A couple of years ago, I wrote a blog post explaining why the Superman films of recent years have been such a disappointment at the box office, and proposing a solution with a virtually 100% chance of success. In a nutshell, it said this: Stop making Superman so dark. He’s not Batman. That works for Batman because that’s Batman. What works for Superman is something else entirely.

Every time they try to make a Superman movie with a Batman blueprint, it tanks. Instead of changing direction, though, they double down on the darkness. And now it’s come to this:

Come on. Really?

I generally don’t talk about movies I don’t like, because it’s all subjective and I’d rather talk about movies I do like. But this situation is annoying to me because the solution is so clear. Why can’t they see it? Take the franchise back to basics, and use the formula that made it so successful in the first place. It’s not rocket science.