JP Jones said:
In any case, we can agree it's a niche movie; we've never seen anything quite like it, and it certainly doesn't represent a trend.
Green Hornet,
Kick-Ass,
Kick-Ass 2,
Transformers series,
Lone Ranger...
JP Jones said:
Speaking of trends, this thread is entirely subjective. I'm not here to argue numbers, I'm here to discuss a well-known trend that I see as a problem.
Is it a "trend", or are you simply asserting your own "subjective" view of the state of cinema?
In your first post you suggested that Nolan might be the culprit.
So let's take his subject matter - Batman - and go back to 1989-1992. Tim Burton's vision of the character, his world and his associates was hardly a bundle of laughs. Neither were Batman comics of the late '80s and '90s.
How far back do we take the supposed trend? Cinema has always been varied, from flimsy romps to unrelenting verisimilitude.
You mentioned Pirates of the Caribbean as being representative of your version of a "fun" blockbuster.
On Stranger Tides came out in 2011, so no doubt bucking the trend in your eyes.
I don't recall any of the
Iron Man films, or any of the inter-connected
Avengers films being "heavy, dark, pretentious".
It all comes down to
your personal definition of "fun", which is necessarily subjective, and therefore does not establish "a well-known trend".