The Grim & Gritty Syndrome

[Henry88]

what is with all the remakes now a days trying to be Grim & Gritty what is the point?

[klen7]

There's a generation of man-childs afraid to admit they find solace in the nostalgia of their childhood entertainment, so rather than continue enjoying something innocent and focused on children they find the need to make it more "adult" so that they can still take ownership in the franchise without feeling immature

[canofhumdingers]

I think that's an overly harsh assessment. Sure, there's some truth to it. But I think it might be more that as people grow up, they want the things they love to grow up with them. I wouldn't have stomached Batman v Superman (the extended cut), or even 1989's film when I was 7 years old watching reruns of the Adam West show. But I love both of those versions of Batman now as an adult. But I also still enjoy the '60's version too.

I think some of the darkgrim stuff may also come from trying to appeal to teenagers, who often go through a "im cool and tough and adult" phase.

And there's still plenty of entertainment and new adaptations out there that ARENT grim and gritty.

[lhb412]

I think this isn't as big a problem as it has been. Sometime during the '80s and especially in the '90s and continuing somewhat abated into the '00s cynicism and irony became the de facto mode in pop culture. This is why, for example, the first X-Men movies had them clad in leather like the characters in The Matrix continuing to how even today the absurd elements from the source material are often couched in jokes in the adaptations.

I do think sincerity has made a comeback, especially in the '10s.

[jellydonut25]

This is a weird time to be complaining about this...as I feel like the worst of this is a few years behind us already, and we've moved more into a world of "Grim and gritty when it makes sense."

The bigger issue is the actual CINEMATOGRAPHY which saps color from everything and is just ugly. Digital cinema has allowed this to happen, because instead of needing a film to be bright and beautiful, it can be ugly as a turd because it's in four hundred bajillion K, and you can see everything anyway.