There Are Alternatives to Zack Snyder

[Sima Guang Hater]

Sure, Superman vs. Batman was terrible, and pretty much every other film Snyder touches will be terrible in similar ways. Nonexistent or terrible characterization, over-reliance on special effects, no plot development, and Ben Affleck as Batman. But DID YOU KNOW...DC comics actually licenses good material still?

Enter: The expanding library of direct-to-video DC Animated Movies. While not related to the Batman animated series from the 90s, most of these actually hold up as decent stories. Particularly notable is the animated adaptation of the classic Frank Miller story Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. Certainly worth a watch if you're as tired of bad DC adaptations as I am.

[UlyssesInvictus]

I liked Batfleck...

But yes, Snyder is awful, 300 and Watchmen were subpar, Man of Steel was subsubpar, and Batman v. Superman was just...well, it was at least watchable.

I'll add this Vox piece, as well: http://www.vox.com/2016/3/30/11329886/b ... ack-snyder

On the other hand, the DC animated archive is absolutely fantastic! I can recommend, in addition to Dark Knight Returns, Red Hood and Flashpoint Paradox (and hopefully the upcoming Killing Joke!), as well as the entirety of the DCAU, i.e. the Timmverse or collection of animated TV shows created by Bruce Timm -- Batman the Animated Series, Superman the Animated Series, JL, JLU, and a couple others.

(I can promise this favoritism will show in GRAPHIC...)

[Sima Guang Hater]

the Timmverse or collection of animated TV shows created by Bruce Timm -- Batman the Animated Series, Superman the Animated Series, JL, JLU, and a couple others.

Don't forget Batman Beyond!

(I can promise this favoritism will show in GRAPHIC...)

Hooray

EDIT: I didn't want to clutter the thread with a new post, but Mike's praise for Superman: TAS below reminds me of one of my favorite scenes in television, ever. Warning: spoilers and tears

[Cheynem]

Superman the Animated Series is arguably the definitive fictional take on the character for me. But it's just a character that's hard to do live action, I think.

[Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin]

Having watched most of the DC Animated Series, I'd like to affirm the above.
Also, this might be unpopular(?), but I think that the Dark Knight trilogy was quite refreshing when it/each of its movies came out and is, at the very least, better than BvS. Thus it might be a good alternative to Snyder.

[Rufous-capped Thornbill]

Just chiming in to say that Under the Red Hood's Joker is the funniest Joker committed to the screen since Jack Nicholson. The DC Animated stuff is uniformly awesome, and The Dark Knight Returns is probably the best of the bunch. Good thread, Eric.

[Cheynem]

Was that statement that Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy is possibly better than Batman v. Superman meant to be sarcastic?

[Chimalpahin Quauhtlehuanitzin]

Was that statement that Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy is possibly better than Batman v. Superman meant to be sarcastic?

Yup. Just understating the somewhat obvious there.