Movies, Movies, Movies:
So I've been having LOTS of Superhero movie discussions lately. I'm going to rant, rave, and summarize them here. Although I say nothing which isn't readily available on the Internet, there may be a FEW facts in here which come as spoilers to some who may read this. please read it anyway. Nothing in here's confirmed if the movie's not out yet, and lots of it is of the 'if I were doing it' variety hypothetical.
Marvel's movies: Marvel's movies have one Massive Strength. The unifying touch and leadership of Avi Arad. Though Arad has made mistakes, like Elektra and Man-Thing (which went straight to video, with a brief layover on Sci-Fi channel), Arad's used his leadership position at Marvel to guide their films looks, feel, and definitions of the characters in a way which keeps them true to their comic origins.
My take on Marvel's Films: Marvel's movies separate into three categories, to me. Blockbusters like the spiderman and X-Men franchises, and Hulk, on the top level. Punisher, The Blade Series, and Daredevil on level 2. Man-Thing and Elektra on level 3. Not only do I rank these by popular success, but also by their quality as movies.
One example of this dual ranking idea is Hulk. Hulk was an amazingly exacting and accurate version of Bruce Banner, and of HIS character. Hulk can be described very easily, as follows: Except for everything connected to Nick Nolte's character, Hulk was a perfect comic book movie. I hold out better hopes for Hulk 2, so long as they use The Abomination, and emphasize the ironic contrast between he Abomination, who revels in and fully accepts his appearance and power, and is evil, and Banner, who reviles and rejects his Curse, but is ultimately good in both incarnations.
Blade was done well, was slick and solidly told, but ultimately, was basically the same story three times. Wesley Snipes had a character he could not particularly develop and show evolving across the three films, which was a weakness.
Daredevil was financially stable, but not extraordinary, and the movie had more flaws than strengths. Punisher was in many ways to me, the worst of the bunch, because while I enjoyed Thomas Jane's performance, it was so inconsistent. I felt that this was the fault of the director and writer, Jonathan Hensleigh, not Thomas Jane. Jane's Frank castle vacillated between brooding silent slaughtering automaton and flip one-liner guy in awkward ways. I think with a better approach, we could've seen Castle slide from one into the other in a progressive manner, or just stay dark and brooding. We also got hints of his 'Do anything in pursuit of Justice' attitude, but that aspect also was flawed.
I have not seen Elektra nor Man-Thing, but both did atrocious in the box office, or didn't make it there at all. Elektra also loses for the abominable version of her character used in Daredevil - Never use a melee weapon you can't CATCH!
My Hopes for the Future:
Spider-man - Call it Spectacular Spider-man Make the Villain the Lizard. In part one, we saw 'I have powers, what do I do with them? With Great Power comes Great Responsibility.' In part two, we saw Peter deal with the Psychological and social costs of his powers and double-life. Now, in part three, as he considers a life with Mary Jane, we should see him consider the physical aspects of his powers, by contrasting HIS body's response to foreign genetic materials, with Doctor Curt Conners' response to foreign genetic materials. peter should be worrying that HE could turn into a man-spider, and what will it do to his offspring? (This would be a great place for a dream sequence featuring that freaky ass 70's era storyline about Peter GROWING 4 spider-limbs.) Use Harry Osborn's presence as a subtext to his transformation into the new Green Goblin, perhaps by having him hire Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church's reputed character) to attack Spider-man so Harry can observe Peter's combat abilities in a clinical manner?
Spiderman 4 - Raimi's admitted he wants to do a 4, then leave the franchise. I think Raimi would stick with Spiderman forever, if given the chance. He likes the stability of a franchise, and how it allows him the freedom to keep pushing the development.
X-Men - do the Hellfire Club and Sebastian Shaw's surreptitious funding of the Sentinels. End the movie with Jean Grey being revealed as the Club's new Black Queen.
Hulk 2 - See Above.
Ghost Rider - My only thought on this? At least now Nic Cage can't fuck up any other Superhero films. I hate that fucker. all his does is talk monotone and wave his hands around, fingers in a different configuration for each damn movie. that guy's ONE good film was Bringing out the Dead. One, that's it.
I hope Iron Fist and Luke Cage: Power Man are at the same studios, so they can combine the sequel into Heroes for Hire.
'Nuff Said.
Now: DC Movies -
DC has a different situation. They're now in the position of playing catch-up. I'm going to skip over the four old Batmans, Steel, and any other DC superheros I might've missed before the year 2000.
