Comic Movies

[Nathan Caroland]

I don't know what it is, but I've been really dissatisfied with the movies that have been made out of comic books of late, though I'm excited to see them getting made, but always find myself disappointed when they come out. There are exceptions of course, but generally, bleah.

For example. I've been really wanting to see Ghost Rider, even though I don't like Nicholes Cage as an actor. Personally, if you haven't seen it yet, wait, not worth the time or effort, though I would say its a halfway decent rental, just not worth the admission at the theater. Bad acting, lacking story line and it was rather anticlimatic for a few areas (such as the water elemental guy). Of course, they are already working on the 2nd Ghostrider.

Then you go with the Xmen. LOVE the first two. I had really really huge hopes for this series, then the third one came out, they gave it to a different director as he was off doing Superman and they couldn't wait, and basically screwed it six ways to Sunday. I'll be surprised if another ever gets made, though there is enough content in the Xmen line to have a dozen movies if they wanted to.

Apparently Wolverine is going to get his own movie though so that's interesting. Hopefully well done too.

Fantastic Four. The wife loved this one, but me .. well ... meh. It was alright I suppose, but then I've never liked the Fantastic Four and frankly, Jessica Alba didn't do it for me (I know, sacrilage for some of you fella's), the guy that did Stretchy I don't like and the Thing just looked stupid. The Fire guy was alright though. Did see at the theater tonight that they had another one coming out which has the Silver Surfer in it. Looked interesting, so maybe it'll be redeemed but considering the actors, who knows.

Superman, actually didn't get to see, so I can't really weigh in on that one, but I expect I'll like it as so many people ranted over it and it was done by the director that did the first two Xmen so its got something going for it. Superman 2 is due out in 2009.

Spiderman - loved them. Really well done and looking forward to the third one and hope they don't screw it up as I can see this a long series of films as again, its a very rich background and with some fun bad guys. Like how they are bringing the third one out with the symbiotic black suit which of course is going to lead into a four film with Venom if they do it right. I'm hooked and ready to go.

Hulk. Why oh why did they screw this one up? Killer poodle? Granted, it had some interesting parts in it, and I liked it for some of it, but I didn't like how they jumped around and did the editing of it and to put it bluntly, the main actor whined his way through his lines, he didn't act them. They are filming another Hulk as well apparently, hopefully they don't lame this one up.

Batman - now the first one way back when was actually pretty fun. The two after that, stupid. Then they redid it all with Batman Begins. Now THAT was fun. A good show and one that I really want to see more of. Good stuff there.

Punisher, the first one, sucked, the second one, I liked. Apparently they are making a Punisher 2 as well so cool.

Now technically the Frank Miller movies are comic movies, but I've never read them and they don't seem like 'super hero' movies to me. That being said, I loved Sin City and I'm looking forward to 300. Anything of this venue, of over the top action, I'm signed up for. Oh, and Sin City 2 is being filmed in Texas this year!

Hellboy. Now there is a movie done right. Love it, love it, love it. Think Frank Miller did that one too actually now that I think about it, so it sort of tosses out a bit of what I said above.

There are rumors of the 'Justice League' being made for DC Comics. Looking forward to that if that is the case as that's all the classics such as superman, batman, wonderwoman, aqua man and the Flash. Fun stuff if they can do it right.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - don't get me started.

Iron Man. Could be cool. We'll see. Nick Fury is on the books to be done for 2009.

Oh, Daredevil ... bleah. Ben Afleck though so that might have been it. But that sucked badly. Electra, not so badly, spin off from Daredevil, best part about it is spin 'off'.

Crow, now that was a great movie. The other three follow ups to it have been serious D movies though. Not worth the time it took to film them.

I'm sure there are some others I'm missing.

[EricJ]

for the most part I agree with your assessments, although, you say that you'd be surprised if another X-men gets made after the 3rd part, and while I liked it FAR less than the first 2, it did the best in the box office, and $$'s speak WAY louder than either you or me. It seems these super hero movies need 2 in a row to kill them (like the repulsive batman 4 after the horrid batman 3, luckily they ressurected Batman). I'm sure they'll be an X-men 4, but I also think it will need to prove something to the public to win back the audience if there is to be a 5.

I'm nervious about Spiderman 3, although from what I've read it looks promising, since they always seem to mess up these in the 3rd movies (see xmen and batman, and I guess even the old supermans).

I always had a warm spot in my heart for TMNT, LOVED that first live action movie, LOVE it (you know, in that awesome campy sort of way). I actually sort of hope that the animated one coming out works...we'll see. Now if someone had the balls to make a TMNTmovie based off their graphic novels, then we'd have something!

I would love to see iron man done well, he's one of my favorites

I think they killed ghostrider, and I haven't even seen it, but everything I've heard/read, it's a steaming pile

I know it's not a comic book, but it seems like Transformers is in the same sort of genre, and could at least be mentioned somewhere in the thread (how about here )

Another 2 graphic novels you definately can include would be V for Vendeta and Akira, both pretty darn good movies (only though if you watch the subtitled akira so it actually makes a shred of sense)...oh and league of extraodinary gentlemen, which was of course crap.

