Ranked: DCEU Films

 

Following in the footsteps of the already five-year-old Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in 2013, Warner Bros. launched the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) with the release of Man of Steel. Eight films have followed, with varying success. More films are on the way. While it seems the DCEU will forever be playing catch-up with Marvel, there are a couple of solid movies in this bunch, and the hope that better things are on the horizon. Here's my ranking of the films so far, with the exception of Birds of Prey.

Not Ranked: Birds of Prey (2020)

I haven't seen Birds of Prey, and I have no plans to do so. Have never been a fan of Harley Quinn, and found her character extremely annoying in Suicide Squad. That, coupled with the frustration with R-rated comic book movies that shouldn't be, will forever keep this one off my radar. Completionist tendencies will only take me so far.

8. Suicide Squad (2016)

I outright hated this movie. Bad dialogue, bad CGI, a terrible villain, an annoying Joker, the list goes on. Will Smith was the only thing this movie had going for it, but he can't carry the mess of a film he's surrounded by. Suicide Squad had the potential to be an offbeat, fun superhero movie, but instead it just turned out to be horrible.

7. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

This film came way too early in the franchise. Instead of reintroducing Batman in his own film or making a sequel to Man of Steel, Warner quickly placed this as the second DCEU film. It would have been way more effective to wait until audiences had accepted the new iterations of these characters before pitting them against each other, but money talks. What we did get is another mess of a film with bad pacing, more bad CGI, and an anticlimactic death of Superman. Batman v Superman introduced audiences to Wonder Woman, so it has that going for it.

6. Shazam! (2019)

Another DCEU entry with a lot of unrealized potential. Shazam is a fun character, and there was an opportunity to make a family-friendly, light comic book movie that could appeal to all ages. Instead we get a film with tone issues from the get-go, with some very dark, violent moments sprinkled in to the mix. It doesn't work, and it's a shame because the performances here are so earnest. This movie isn't terrible, but it's problematic and ultimately forgettable.

5. Justice League (2017)

Justice League is an example of too much, too soon. Audiences had yet to connect with these characters, with maybe the exception of Wonder Woman, so it didn't work to rush out an epic team movie to compete with the MCU. I realize that Justice League is a hot mess, but the fun on display makes it more enjoyable than previous films on this list. Call it a guilty pleasure, but despite the bad effects and corny jokes, there is still plenty to like in this one. Will the "Snyder Cut" improve the film? Who knows. It certainly can't hurt it.

4. Wonder Woman 1984 (2020)

This is possibly the most disappointing movie on the list. The trailers were amazing, the 80's vibe looked infectious, and it looked like the DCEU was on its way to greatness. Hopes were high, and as most audiences watched this one from the comfort of their own homes, word quickly got out that it was a huge misfire. Having my expectations firmly adjusted was crucial to enjoying the film. Tone issues similar to Shazam! are present, and for every great action scene or dramatic moment there's a bad one. Overall this movie was fun and well-performed, but lacking the spark that was present in the original.

3. Aquaman (2018)

For the most part, Aquaman delivers with the right tone and the right amount of fun lacking thus far in this franchise. This is a colorful film, and it embraces its comic book roots rather than trying to tweak them. There's a lot to take in here, from the undersea kingdoms and creatures, to the Black Manta story line, to the Julie Andrews sea monster. Aquaman manages to be goofy and endearing at the same time, and I think Warner should look to it as a template for future films.

2. Man of Steel (2013)

When Man of Steel released, I was hopeful that something exciting was on the horizon for DC, as the trailers generated quite a bit of interest. Man of Steel in IMAX was the loudest movie I'd ever been to, as it shook my insides and rendered me temporarily deaf. It was amazing, a memorable theatrical experience, and at the time I thought this could be the best Superman movie yet. Now that this film nears the 10-year mark, the 1978 original is still the champ, but this one still holds up pretty well, giving fans plenty of souped-up action, an amazing look at Krypton, and a solid take on the character by Henry Cavill. I hope we get another Superman film before this franchise completely falls apart.

