Comic Book Movies

[Avaitor]

You notice how I made most of the threads on here? Weird.

But yeah, talk about any kind of comic book movies, from Spider-Man to Scott Pilgrim, from the Christopher Reeve Superman movies to Snyder's Superman project.

For starters, Thor just came out, and I wrote about it here. Was good and now I really can't wait for Captain America.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I still need to get a chance to catch Thor in theaters.

As for comic book movies in general, I'm really looking forward to X-Men: First Class more than I am any other upcoming superhero film, though Captain America looks interesting as well.

Overall this has exploded into its own genre of film in the past decade and already has its classics and great films as well as plenty of its duds. The best of them can treat the source material with enough respect and accuracy while also successfully adapting the characters, stories, and themes to seem at least somewhat plausible in live-action on a big screen, which is something that's really hard to do since its not easy to take a guy dressed in a cape very seriously unless handled extremely well and effectively.

My favorite movies in the genre so far include the first 2 X-men films and The Dark Knight, with movies like Iron Man and Tim Burton's Batman (honestly, I don't give a shit what anyone says about it, because it still holds up its entertainment value for me, personally) being ones that I relatively enjoy but don't come off as being quite as memorable in the long-run.

I also have to admit to being one of those people who didn't really get the massive hate for Spider-Man 3 (I get why people didn't like it, but like the NC said, its not like the other 2 films were devoid of completely stupid moments, and in the long run the film had some pretty strong points that I would argue for, personally).

The worst of these films (not counting the extremely cheese-grade low budget films from the 90's, like Spawn and Captain America, and even films that came out long before that) seem to be devoid of any real sense of characterization and just lack the expert skill of directing and acting to make the film flow together properly and to make audiences actually care about anything that's happening to any of the characters.

Yeah, I know people have their Wolverines and Spider-Man 3s as their worst, but really part of why I feel that this is such a vast over-reaction is because there are FAR worse movies in the genre out there that many less people seem to pick on. I mean, what about stuff like The Fantastic Four films, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Catwoman, or Ghost Rider? Those films are downright horrible. I mean I can understand hating the other films to some extent, but calling them the worst when those other films I just mentioned so much as exist just baffles me, personally.

[Angus]

Uh oh Spiderman 3 is that bad? That's almost at the top of my Netflix. I can't imagine it being worse than the universally despised Batman and Robin.

Last ones I saw from that genre were Kick Ass, and Iron Man 2.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I just got back from seeing Thor. It was good, overall (certainly a hell of a lot better than Iron Man 2, IMO), though there were some issues which I had with the film, but the most important thing is that it was enjoyable and done relatively well. They didn't make the movie as action-heavy as I had expected, which is a good thing since they made more of the film based on its story and characters, and the action scenes in the end meant a lot more because of that. And yeah, I have to say they really did a great job designing Asgard, even if it is really all just computer generated.

I have to say, though, I thought the trailers for this movie were complete crap. They didn't do a thing to get me excited or pumped up for the film, but the actual movie itself was actually a lot more entertaining than I had expected. I'd say that my favorite aspect of the film was how they handled Loki's character. I'm not sure how accurate or not it is to the comic books, but I found him to be the most interesting character in the film by far, and I actually liked this interpretation of him even more than the one in EMH.

Oh, BTW, I didn't really get that scene after the end credits. Anyone who saw the movie and that scene, and who knows more about the Marvel comic book Universe, care to elaborate on it for me?

[Avaitor]

I hope I helped you on AIM, man.

As for the trailers, they left me ambivalent. I couldn't get much of an impression out of them, but I thought for the longest time that the movie would take place mostly in Asgard. As much as I like the mythical world and thought it looked great in the movie, I do like the Earth parts a great deal as well, a lot more than I was expecting to, and think they found a good balance between Earth and Asgard in the film.