[EricJ]

oh, just found a good Wiki entry on all the comics that have been turned to film:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_based_on_English-language_comics

[Hinton]

Well, I haven't seen Ghost Rider yet, but I had already planned on waiting for it to come to DVD; just not a GR fan.

X-men: the movies were ok, but, like GR, not a fan of the comics. I believe that there aren't any plans to make anymore X-men movies, but Wolverine is getting one.

FF & Superman Returns: blah. Yeah, there were come kind of cool moments in both, but they seemed kind of lacking. The original Superman movie with Christopher Reeves was kind of cool, but like most movie series, the ones after just got worse and worse (Nuclear Man??? Give me a break!).

The Spider-man movies were great! Love Sam Raimi! Since he's back directing the 3rd one, it should be good.

The first Batman movie (with Keaton; not the one with West and Ward) was outstanding. I think they stayed very true to the spirit of what Batman was. Batman Returns wasn't all that great. After that, it headed straight for the crapper; Joel Schumacher should be shot. The latest one was okay, but I didn't think Christian Bale made a good Batman. I like him as an actor; the mantle just didn't seem to fit him - literally.

The Hulk was good when it was a series; the movie was an abomination. I had such high hopes for the movie and Ang Lee just bent it over and anally invaded it. Sorry, but the Hulk was always one of my favorites and what they did in that movie was just wrong.

The movie that I'm both looking forward to and dreading at the same time is Watchmen. It's an amazing comic. However, translation to film rarely works, so it could easily get screwed up. If it works, it'll be great.

@Eric: V For Vendetta and Akira are a couple of great movies; especially Akira. And yeah, get the subtitle version. In fact, all anime should be subtitle only; no more English dubbing!

[thewartoad]

Well I've pretty much seen every comic book movie made out there! Some are good and some are not. So far all of the Spider-man movies have been great. Hulk...whatever! Daredevil & Elecktra...WoW What a BIG SUCK that was! I liked the Fantastic Four. The Batman sagas were entertaining...that's all I'm going to say...except Batman Begins...FANTASTIC! All of the Superman's were great (what can you say about Christopher Reeves...R.I.P.) and the new one was really good...can't wait until the next one. The 2nd Punisher was really good...1st one not so. LOVED Sin City...If you don't like Frank Miller's work then @#%& you! CANNOT WAIT UNTIL 300! And with the rest of them out there, I've seen you and I'm O.K. with it. But let's remember people....THERE MOVIES...either you will watch them or you don't...your choice. nobody's holding a gun to your head! Cheers!

[supervike]

It used to be comic book movies were ALWAYS terrible ...recent years have really changed that .

I agree with most of your assessment too...except a few. Although tolerable, I thought the Spiderman movies have too much cheese for me to like them. The 2nd one could really have used an editor. Still decent.

I liked the entire X-Men series...although I was never an X-Men comic fan....the third one has a neat little additional scene after the credits that COULD portend another. Wolverine movie would be great, as I've always had a thing for that claw endowed baddie.

I'm not a Ben Affleck fan either, but rent the DIRECTORS cut of Daredevil...I found that to be very entertaining, and very true to the 'comicbook' daredevil. I even liked Elektra (Jennifer Garner doesn't hurt)

Liked the latest Punisher, although John Travolta is a terrible bad guy.

Batman Begins was good...especially the scene that was filmed like a horror film, with Batman coming out nowhere to take out the baddies.

Sin City is probably the first movie that ever really captured a comic book feel....It wasn't so much a movie of a comic book, but a MOVING comic book, if you get my meaning. Absolutely loved it.

Hellboy though is my all time favorite comic book movie. I never read a single Hellboy comic, and to be honest always thought it looked stupid. After seeing the movie though, my assessment was obviously way off. Fun movie, great character, really looking forward to a sequel.

I have no urge to see Ghost Rider....I never read that comic either, and I loathe Nicholas Cage. As far as I am concerned that guy has only made one good movie (raising arizona). I'll may check out the dvd eventually.

I didn't mind Fantastic Four too much.

What I would really love to see is some of these Marvel movies 'crossover' into each other....How cool would it be to see Spidey team up with Wolverine? Or the Hulk battle it out with the Thing? Thats the stuff comic book geeks have been waiting for years!

[GunjiNoKanrei]

My favorite comic book movie so far is Batman Begins. I am a huge addict to the comics so this really is a compliment - usually I don't like comic book movies where I know the comic because most of the time the adaptions made for the big screen are ... uhm ... not so good ...

Sin City and V for Vendetta are very good too and Hellboy, really looking forward to the sequel.

[gi6ers]

i actually enjoyed Hulk, the next one has some promise if the rumour mill is to be believed.

I really hope they don't screw up Iron Man, I'd prefer the storyline from the Ultimates origin though....at least they've got the right man in the suit IMO.