1. Wonder Woman (2017)

This film is fairly easy to compare to Captain America: The First Avenger, which happens to be one of my favorite MCU movies featuring my favorite comic book character. Wonder Woman offers an origin story, a WWII backdrop, and a battle sequence that all work together to make for a great time. While the villains are weak at best, this is such a good-natured, well-meaning, crowd-pleaser. It's the gold standard for the DCEU so far, and while the sequel didn't live up to it, there's hope for similar films down the road.

Warner's best bet at this point is to break from the DCEU, loosely fitting movies into it and offering alternate takes on characters. They're already doing this with Joker and the upcoming The Batman. It also sounds like the Flash movie will act as a course correction with its "Flashpoint" story line. Whatever the case it's still a great time for superhero fans. Let's just get this pandemic over with so we can get back to the movies.

The Master: TV Ninja Fun

One of the most popular trends in entertainment in the 80's was the fascination with all things ninja. Movies like American Ninja, Revenge of the Ninja, and The Octagon may not have been box office blockbusters, but were mainstays on cable and syndicated television. Grocery story magazine racks were replete with ninja-related fare, and comic book storylines often included the stealthy martial arts warriors in titles such as Daredevil, Wolverine, and Ronin. Ninjas were often featured, usually as villains, in TV shows of the day, paving the way for The Master, a show exclusively about ninjas. Well, sort of.

Another 80's trend were TV shows geared toward a young male audience that only lasted half of a season. Many shows attempted to capitalize on the success of programs like Knight Rider, The A-Team, and Airwolf, with limited results. Street Hawk was the motorcycle version of KITT, Blue Thunder, based on the movie, was ABC's version of Airwolf. Automan tried to continue the popularity of the movie TRON, and on and on it went. Most of these shows lasted for 13 episodes and were forgotten until the internet reminded everyone of how good or bad they were, depending on one's sense of nostalgia. The Master was one of those 13-episodes-and-then-gone shows, and is one of the few such programs to get the Blu-ray treatment.

Lee Van Cleef, best known for starring in westerns such as The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly, is John Peter McAllister. He's an American who became a ninja master while residing in Japan following the end of World War II. Naturally, he fell in love and sired a child, a daughter who, for reasons that aren't important (i.e. I can't remember), ended up in the states. McAllister returns to the U.S. in search of his estranged daughter, and runs into hapless wanderer Max Keller (Timothy Van Patten, related to the Van Pattens and now-director of TV shows). Max drives a van, keeps a pet hamster in a wheel under the dash, and is often thrown out of bars via the window. The only other recurring character is Okasa (Sho Kosugi of the Ninja trilogy), McAllister's former student turned evil assassin.

The formula of The Master at its core is a buddy/road motif, with martial arts thrown in for appeal. This formula works well for the era, and could have supported a longer run. The pilot episode shows promise, introducing the characters, establishing that Max wants to be trained by a reluctant McAllister, and starting the search for the estranged daughter. The pilot even features a young Demi Moore for Max to rescue and fawn over. It was goofy but worked, and stirred enough interest to continue the series.

What followed, however, was a hit-and-miss run of episodes, and when they missed, they missed hard. If the writers had stuck to the search for the daughter, and planned it out to give just a little more each episode, the first season probably would have lasted a full run. Instead, the search for the daughter seems to be forgotten every other episode. The stunt double for Van Cleef is painfully obvious, and many of the fight scenes are underwhelming, as Van Patten didn't seem to bother with any martial arts training whatsoever. The best scenes occur when Okasa shows up and fights a ninja-masked McAllister, giving viewers more authenticity to the skirmish.

The Master is an overall fun 80's throwback, but it was a mishandled show, and the thirteen episodes can become a bit of a chore to get through at times. The pilot is definitely worth a look for fans of all things 80's or all things ninja, but otherwise it's easy to see why the short lived series has fallen into relative obscurity.