Comic Book Films: Love 'em Or Hate 'em?

[Joey Fuckup]

Wanted to start up this discussion because there has been so many to hit the big screens, and I was curious on what your thoughts were on certain ones. Some you may love, some you may hate, what you would have done differently if you were the director. As a comic book fan from the '70's and early '80's, I must admit I really have liked many of them because it is interesting to see these characters brought to life. Even if I wasn't necessarily into some of the series, it was cool to see the adaptations. But not all were "amazing", and instead of me going down the list of all the ones I didn't like or really dug, I'd rather see what you guys think and comment on that...As of this posting, I read two reviews for "Green Lantern", and they both were bad. That's not going to stop me from going to see it, because hell, I have loved movies that critics hated! The last comic book film I saw was "Thor", and I did like it. Of course, I liked Thor comics as a kid, so I liked the way his history translated over into celluloid. Which brings up another question-If you liked a particular superhero, did it annoy you if the screenwriters decided to change their origin? Or was it a good idea? And are you more partial to Marvel or DC? Plus, I'd rather keep this discussion grounded in comic book films from the '90's to the present, and leave the '80's and before behind. (Yes, I know you all loved "Howard the Duck", I mean, who didn't? Ha ha) And I'd also like to keep TV series out of this as well (Although if you're making a point about a film and need to reference a series, go for it.)

[DammitDave]

I know most costumed crimefighter comic book fans fall firmly into one of two camps, Marvel (mostly) or DC, but when I was reading comics as a kid (late 60's - mid 70's), I read some of both.  Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Spidey, FF, Iron Man and Capt America were most commonly sought out.  Batman ruled hands down.  I got back into comics in the mid 80's via some friends who hipped me to The Dark Knight Returns and The Watchmen and worked in a comic shop for almost 10 years.  I became very burnt out on superheroes in general and especially hated Spawn and X-Men. 

 

Most CB movies that I have seen starting with the Burton Batman pretty much blow with a few exceptions.  I liked the newest Superman, Batman Begins, Dark Knight, and, shocker, X-Men (the first one, I haven't seen any of the others).  V For Vendetta and The Watchmen were...ok but I hear Alan Moore Alan Smithee'd them (all the way to the bank, I hope).  I saw the first Spiderman - meh, ok.   I haven't seen the new Iron Mans but hear they're good to pretty good and may check them out eventually but figure there's no rush.  The Spirit, aach, I may have been the only person who knew the comic.  I thought that had potential but blew it on being overly stylized (though thought it worked for Sin City) and a bit too campy.  GL, I don't know.  It may very well stink on ice and again, I'm not going to run out to see it.

 

It doesn’t really bother me when they tweak the origin or modernize the stories as long as they keep a similar feel.  They did that in the comics for years anyway.  In general, I think if they do what Marvel did in the comics in the 60's, keep a strong dose of humanity in the stories, the movies turn out much better than just making glitzy fantasy action movies. 

[Ken]

I take them on a case by case basis and try to have low expectations so I'm never too disappointed. Most of these movies need at least some changes to be made in appearance and story to accommodate the format of a movie as opposed to a serial book, so I kind of take that for granted.

I think my main pet peeve with comic book movies is that they're often tone deaf to the nuances of the characters or stories. The Watchmen movie for instance, has these long drawn out special effects laden fight scenes when one of the points of the original mini series is that most of these guys are just normal schmucks who like to play dress up. And all of the Batman movies seem to ignore the detective aspect of the character in favor of highlighting his gadgets.

[Rockin Rod Strychnine]

I like most of the new movies I've seen this past decade (I would have liked Ghost Rider as well if they had had some one besides Nicholas Cage as the character).  In many ways they aren't as fun as the stuff from the 40's - 80's but they seem much truer to the comics than they ever have before, and the effects and stunts are much better executed now than they ever could have been done in the past.  It makes you wish that comic book movies could have waited until the technology was perfected instead of hurrying to make it onto the big or small screen, but then again, it's the corniness of the past that makes those older movies fun.