[Mosch]

V for Vendetta? Seriously? Am I the only person on this earth that hated V for Vendetta with a vengeance? (Come on, that was a good comic book style line)

The X-Men movies were nice, but not great. Second one is definitely my favourite (Nightcrawler! Yay!) while I agree that the third is the weakest. It really got under my skin that Juggernaut was a mutant. He is NOT a mutant, hollywood! Also, there's NO WAY anybody can even BE the juggernaut. You will not find a single actor with anough body mass to play the juggernaut. Stop trying. I love the character, but he does not work in live action movies.

I watched Fantastic Four but fell asleep half way through. It's not that it was so bad... I just felt it was kinda... stretched.

Batman Begins was good. There were several plotholes, but on the other hand it was a comic book adaptation so who cares Hope there will be another one with the joker. Maybe even "The killing Joke" - well, can't really turn that into a whole movie, but as a little part it should work.

I was going to watch Ghost Rider with my friends but my visit to the doctor took too long and I missed it. Haven't seen Hulk or Spiderman either.

On a similar note, I'd really want a movie about Deadpool. I just love him. Seriously, he should do well - he's a sarcastic violent mercenary with a dark history and a bleak future. He uses guns AND swords and is pretty much immortal. He's every hollywood hero ever distilled into one!

[DrEvilmonki]

I really did not like the spiderman movies, but again was never a fan of the comics, so maybe it was to true if you get my drift.

HATED daredevil - one of my all time favourites (especially the Frank miller version)

LOVED batman begins - another favourite (especially the frank miller version)

[lauth81]

Never been a comics fan ... a read some Batman stuff when I was 10 - 12 years old, that was it. Superhero comics and stuff like that never did anything for me. Baiscally I didn´t care for the movies either and did not see most of them.

I liked Sin City for its style, not for the story. I enjoyed Batman Begins. Recently saw Batman Forever on TV. Egaads! What a bad movie! I hope Tommy Lee Jones regrets starring as Two-Face.

Isn´t "Pirates of the Caribbean" a comic book adaption? This was funny and entertaining. And Johnny Depp as Cpt. Jack Sparrow is hilarious! (Yes, Johnny Depp is one of my favourite actors. And yes, I´m not a girl ...) I could have done without PotC2 "Dead Man's Chest", typical sequel stuff, boring and far too long.

[Ritual]

I think generally comic books make poor movie scripts! Most comic book characters I find pretty uninteresting as film characters. But, then, I have never been much of a comic book fan anyway.

The only comic book films I've seen that I've really enjoyed are Batman Returns and Batman Begins.

[matty1001]

Iv never really liked this style of film, but i do like Frank Millers 'style' but not story or anything.

But then iv never really read any comic books or been into superhero things.

[vincegamer]

For example. I've been really wanting to see Ghost Rider, even though I don't like Nicholes Cage as an actor. . ..

The FX might be cool, but I never got into the character and the commercials don't make it look that interesting.

Then you go with the Xmen. LOVE the first two. I had really really huge hopes for this series, then the third one came out, they gave it to a different director as he was off doing Superman and they couldn't wait, and basically screwed it six ways to Sunday. I'll be surprised if another ever gets made...

Agreed. I finally got around to watching X3 about a week ago, and if there was ever a franchise killer, that was it. Not only did it literally kill off some of the regular characters, it made you lose interest in the ones who survived. The best scene in the movie is probably Halle Barry's bust bouncing as she walks down the stairs (okay, wolverine killing guys in the woods was pretty nice). Also, it's' never good when you bring a character back to life just to kill it off again (Highlander 2 anyone?)

Fantastic Four. The wife loved this one, but me .. well ... meh. It was alright I suppose, but then I've never liked the Fantastic Four and frankly, Jessica Alba didn't do it for me. . .

I didn't dislike FF. I'd watch a sequel. However, I have to agree that JA's acting was abismal in about 80% of her scenes.

Punisher, the first one, sucked, the second one, I liked. Apparently they are making a Punisher 2 as well so cool..

I never even knew they made these movies.

Hellboy. Now there is a movie done right. Love it, love it, love it. .

Preaching to the choir, buddy.

There are rumors of the 'Justice League' being made for DC Comics. Looking forward to that if that is the case as that's all the classics such as superman, batman, wonderwoman, aqua man and the Flash. Fun stuff if they can do it right..

If they don't include Martian Manhunter I'll be pissed.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - don't get me started..

Some dumb stuff, but the first one was actually a lot of fun. Good lines like "I love being a turtle!" when he pulls his head into his shell, and in the end they kill be badguy. (I will just say they did, and ignore the second movie - it was just a bad dream....)

Oh, Daredevil ... bleah. Ben Afleck though so that might have been it. But that sucked badly. . .

Good action sequences, but the story sucked, and yeah, could have been so much better. Kingpin was a huge letdown.

There were earlier movies, like the Adam West Batman movie, the Captain America movie (though that may have been made for TV), and I think there was even a "Richie Rich" movie, but the less said about any of those, the better.

[vincegamer]

I liked Sin City for its style, not for the story. I enjoyed Batman Begins. Recently saw Batman Forever on TV. Egaads! What a bad movie! I hope Tommy Lee Jones regrets starring as Two-Face.

I just didn't like that they never explained how Two-Face went from a black man to a white man between films.

(he was played by Billie D. Williams in the first Keaton Batman movie)