Don't let humor be your new embarrassment, old D.
It can be said that the biggest difference between DCEU's first annual masterpiece "Justice League" and the previous DCEU works is that it starts to be funny, or consciously to be funny.
Whether it is bowing its head to the market or responding to the new strategy of high-level "be light", "Justice League" is no longer the dark force from the beginning to the end like "Batman v Superhero", but in 120 minutes. All kinds of burdens were placed, and the new member The Flash was appointed as DC's first chatterboxer, and almost every line was funny. No matter the level of laughter, the audience can see that DC really tried hard to be funny this time, and I was moved by sitting below.
But why are there so many, so hard laughs, so few laughs in the theater? Why sometimes we clearly know that it is a burden, but we just can't laugh? The Marvel next door can always easily make people laugh from beginning to end, and the X-Men next door are also relaxed and peaceful, why is DC always thankless?
Is this really the audience laughing high, no. If there is a barrier between the audience and the film, it's mostly the film's problem. Next, I will write about what problems affect the play of the jokes, and do some comparisons with Marvel/X-Men by the way (no way, just a few reference systems).
(The following contains spoilers)
1. The atmosphere is not right
The tone of a film is usually set at the very beginning, let alone a gang like DC that has insisted on a dark and serious style for ten years. So even if how to promote this film before its release is very different from its predecessors, audiences familiar with DC will still enter the theater with serious psychological expectations. In other words, we have never thought about laughing.
And the beginning of the film is the most daring one. The song "Everybody Knows" by the female singer Sigrid, accompanied by several pictures of the city's black gauze mourning Superman, depicts a world where hope is lost after Superman's death. It is to believe that the light will never come again."
This way of handling is very reminiscent of Zha Dao's 2009 comic book "Watchmen" . As a fan of the latter, I was solemn and excited at the moment, so I adjusted my serious psychological expectations before entering the arena to More serious expectations: nonsense, superhumans in that world are dead, their beliefs are gone, and the people inside are so desperate! This is the darkness that DC has never seen before! must be taken seriously. This may be a dark god's work. (until a cold smile slaps randomly on my face)
So it is conceivable that the psychological expectations caused by such a tone make the burden of the joke behind it become awkward: I know you want to make me laugh, but I can't laugh. Because the atmosphere is not right, the mental preparation is not right.
2. Understaffed
Funny thing, sometimes it's really not a slap to slap, say that cross talk also has to have a joke and a hug, right? The obstacle of "Justice League" is that the Flash is responsible for almost all the burdens. What is even more tragic is that the burden thrown by Xiaoshan countless times is completely unacceptable in the alliance! So Xiao Shan had to keep chatting, throwing, and laughing all the time.
In fact, this is also a legacy of DC. Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, the old-timers, have been serious for too long, and suddenly funny will collapse. As the youngest recruit in Zhenglian, The Flash is full of curiosity about the new profession and new identity and innate liveliness. It is the most convenient and the most room to play jokes from him.
It's a pity that it's hard to speak alone. The Flash with a clear mind is really cute, but among a group of unsmiling members, the style of painting seems to be a little out of place. Too many laughter on his shoulders has become a burden, which makes people feel sorry for his efforts. .
Of course, thanks to Dachao, when Xiaoshan supersonic speed around, he finally responded to Xiaoshan with staring eyes. The shocked (or flattered) Xiaoshan wisely responded with the most exaggerated expression, contributing the biggest laugh in the whole film point.
3. Translation lost
The translator has a big cauldron on the issue of the loss of the laughing point this time. Not only are there many mistakes and omissions, many jokes have not been translated, and the sorting is very problematic, destroying the few jokes. I just give two examples:
Aquaman: Only fighting alone is the strongest. Batman: You know Superman, right? He was my comrade in arms during his lifetime. Aquaman: So I'm right.
Batman came to Iceland and tried to convince Aquaman to join Zhenglian, Aquaman didn't want to cooperate and was going to go home, when he said "Only one person is the strongest", meaning I don't need to fight side by side. And Batman's point of view is that fighting side by side is stronger, so he gave an example "You know Superman, right?" This is to use him as an example to save the world by fighting side by side with Superman to prove his point, maybe out of guilt , he added "He died fighting by my side." meaning "He fought by my side and then died."
So Neptune seized this point and choked back: "I'm right. (A person fighting alone is the strongest)" This is Neptune using Batman's argument to hit Batman in the face, which is actually quite funny, but the subtitles The English translation of the front was "he was my comrade-in-arms", which caused Xiaoguo to not come out at all.
The Flash: What's your superpower? Batman: Rich.
There is nothing wrong with the translation of these two sentences. After all, such simple English cannot translate anything else. However, there is a fatal problem here, that is, the two sentences are arranged together in the subtitles. After Flash finished asking, Batman paused for a while, in order to accumulate unexpected emotions, because many passers-by have this question: what is Batman's superpower, and why is an ordinary person so awesome? Then when he plainly said "rich", there would be an unexpected laugh. The subtitles are displayed together, and the Flash has not finished asking, the subtitles have been spoiled, and they are very crazy.
4. The trailer plays through more
The trailer for "Justice League" has been well hidden from the main plot, but it has not been stingy with the jokes. For example, Batman's super power is super rich, for example, the Flash entered Zhenglian in seconds because "I need friends", and so on. Many jokes are time-sensitive and one-off. We have watched the funny memes many times in the trailer, and when we watch it again in the feature film, we can't laugh anymore.
The above are just a few obstacles to why "Justice League" is so hard to be funny and so hard to be funny. So why don't the neighbors have such obstacles, especially "Thor 3", which was released at the same time, burst into laughter, and was also rated as "the funniest Marvel movie"? In fact, the above points have been answered.
Marvel does not have the dark tone of DC. On the contrary, the tone of Marvel is originally bright and humorous; and many characters of Marvel have humorous personalities. When a stalk is thrown, several characters can take turns to connect, so the style of painting is unified. It's fun, and the audience is easily infected and laughed out loud.
As for the X-Men series of 21st Century Fox , they don't have these problems. They have neither dark problems nor even funny problems, because they don't deliberately pretend to be forceful or funny. All characters and plots All blended together in a natural and relaxing atmosphere, so the overall impression of the X-Men is loving, harmonious, not dark, and not popcorn. Whether it is a knowing smile or a roaring laugh, the audience will not feel embarrassed or problematic psychologically.
If DC decides to follow this style of dark and hard work in the future, then it really needs to work hard on the jokes, and don't let humor become DC's new embarrassment. good luck.
[This article was first published on the Barcelona Film app]
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