When I wrote about the Solar Eclipse in Pisces earlier this month, I noted that it would be of particular significance to those born between the years 1964 to 1966. That Eclipse happened directly opposite the Uranus-Pluto conjunction that the ’64-’66 crowd all have in their birth charts, and with the Eclipse Point being squared by transiting Saturn and closely opposed by Jupiter, it is bound to felt strongly by that group. One of the more blatant cases of Eclipse Issues happening right now is director Zack Snyder, the man behind Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice… and the news isn’t terribly good.
To say that Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice has been highly anticipated is a bit of an understatement. Warner Brothers has a great deal of money invested in this project. It is intended to launch a wave of movies based on DC Comics characters, in much the same way that Marvel Comics has built a film empire out of their characters in the last decade. When one Hollywood studio has a huge success with one type of movie, you can count on the others getting in on the game… whether they actually understand the genre in question or not.
Warning: the next few paragraphs are pretty much entirely the ranting of someone who is both a comic book fan and a film geek. If all you want is astrology, feel free to skip ahead a little.
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Zack Snyder has more or less specialized in comic book adaptations and comic-book-like films for most of his career, most notably with his films 300 and Watchmen. He also (in my opinion) overuses a certain technique called “timeline ramping.” Ever watched a movie where someone is about to get punched, the film goes into slow motion, and then once the punch lands the film suddenly speeds up faster than average and the guy being hit flies across the room. A great effect used sparingly… but Zach Snyder isn’t known for his sense of restraint.
My problem with the films of Zack Snyder boils down to three words: Man Of Steel. I will spare you my whining about it, but you’ve probably heard this before about Man Of Steel: the Superman that I grew up with would not incidentally destroy half of Metropolis in a fist fight, and he certainly wouldn’t solve his problems by killing his opponent. But that’s just me. Although many people had similar complaints about that film, Warner Brothers decided that it made enough money that they would hand the keys to their DC Comics Empire over to him.
Although I have not seen Batman v Superman yet, advance reviews have even more complaints with it than they did with Man Of Steel. It certainly looks like it will make a gigantic pile of money this opening weekend, but beyond that – once word of mouth gets out – there is a reasonable chance this movie will be a disappointment at the box office. In large part this appears to be because Zack Snyder equates “dark and brooding” with “entertaining.” Sure, that approach works with Batman and made the studio a ton of money with Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy. But, Superman?
When you get right down to it, Superman shouldn’t be “tormented.” Superman is supposed to be a reminder of who we could be… in a good way. Batman is more of a warning as to how our moral convictions can come close to getting out of hand. Superman is an optimist, a Boy Scout, a truly good “good guy.” Superman is the friend who always shows up to help you on moving day, and as a bonus he can fly and throw a Hyundai into orbit if he has to. Ultimately it makes him at least as interesting a character as Batman. Batman is inherently easier to write, because “messed up” provides more character hooks for a writer than “heroic champion of Truth, Justice, and the American Way.” But this is a Zack Snyder film, where everything has to be a dark and broody and angsty and —
No. THIS is Superman.
Wait, where was I? Oh, right… astrology!
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Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice director Zack Snyder was born March 1, 1966, time unknown, in Green Bay Wisconsin. Not only did the Pisces Solar Eclipse of a couple of weeks ago fall within about a degree of the exact opposition to his Uranus-Pluto conjunction, it also landed within a fraction of a degree of his natal Saturn. Ouch.
Even if Batman v Superman is a huge hit at the box office, its seems unlikely that Zack Snyder will have much to celebrate. If the advance reviews of this film are any indication, it is unlikely to be the unqualified success that Warner Brothers Still, Warner Brothers decide to to hand him the keys to the DC Comics film empire.
Warner Brothers had hoped for the success of Batman v Superman to set up future movies about Wonder Woman, The Flash, and Aquaman, all in preparation for a big team up movie about the Justice League, just like those Avengers movies that have made a metric ton of cash for Marvel. Despite the underwhelming performance and reviews for Man Of Steel, hopes are still high for the new film. Certainly it’s going to make a lot of money on opening weekend, but one of the big indicators of film success is how much box office take drops off on the second weekend of release… so stay tuned.
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As it turns out, the biggest mistake Warner Brothers might have made was not hiring Zack Snyder to oversee their superhero movies… although I would argue that was a mistake. If only Warner Brothers or Snyder had hired an astrologer, they would have known that both the original release date (last summer) or a future release date might have been much better.
So if either Mr Snyder or an executive it Warner Brothers is reading this, please take my advice: next time, hire me to consult about these things. I’m an astrologer, I get results, and best of all… I’m a huge geek. Really guys: it’s sounding like you should have consulted with more people like me in the first place on this mess.
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