Catwoman - Sucked. End of Story.
Constantine - This movie gave me hope for Batman Begins, and my faith was rewarded. I'd even let Keanu do a sequel to this. the feel and story were perfect Vertigo, perfectly Hellblazer, despite the Hollywood blasphemies of LA instead of London, and killing Chas.
Batman Begins - Bliss, Perfection, and a hope for a new, great DC movies legacy.
Batman 2 Sequel hopes: Joker gets the Red Hood Origin from Killing Joke. Harvey Dent gets the acid during the Carmine Falcon trial, after the Batman's antidote is used to cure him of the Scarecrow's fear gas psychosis. More dropped hints and mentions of other Batman villains. Ideally, this would be really fun to have at least one star of part 3 signed, and cameo said star as a villain in the rebuilt Arkham Asylum.
Now, for the Future:
Superman Returns - Take a cue from Batman Begins, and make superman reborn the first in a NEW franchise. Saying that Superman disappears for five years after stopping Zod in superman 2, and doesn't age, but everyone else does? That's just stupid as hell. With THAT sort of story, they can cast Margot Kidder as Lois again. She'll still look the part, and HER insanity will match that of the director and writer.
The Flash - This is RUMORED To be getting underway. Supposedly it will feature Jay Garrick, the Flash from the 1940's comics, with the hat like Mercury's. This is a bad idea. Use Barry Allen, put his up against Vandal Savage, and write in the legacy idea - that Barry was inspired to take on the name 'The Flash' by the original Flash (Jay Garrick), who went into hiding years ago, and no one has heard from. Do NOT have Barry find Jay in the first movie.
Shazam! - Do this RIGHT. Use a good CHILD actor, not 22 year old beach bum in a van. For a Villain, Use Mister Mind and Dr. Sivana. Be careful not to make it GRIM 'N' Gritty, but bright and cleaner, with hope and such abundant, but not too corny. a little Cheesy? Yes, sure... Alternately, write it as Billy Batson being in foster care, but the old lady only lets him watch old rerun shows and such, and so the 'wisdom of Solomon' gives him the idea to talk like an old TV show, thus his 'big red cheese' nickname.
Watchmen - This movie recently got put on hold, or into turnaround, meaning it will probably never happen.
Wonder Woman - Get a good actress, NOT the tits of the month club pin-up girl. She's an Amazon. Use that. Do NOT get Sandra Bullock ,she's 42, and dippy. Do not get Lucy Lawless, NOR Chyna. Neither can act. Get someone in between. Catharine Zeta Jones is STILL my top pick, though she's a bit too old.
THE INDEPENDENTS:
Sin City and Hellboy. Both were AMAZING!!! Both Sequels should be just as good. Sin City's doing the other hugantic (pronounced Huge-antick... from Huge and Gigantic) story arc from Frank Miller's existing stories. if you haven't read them, I won't spoil it.
Hellboy 2 - I don't know what's going on, but I want to see Abe Sapien in his wetsuit ,walking around, I want to see Lobster Johnson, or one of the other characters, and I'd love to see the Agent of Liberty origin of Hellboy's big damn gun.
Marvel's movies: Marvel's movies have one Massive Strength. The unifying touch and leadership of Avi Arad. Though Arad has made mistakes, like Elektra and Man-Thing (which went straight to video, with a brief layover on Sci-Fi channel), Arad's used his leadership position at Marvel to guide their films looks, feel, and definitions of the characters in a way which keeps them true to their comic origins.
My take on Marvel's Films: Marvel's movies separate into three categories, to me. Blockbusters like the spiderman and X-Men franchises, and Hulk, on the top level. Punisher, The Blade Series, and Daredevil on level 2. Man-Thing and Elektra on level 3. Not only do I rank these by popular success, but also by their quality as movies.
One example of this dual ranking idea is Hulk. Hulk was an amazingly exacting and accurate version of Bruce Banner, and of HIS character. Hulk can be described very easily, as follows: Except for everything connected to Nick Nolte's character, Hulk was a perfect comic book movie. I hold out better hopes for Hulk 2, so long as they use The Abomination, and emphasize the ironic contrast between he Abomination, who revels in and fully accepts his appearance and power, and is evil, and Banner, who reviles and rejects his Curse, but is ultimately good in both incarnations.
Blade was done well, was slick and solidly told, but ultimately, was basically the same story three times. Wesley Snipes had a character he could not particularly develop and show evolving across the three films, which was a weakness.