 

I do want to say something about Daredevil.  I personally think Ben Affleck was an excellent choice for the role but Jennifer Garner as Elektra made no sense and neither did Colin Ferrel as Bullseye.  It was uneven especially towards the end and maybe I'm wrong, but an extra half hour could have helped.  You just felt that the writers' hearts weren't into the project and it was doomed not to have a sequel.  Thor and Iron Man were much better done.

[Zorch Radio]

Batman and Robin.  George Clooney, Arnold, Uma: Best movie ever made.

[Gunther Toody]

Hate 'em.

[DammitDave]

I forgot about the Mystery Men!  Great fun.  Maybe for the sequel, they'll have the Flaming Carrot, too.  I'll hold my breath.

 

Ghost World?  I'd rather have seen a Young Dan Pussey movie (Alpha Bots?  Omega Mission?)

[Rockin Rod Strychnine]

Being on a budget during the 80s, I didn't buy Watchmen comics so I didn't see that movie.  I also skipped out on the Spirit as it looked too much like Frank Miller wanted it to be the same visual style he had for Sin City.  I preferred Will Eisner's comic.  There was a very corny 90's TV movie for the Spirit and watched that.  Kind of fun but still not as funny as Will Eisner's comic.

[Zorch Radio]

I liked The Spirit a lot.  Very fun, but I never read too much of the comics like some people.

[Joey Fuckup]

I personally was never sold on Michael Keaton as Batman for the Tim Burton treatments. I "accepted" it, as I sort of appreciated the vision Burton had for the film. I loved Jack Nicholson as the Joker, and overall, it's "ok"...As for the rest of them, as each film wore on, I just couldn't get into them. The biggest continuity flaw in them was having Billy Dee Williams play Harvey Dent in the first one, then have Tommy Lee Jones show up and play the character in the third one. And I never could get through the fourth one in its entirety.

I never read Spawn comics, but I always thought he looked cool, and I was intrigued by his backstory. So I borrowed the dvd from someone (yes, this was years after it came out.)...and I had to force myself to finish it. I found it to be one of the worst comic book films ever.

I never was an X-Men fan growing up because I just didn't buy into the whole "born with abilities" superheroes. Wolverine always did intrigue me however (as they did everybody). Not until I saw "Spiderman" did I really start getting back into comics, and decided to give "X-Men" a try. I thought it was great, especially because of Wolverine (no surprise). But with each sequel that came along, I became more detached from them, and just wasn't blown away by the time "X-Men 3" came out. I did however really like "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"...But I honestly don't care about seeing "X-Men: First Class".

 

 

 

[Joey Fuckup]

I loved the Iron Man films, especially being that I was a huge fan of the comics. When I first heard that Robert Downey, Jr. was playing Tony Stark, my  first reaction was "No fucking way, it won't work"...Then I saw the first trailer, and I was really impressed, because Downey Jr WAS Tony Stark. I really liked how they keep throwing little nods to other Marvel characters in these films, which as you may or may not know, is building up to an Avengers movie. Marvel seems to be "rebuilding" their film franchise with each film starting with the first Iron Man, continuing with "The Incredible Hulk", "Iron Man 2", "Thor", and will continue with "Captain America" (You guys know this already, I'm sure).

I loved "The Spirit" comics when I was a kid! I had a few that were reprints from Kitchen Sink Press. But I just couldn't get into the movie. I would NEVER have done the film like that. I understand that Frank Miller wanted it to feel like it was part of the "Sin City" world, but it just didn't work for me. Bad dialogue, bad acting, and sorry if some of you liked it, but I just wish someone else would redo it. I think there was a half-assed attempt to do a Spirit film back in the late '80's with Sam Jones (the guy that played "Flash Gordon") playing him. I even saw a publicity shot of him in the mask, but I haven't the slightest idea if it was ever finished. It could be like that mysterious Fantastic Four movie that came out in the early '90's that Roger Corman was involved in.

DammitDave said:

I know most costumed crimefighter comic book fans fall firmly into one of two camps, Marvel (mostly) or DC, but when I was reading comics as a kid (late 60's - mid 70's), I read some of both.  Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, Spidey, FF, Iron Man and Capt America were most commonly sought out.  Batman ruled hands down.  I got back into comics in the mid 80's via some friends who hipped me to The Dark Knight Returns and The Watchmen and worked in a comic shop for almost 10 years.  I became very burnt out on superheroes in general and especially hated Spawn and X-Men. 