I am afraid if the movie is mostly going to be seen by hardcore fans and recent Avengers believers than a wider audience like the Iron Man movies. I couldn't get a couple of people to budge to see it with me, but did get enough to help it turn some kind of profit in. I don't think it'll make as much as them, but should turn in a profit.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Yeah, I was a bit surprised about that. While it didn't necessarily sell out, the evening show that I went to for Iron Man on the Friday that it released was pretty packed, and even the first Iron Man was really packed even though people didn't really know what to expect from that one. As for Thor, about a little more than half the theater was full, which would normally be understandable since its not entirely summer yet for most people, but then I remembered that it was still a Saturday, in which case I realized that this movie isn't going to be pulling in nearly as much profit as something like Iron Man or Spider-Man, but I'm sure it will still pull in a profit of some sort, nonetheless.

When I think about it, I blame the lackluster trailer for this movie not being as successful as it could have been. Also, I barely noticed any marketing for this movie on the whole. They had some car commercial that did a tie-in ad with the movie, but that's about all that I have seen for it.

[Avaitor]

This was the second midnight premiere I went to. The first was for The Dark Knight, which packed two theaters just fine. I'm not sure about the 3D one, but the 2D show for Thor that I went to was about half-full, which was a little disappointing.

And as for promotion for the movie, I still have my Loki and Thor Super Gulp cups from 7-11, which I keep along with my Whiplash Slurpee cup from last year. 8)

[Spark Of Spirit]

Ain't no way Spiderman 3 or Wolverine are the worst superhero movies out there. Not when crap like Elektra, Batman & Robin, or Steel exist.

I'm still pissed at Bryan Singer for making Superman Returns over X-Men 3. I don't even hate SR, but X2 was one of my favorite superhero films and I would love to have seen how he would have tackled the whole Phoenix idea. Now the franchise is busted, and instead of fixing it, Marvel seems to be tossing it aside for the Avengers and pumping out Wolverine movies.

I really hope First Class is good.

[Angus]

How is the Scott Pilgrim movie anyway? Is it faithful to the comic?

[Spark Of Spirit]

Mostly. It just condenses things to make it work as a film.

[Avaitor]

How is the Scott Pilgrim movie anyway? Is it faithful to the comic?

Yes and no. It keeps a lot of the more important parts from the comics, like the fights and how Ramona's exes fit in, as well as pieces of dialogue, but they mess around with the story a lot to condense it into a 2 hour film. Some of it works out, others don't, like how certain character arcs, Ramona, Kim and Envy's in particular, or cut down or removed entirely, and the last few fights were cut down to just one encounter each.

As a movie, it works, but in comparison to the books, it's a fun adaptation but inferior.

[Kiddington]

So, uhh... what do you guys think of Ghost Rider? 

I ask because I happened to catch it on cable the other day... and let's just say, I'm a little more than surprised this is getting a sequel. Not a reboot, either; a full-on sequel, complete with Nic Cage and all.

Definitely not the worst comic book movie I've ever seen, though; I actually kinda *cough* enjoyed certain aspects of it, if we're being brutally honest here. Desen mentioned Steel, and I'm gonna have to give the "worst award" to that pile of crap. Never mind the hilariously bad script; I just can't believe Shaq even found more acting work after this. If I were a casting director, I wouldn't have come within ten feet of the guy. Screw his "mad hoopz skillz lol"; if you can't act, you can't act... and he can't act. Might as well stick to hocking Icy Hot products, if he wants to say in the spotlight.

[Avaitor]

I ask because I happened to catch it on cable the other day... and let's just say, I'm a little more than surprised this is getting a sequel. Not a reboot, either; a full-on sequel, complete with Nic Cage and all.

Whoa, it is? Shows how out of the loop I've been.

I haven't seen Ghost Rider, since the movie didn't look promising and I wasn't a fan of the comics, but I know EK has and hates it to bits.

[Kiddington]

I ask because I happened to catch it on cable the other day... and let's just say, I'm a little more than surprised this is getting a sequel. Not a reboot, either; a full-on sequel, complete with Nic Cage and all.

Whoa, it is? Shows how out of the loop I've been.

Yep, it certainly is.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghost_Rider:_Spirit_of_Vengeance

Five years down the line from the first, no less. Hollywood is a confusing beast; if there was money to milk here, you'd think this would have come back in 2009-2010 or something.

[Spark Of Spirit]

Nic Cage gets to be Ghost Rider while Brandon Routh is mostly likely ousted from his Superman role.

Hollywood really is confusing.