Top 10 DC Movie Blunders

#10: A Serious Lack of Joker “Suicide Squad” (2016)

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Superhero Origins: The Suicide Squad

Needless to say, everyone was pumped to see Jared Leto’s Joker on the big screen. And even though he’d gone for a more gangster look, we still had faith that the Oscar winner could pull off the Clown Prince of Crime. And he might have… had The Joker been featured in enough scenes to’ve had any sort of impact. We barely had enough time to see if Leto’s interpretation had any real bite. Honestly, what’s the point of having the Joker in your film if you’re not going to make him the main villain? The fact that they went with the Enchantress instead just makes this decision even more baffling.

You can keep on saying that laying waste to an entire city was just a stepping-stone towards “Batman v Superman,” but we’re still not buying it. That’s not to say we didn’t want an explosive final battle against the likes of General Zod, but you’d think that the world’s greatest superhero would have done everything possible to avoid collateral damage of any kind. Even so, the destruction just kept escalating, with Supes punching Zod through building after building until all of Metropolis was pretty much rubble. No wonder Batfleck saw him as a threat.

As much as DC likes to distance itself from Marvel, it’s painfully clear that they want to catch up to the MCU’s immense success. Their solution? Push out one of the greatest superhero team-ups of all time with only a shaky foundation to stand on. Many are in agreement that the DC Extended Universe had a rough start. But it’s pretty risky to cram the majority of the League’s new members into the Justice League movie without origin stories of their own. And we’ve already mentioned what happened with “Suicide Squad,” which also had a rushed production schedule. So, yeah.

We’re not sure what went wrong here. After all, Jesse Eisenberg is a great actor. His role in “The Social Network” proved that he could indeed exert a threatening presence with words alone. No matter how you look at it, though, Eisenberg’s Lex Luthor is a confusing mess of a character. His motivations are unclear, and his mannerisms have given some people the impression that he’s trying to capture some of Heath Ledger’s Joker. We’re all for variation, but by the tenth time he starts twitching, it’s clear that his Razzie-winning interpretation is nothing more than an exercise in failure.

#6: CGI Suit “Green Lantern” (2011)

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Top 10 DC Movie Easter Eggs

Ryan Reynolds’ time as Hal Jordan was pretty much doomed from the start. It’s not that he didn’t have the acting chops to pull off the character, but it’s doubtful anyone could’ve pulled off a decent performance when their superhero outfit looked as heinous as this. In a film where bad CGI is king, the Green Lantern’s outfit stands out as the worst, with its goofy-looking mask sealing the deal. Throw in all of the power ring constructs highlighting how terrible the special effects looked, and all we can say is thank god for Deadpool.

Granted, critics pretty much called everything else in this movie just as awful, but having Shaquille O’Neal as its leading man was definitely the final nail in the coffin. Taking a B-List superhero and breathing new life into him might sound like a good idea, but you might’ve guessed, Shaq’s acting skills are far below par, and are made all the worse when we actually see him as Steel. Considering people called him armour a travesty in and of itself, it’s sort of poetic to see the acting reflected in the costume.

Honestly, we could probably make a Top 10 list about everything that people have said is wrong with this movie. However, we’ve decided to single out Mr. Clooney, considering what a letdown critics believed his performance to be. This is a veteran actor who could have delivered a unique take on Bruce Wayne. Heck, he pretty much is Bruce Wayne in real life… minus the Batcave. But aside from having awful dialogue to work with, his portrayal of Batman was as bland as could be and came across as wasted potential. Everything else in this schlockfest was too far-gone, but dammit Clooney, you were our one ray of hope! At the very least you could’ve disguised your voice when you were Batman.

#3: Batgirl Begins “Batman: The Killing Joke” (2016)

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Superhero Origins: Batgirl

We see what the filmmakers were going for here. In order to make the eventual fate of Barbara Gordon all the more tragic, we’re treated to an original prologue that tries to bring more depth to Batgirl’s character before diving into the narrative of the graphic novel. Unfortunately, fans believed the lengthy prologue served to cheapen the whole ordeal by having her come across as immature, needy, and totally infatuated with Batman. Nowhere is this highlighted more than the infamous rooftop scene, where our doomed heroine and the Dark Knight decide to get it on. You know, because that’s what the story was missing: more Batsex!

By this point in the franchise, many believed that all the innovation and creativity had essentially been stripped away, leaving us with a dreary Superman story that pit the Man of Tomorrow against what could’ve been one of the worst villains in a DC film: Nuclear Man. With one hell of a tacky outfit and no real motivation, the only purpose he seemed to serve, other than being an awful metaphor for the dangers of nuclear weaponry, was to be a giant punching bag. It’s truly sad that Christopher Reeve’s time as Superman had to end on this note, with such a lackluster villain only rubbing salt in the wound.

#1: Too Dark DC Extended Universe (2013-)

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Top 10 Comic Book Movie Franchises

In the early 21st century, superheroes became more grounded and started being treated like actual characters, and this movie earned huge praise from both critics and fans. However, many people believe the folks over at Warner Bros have confused “grounded” for “as dark and gritty as possible,” so much so that it seems like all the fun has been drained out of their first few film efforts and replaced with a gloomy atmosphere. Superman spends most of his time brooding instead of being everyone’s favorite boy scout, Batman sort of crossed the line and killed a lotta people, and “Suicide Squad” had no idea what it wanted to be to the point where it seemed like it couldn’t stick to one tone. Point being? Dark doesn’t necessarily equal good, guys.