The Villainous View | Three Comic Book Films That Crushed My Soul

Every film lover has a film or two that has crushed them.

As fans, we wait for years and years to see our favorite comic characters on the big screen. When the movie meets or passes expectations, it’s an incredible feeling. And when they don’t, it’s one of the worst feelings ever. 

The feeling of a “cinematic let down” after years of anticipation is painstaking. Have you experienced that yet? I have, in three profound ways. Granted, these are my experiences, my opinions. But, man, my soul was really crushed. 

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

To many Spider-Man fans, this is probably the worst experience created for fans with a Spider-Man film. This film crushed my film-loving heart. Just chewed it up and spit it out.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 shattered me because of the potential and future properties that were being set up in the film. I felt as if this film was too busy trying to set up other movies in the franchise that it forgot to be a good movie first.

From the uneven pacing, an overabundance of villains, plot holes, Peter Parker’s parental subplot, and character motivations, this film failed in almost every aspect that it was trying to achieve.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was hyped up to be “The untold story of Peter Parker” in  marketing campaigns and trailers. Then, the movie came around exposing nothing different about Peter Parker. It was hyped to be a huge spectacle and “Spider-Man’s biggest challenge” but all we got was a poor man’s version of Spider-Man 3.

That sounds harsh but it’s true.

Okay, Spider-Man 3 had some ridiculously crazy moments, but at least it embraced them, unlike TASM2. It seemed as if Sony learned nothing from it and repeated the same mistakes Spider-Man 3 made.

I love the action scenes and the Spidey suit is probably my favorite live-action costume, but it doesn’t make up for everything that was bad in the film. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 just hurt and every time I see the ending I want to cry.

Fantastic Four (2015)

Oh man, where do I begin?

This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. After Fox released a well-made teaser, the hype for a rebooted Fantastic 4 was off the charts. Fantastic Four was one of my favorites growing up as a kid. I had every character’s action figure, so you can believe I was hyped for this film. After I saw this reboot starred Michael B Jordan, Miles Teller, Kate Mara, and Jamie Bell, I was like, “Count me the hell in!”

Fast forward to the release date, the day that will live in infamy for comic book movies, August 7, 2015…

Fantastic Four isn’t just the worst comic book movie in my opinion; it’s one of the worst movies I have ever seen in my life. The film missed the mark of what its characters originally represented and didn’t even attempt to salvage the classic property. This movie was just horrid and flat out stomped my film-loving soul to the ground.

From the direction, plot, CGI, suits, character, dialogue…I can go on all day. Dr.Doom was beyond wasted and is portrayed as an unhappy, downbeat, and dull character.

I felt robbed after watching this movie. I thought I was pranked. Yes, the prior Fantastic Four movies were pretty bad but at least they had heart and some fun moments. When the movie finished, my grandma said, “That movie was terrible.” Once she said that, it really struck me how bad this film really was — a casual movie-goer (and my grandma) saying that. Rated at an abysmal 9% on Rotten Tomatoes, Fantastic Four is rated as one of the worst comic book movies ever. Steel is rated higher than Fantastic Four,

Let that sink in… Steel?!

Batman V Superman (2016)

Isn’t it crazy how these three films released back-to-back-to-back in a span of three years? Talk about hype: Batman V Superman was probably one of the most anticipated movies ever. Seeing Batman and Superman clash on the big screen is something we  comic book fans have been waiting for years.

I remember being a kid and talking to friends about ever seeing this film. Fast forward to July 23, 2013, when Warner Bros officially made the announcement at San Diego Comic-Con and the rest is history…

Going into this movie assured me a soul crushing was the last thing I thought I would feel. Many people forget this but Batman V Superman was originally planned to release in 2015 but Warner Bros delayed it to 2016. While fans were of course outraged, the hype carried and even got bigger. And then we got an overabundance of plotlines, Batman and Superman barely fought, Batman killed people, and that abysmal pacing.

This movie just felt like five movies crammed in one.

The film felt as if it was made just to set up Justice League and its presumed world-building. Also, I can’t stand Jessie Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor or Amy Adams’ Lois Lane in this movie. There’s so much potential and, quite honestly, I can see why some fans share so much love for it. But this movie just wasn’t for me and I left the theater with a broken heart.

What about you? Did these movies crush you the way I felt trampled? Let us know in the comments below.