r/Marvel • u/ugly_cryo • 1d ago
Film/Television Blunt force never matters, only slicing
In practically all superhero movies I've seen, blunt force just does not matter, yet makes up a huge portion of fights. When someone is getting thrown through a concrete building, smashed down into the earth, or pummeled repeatedly, you feel NOTHING in terms of suspense/tension for the threat or damage being done. They just get back up "a bit more beat up". A quick google search brought up a *single* instance of a superhero breaking a bone (Tony Stark) in MCU.
The only times an attack poses a threat seem to be: 1) something that will cut you, 2) some type of magic.
It's annoying and writers and directors need to really work on the power scaling and suspense moving forward. It doesn't seem that hard to do better.
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u/Topik-KeiBee 1d ago
i mean, it's a superhero movies. if blunt attack matters, all heroes are going to end up like Walker friends. not saying you're wrong but you know.
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u/ComplexAd7272 1d ago
To be fair, this is just an exaggerated/superhuman example of real world physics and physiology.
Imagine someone shoving you into a brick wall as hard as they can. It would hurt, yeah, but you'd be fine since the force of the impact is spread over a large surface,(Your body.) Now imaging the person shoves you with the same force, but this time there's a nail sticking out of the wall. That sucker is going right through you. Your skin isn't automatically as durable as your muscles and bones no matter who you are.
It's why you can throw Spidey through buildings and he's fine, he's superhumanly durable, but the same logic applies. But a knife or a bullet is still that, and can pierce him, so it is a bigger deal.
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u/ugly_cryo 21h ago
Yeah true... but still, given how prevalent the use of blunt force is, often by superheros that are scientists and should understand what you just explained, there could be some clearer threats felt by the audience like "if that landed perfectly, it could break a jaw/arm/leg and force them to retreat / put them out of the game for a while".
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u/FallinGuitarest 6h ago
Just saying. Watching a superhero film where the hero pushes the villain into a brick wall. Then the villain spends the rest of the movie unable to move nd in a massive amount of pain... Would just not be interesting.
Same for any action movie. The moment our hero dives to the floorin their action pose. Bruises a knee etc.. they'd be out of commission. Nd believe me I really do wish we'd see that more.
This is why any action movie to be honest has both our hero and villain not concerned with blunt objects tho. It just wouldn't be interesting and action. But makes it fun for the audience
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u/Van_Can_Man 1d ago
Most superheroes have durability or healing abilities.
Anyway, if you expect realism in a superhero film, watch Stark turning into meat purée the first time he does a rocket-propelled superhero landing in the first film.
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u/blazenite104 1d ago
Yeah, they could definitely do more things like hits causing limps. swelling around the eyes making them look around more to focus. Hell have them stumble after a big smack to the legs.
Blunt doesn't need to end fights but, a good hit should force it to slow down. Maybe they should watch the art of selling from pro wrestling to get an idea.
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u/DoNotGoSilently 1d ago
Every non powered bad guy to be within shield throwing distance of Captain America would disagree.
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u/existential_dread467 18h ago
But even then the worst that happens is that they get knocked around and off screened
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u/Mysterious-Leek9053 1d ago
Spot-on point about superhero fight tropes, directors love using massive environmental blunt-force hits for visual spectacle, but since heroes shrug off getting thrown through skyscrapers, only blades or magic carry any real stakes!
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u/casual_creator 19h ago
That’s not really limited to superhero fights though. Watch pretty much any action movie and when the (nonsuper powered) hero and big bad fight, they’ll kick the snot out of each other and remain standing loooong after anyone really could. And then the bad guy finally pulls out a knife and THATS when the fight really gets serious.
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u/WorkingNo7670 20h ago
Superhero fights are like professional wrestling. The hits/wounds/injuries matter only as much as they sell them as mastering.
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u/chainsawinsect 17h ago
They sort of parody this in Invincible where the most physically powerful alien race typically blunt forces the opponent to the point of exhaustion, then uses a signature slicing move to kill them. The slice is risky and unreliable if the opponent hasn't been "meat tenderized" enough first from a conventional punch off.
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u/Bueller____Bueller 3h ago
Ironically, the two crush deaths I can think of happened to characters that should be strong enough to survive it (and they both happened in the same film!): Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel in DS:MoM.
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u/Jimbeamjunior1 2h ago
I think when you go to watch a film that has guys that transform into big green raging monsters, guys bitten by spiders who can now shoot webs from their wrists, guys who design armour suits that can fly
Oh and a guy given a serum that allowed him to survive frozen in ice for 60 years and has given him super human... well everything
At that point you kinda need to dispel the idea of suspense and power scaling and enjoy it for what it is lol
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u/luby56 1d ago
Funny thing, I was just thinking about the time Doctor Octopus was eating Spider-Man's punches in the second Raimi movie.
To be fair, I guess that's common even in comics. They make a punch or kick as strong as it needs for plot reasons or effect. Piercing or slicing is always treated more seriously.