so commonplace nowadays that I feel the "show, don't tell" element has become a forgotten art.

What do people think of the statement of Snyder being the best comic director in the business?

[johnnygobbs]

Note: don't make any comments in this thread if you still haven't watched the film yet.

Why ever not?

This safe space BS and inability to accept different viewpoints is getting ridiculous.  Too many people these days are attempting to shut down discussions simply because they don't like what they might end up hearing/reading.

By the way, I've seen the Zack Snyder directed Watchmen.  I think that does qualify me to discuss his credentials as a comic book movie director.

[Catwoman]

Note: don't make any comments in this thread if you still haven't watched the film yet.

Why ever not?

This safe space BS and inability to accept different viewpoints is getting ridiculous.  Too many people these days are attempting to shut down discussions simply because they don't like what they might end up hearing/reading.

By the way, I've seen the Zack Snyder directed Watchmen.  I think that does qualify me to discuss his credentials as a comic book movie director.

Oh my god you f***ing little hypocrite pussy. I have never in my life said this online but I would love to catch you on the street and punch you in the f***ing mouth. I'd just have to wait for you to get the cock you're sucking out of the way first. I may be the only girl on this site (at least that posts regularly) but you have got me beat in the bitch department.

[The Laughing Fish]

Johnnygobbs, I'm now convinced more than ever that you're a troll.

Where in the hell did I mention this was ever meant to be a "safe space", or can't take different opinions? Did you miss the damn video that I embedded right at the bottom of my first post saying "Bullsh*t, or not" to the title of the blog?! I may have strong opinions on certain things, but not once have I dismissed people having the right to have an opinion.

Go take a look at my post history, and you'll find that I created a thread titled "What are your issues with the DCEU Superman?", with this as my opening paragraph:

"Now that we're under a year away from Justice League coming out, I believe it's a good idea to start a thread discussing Superman in the DCEU, and share what we like and don't like about him, what could improve and what we want to see from him in JL and beyond. If anyone wants to air their grievances about him, go ahead, this is not meant to be a one-sided thread."

Unless you have reading comprehension issues, you'd know very well I started a thread in the hopes of inviting everyone to share their opinions about the latest cinematic interpretation of Superman and get some insight of the criticisms of the character thus far. Key word: "insight". Not hyperbole. I made the comment about not posting here if you haven't watched BvS because this blog specifically focused on the film on a couple of significant points, that you won't understand if you don't view it in proper context.

As you can see, this is far from endorsing a safe space. I think I made that very f***ing clear. After all, people are allowed to think differently from each other. That's what internet forums are about. I accept that, otherwise I wouldn't be posting here or anywhere else.

But what I object is people like you who hypocritically take the moral high ground, while demonstrating that they're incapable of accepting different opinions. You called people "morons" because their political views don't share yours, and then expect people to treat each other with respect, not to mention you expect people to return you the same favour. You crack the sh*ts if people talk about politics, but it's okay for you to derail threads by bringing up the topic, like you did when the second BvS trailer came out, or discussing Penguin's election campaign in BR, and several other threads getting deleted because of your behaviour. You compared people to the alt-right for condemning biased reporting of four teenagers torturing a kid in a blatant racist attack, despite the point being made was such reluctance by the media to recognise such an incident a hate crime will only perpetuate more racism in society. You sit on the fence and scream doomsday about the DCEU but happily refuse to judge BvS for yourself and discover what you think its merits and faults are, and prefer to submit to critical conformity. All because you simply didn't like Eisenberg cast as Lex Luthor. And you've got the nerve to tell me "too many people these days are attempting to shut down discussions simply because they don't like what they might end up hearing/reading". How dare you. If this isn't projection, then I don't know what is.

Catwoman is right. You are a hypocrite. The sad thing is you didn't always behave this way when I first posted here four years ago, but your behavior has gotten worse in the last year and a half. Why? I have no idea, and I no longer care. I'm tired of trying to reason with you and make sense of your intellectual bowel movements. This is the last time I'll ever reply to you, and this time, I mean it. Not that you'll actually give a f*** since you're troll. Good riddance.

[The Laughing Fish]

James Cameron said something interesting about Snyder:

"Directors that continue to inspire me...Ridley Scott. I mean, I'll go to any Ridley Scott movie, even the ones that bomb, to me, are great, because the fabric of the filmmaking, you know, just the way he sees, and the way he places the camera...Zack Snyder and Robert Rodriguez, guys that were just creating their own cinematic language... A friend of mine, who was a visual effects guy just directed Deadpool, and I went to see Deadpool. And the opening credits sequence, I was like, 'Damn, nobody ever thought of that. Do a fake credit sequence!' How brilliant is it?"

http://lrmonline.com/news/james-cameron-names-zack-snyder-robert-rodriguez-tim-miller-as-inspirations

[The Dark Knight]

I'm not the biggest fan of Cameron for personal reasons, but I can't deny his talent. He has great movies. Very kind words from him about Zack. And he's right. Zack is a visual genius and really crams his films with interesting content. He gives his all.

[The Laughing Fish]

Snyder tends to adapt stuff from comics for the majority of his career, but once again, I'll give him credit for his use of visuals. Not only how spectacular they tend to look, but how they're used to convey emotions. That alone has won me some respect for him.

[GoNerdYourself]

Zack Snyder is not a terrible director. He's just not a good one. It's not that he's "All style, no substance," but his style gets in the way of substance. I don't think I have ever cared about a character in a Snyder film or found any to be relatable. I came close to liking Rorschach in Watchman. The scores (and tone) for his films tend to be bland and atonal. Not to say that I don't get what he's trying to do with his films. I just don't like it. I like connecting a film, its story, its characters, its tone, etc. I am unable to do so with Snyder's films and I think he is holding back the DCUE's potential. Right now, the DCEU doesn't feel definitive. It feels like yet another version of these characters in line to be rebooted yet again. It feels sedated too.

[thecolorsblend]

I think it's a bit off to hold Snyder responsible for trends in film scores these days. For a while, the Williams style reigned supreme with big, grand themes. Then Danny Elfman's became the house style more or less. These days it's all about Hans Zimmer and his obsession with percussion, electronics and all that. All those things are outside Snyder's control.

Composers like Howard Shore, who do use a lot of themes and motifs, aren't as successful today as they would've been thirty years ago. Tastes change, that's life. Blaming the director for that is a bit illogical.

[GoNerdYourself]

I didn't blame Snyder for it.