"…the Marvel aesthetic and the DC aesthetic couldn’t be more opposite," Joss Whedon recently said, and that could easily be the understatement of the year. Where Marvel movies, even in their darkest moments, are still dazzling pieces of eye-candy, DC films under the helm of Zack Snyder have gone all in with his signature grim tone and desaturated color palette. But is it appropriate? That’s what a new video essay explores.
Videolab has taken "Man Of Steel" into the digital laboratory and given it what they call a "color restoration," and the results speak for themselves. It eliminates the drab greys and browns of Snyder’s movie, and really makes Superman pop with a brighter blue and red outfit that’s in line with 77 years of the character’s depiction. The murkiness of Snyder’s vision is lessened and the results are more pleasing to the eye.
That said, for a movie where Superman snaps General Zod’s neck and where his adoptive father Jonathan tragically dies, this visual approach probably wouldn’t have worked. Judging by the first teaser for "Batman v. Superman: Dawn Of Justice" not much is going to change. Watch below.