 

Most CB movies that I have seen starting with the Burton Batman pretty much blow with a few exceptions.  I liked the newest Superman, Batman Begins, Dark Knight, and, shocker, X-Men (the first one, I haven't seen any of the others).  V For Vendetta and The Watchmen were...ok but I hear Alan Moore Alan Smithee'd them (all the way to the bank, I hope).  I saw the first Spiderman - meh, ok.   I haven't seen the new Iron Mans but hear they're good to pretty good and may check them out eventually but figure there's no rush.  The Spirit, aach, I may have been the only person who knew the comic.  I thought that had potential but blew it on being overly stylized (though thought it worked for Sin City) and a bit too campy.  GL, I don't know.  It may very well stink on ice and again, I'm not going to run out to see it.

 

It doesn’t really bother me when they tweak the origin or modernize the stories as long as they keep a similar feel.  They did that in the comics for years anyway.  In general, I think if they do what Marvel did in the comics in the 60's, keep a strong dose of humanity in the stories, the movies turn out much better than just making glitzy fantasy action movies. 

[Joey Fuckup]

I wasn't too thrilled when I heard the news that N. Cage was going to play Ghost Rider myself. But I have to admit, I did like the movie, but yes, it would have been much better with someone else (and I'm still not sure who I would have picked for it). It was cool to see Peter Fonda in it, but if you read Ghost Rider comics from the '70's, Mephisto was never in human form like that. I was amazed at the effects, though. But one thing you can bet on, Ron, is that if they do sequel, Cage won't do it, since he's said before that it would be highly unlikely that he would reprise the role (even though he's this huge fan of the character). If Marvel pushed for another Ghost Rider film, chances are they would either retell the story, or just go with the '90's treatment of the character with the other alter-ego.

I loved "Daredevil", and agree with you on Ben Affleck. At first, I thought it would suck, but damn, it was such a brutal film! I loved that made him more of a ferocious, driven character as opposed to the earlier comics of a justice enforcer. I actually liked the casting of Bullseye, but really questioned that on Kingpin. And yes, I would have liked Elektra to have been more like the comics version, but since I really liked the movie, I overlooked a lot of that shit. But I just didn't like the "Elektra" movie at all. To me it was "Alias" meets "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon". And as far as a sequel, Marvel has pretty much said it won't happen, at least not in the forseeable future, especially since Ben Affleck has said he has no interest in reprising the role (even though he's a big Daredevil fan). All of this sucks, because the potential to have done a second film would have been great, given the character's rich history.
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

I like most of the new movies I've seen this past decade (I would have liked Ghost Rider as well if they had had some one besides Nicholas Cage as the character).  In many ways they aren't as fun as the stuff from the 40's - 80's but they seem much truer to the comics than they ever have before, and the effects and stunts are much better executed now than they ever could have been done in the past.  It makes you wish that comic book movies could have waited until the technology was perfected instead of hurrying to make it onto the big or small screen, but then again, it's the corniness of the past that makes those older movies fun.

 

I do want to say something about Daredevil.  I personally think Ben Affleck was an excellent choice for the role but Jennifer Garner as Elektra made no sense and neither did Colin Ferrel as Bullseye.  It was uneven especially towards the end and maybe I'm wrong, but an extra half hour could have helped.  You just felt that the writers' hearts weren't into the project and it was doomed not to have a sequel.  Thor and Iron Man were much better done.

[Joey Fuckup]

Oh ok, so there was a completed "Spirit" film? Didn't realize it was a TV movie, but come to think of it, TV Guide was where I remembered reading the article now. Figures it was corny, probably as bad as the "Dr. Strange" and "Nick Fury" TV movies from back in the day!
Rockin Rod Strychnine said:

Being on a budget during the 80s, I didn't buy Watchmen comics so I didn't see that movie.  I also skipped out on the Spirit as it looked too much like Frank Miller wanted it to be the same visual style he had for Sin City.  I preferred Will Eisner's comic.  There was a very corny 90's TV movie for the Spirit and watched that.  Kind of fun but still not as funny as Will Eisner's comic.