Daredevil was financially stable, but not extraordinary, and the movie had more flaws than strengths. Punisher was in many ways to me, the worst of the bunch, because while I enjoyed Thomas Jane's performance, it was so inconsistent. I felt that this was the fault of the director and writer, Jonathan Hensleigh, not Thomas Jane. Jane's Frank castle vacillated between brooding silent slaughtering automaton and flip one-liner guy in awkward ways. I think with a better approach, we could've seen Castle slide from one into the other in a progressive manner, or just stay dark and brooding. We also got hints of his 'Do anything in pursuit of Justice' attitude, but that aspect also was flawed.
I have not seen Elektra nor Man-Thing, but both did atrocious in the box office, or didn't make it there at all. Elektra also loses for the abominable version of her character used in Daredevil - Never use a melee weapon you can't CATCH!
My Hopes for the Future:
Spider-man - Call it Spectacular Spider-man Make the Villain the Lizard. In part one, we saw 'I have powers, what do I do with them? With Great Power comes Great Responsibility.' In part two, we saw Peter deal with the Psychological and social costs of his powers and double-life. Now, in part three, as he considers a life with Mary Jane, we should see him consider the physical aspects of his powers, by contrasting HIS body's response to foreign genetic materials, with Doctor Curt Conners' response to foreign genetic materials. peter should be worrying that HE could turn into a man-spider, and what will it do to his offspring? (This would be a great place for a dream sequence featuring that freaky ass 70's era storyline about Peter GROWING 4 spider-limbs.) Use Harry Osborn's presence as a subtext to his transformation into the new Green Goblin, perhaps by having him hire Sandman (Thomas Hayden Church's reputed character) to attack Spider-man so Harry can observe Peter's combat abilities in a clinical manner?
Spiderman 4 - Raimi's admitted he wants to do a 4, then leave the franchise. I think Raimi would stick with Spiderman forever, if given the chance. He likes the stability of a franchise, and how it allows him the freedom to keep pushing the development.
X-Men - do the Hellfire Club and Sebastian Shaw's surreptitious funding of the Sentinels. End the movie with Jean Grey being revealed as the Club's new Black Queen.
Hulk 2 - See Above.
Ghost Rider - My only thought on this? At least now Nic Cage can't fuck up any other Superhero films. I hate that fucker. all his does is talk monotone and wave his hands around, fingers in a different configuration for each damn movie. that guy's ONE good film was Bringing out the Dead. One, that's it.
I hope Iron Fist and Luke Cage: Power Man are at the same studios, so they can combine the sequel into Heroes for Hire.
'Nuff Said.
Now: DC Movies -
DC has a different situation. They're now in the position of playing catch-up. I'm going to skip over the four old Batmans, Steel, and any other DC superheros I might've missed before the year 2000.
Catwoman - Sucked. End of Story.
Constantine - This movie gave me hope for Batman Begins, and my faith was rewarded. I'd even let Keanu do a sequel to this. the feel and story were perfect Vertigo, perfectly Hellblazer, despite the Hollywood blasphemies of LA instead of London, and killing Chas.
Batman Begins - Bliss, Perfection, and a hope for a new, great DC movies legacy.
Batman 2 Sequel hopes: Joker gets the Red Hood Origin from Killing Joke. Harvey Dent gets the acid during the Carmine Falcon trial, after the Batman's antidote is used to cure him of the Scarecrow's fear gas psychosis. More dropped hints and mentions of other Batman villains. Ideally, this would be really fun to have at least one star of part 3 signed, and cameo said star as a villain in the rebuilt Arkham Asylum.
Now, for the Future:
Superman Returns - Take a cue from Batman Begins, and make superman reborn the first in a NEW franchise. Saying that Superman disappears for five years after stopping Zod in superman 2, and doesn't age, but everyone else does? That's just stupid as hell. With THAT sort of story, they can cast Margot Kidder as Lois again. She'll still look the part, and HER insanity will match that of the director and writer.
The Flash - This is RUMORED To be getting underway. Supposedly it will feature Jay Garrick, the Flash from the 1940's comics, with the hat like Mercury's. This is a bad idea. Use Barry Allen, put his up against Vandal Savage, and write in the legacy idea - that Barry was inspired to take on the name 'The Flash' by the original Flash (Jay Garrick), who went into hiding years ago, and no one has heard from. Do NOT have Barry find Jay in the first movie.
Shazam! - Do this RIGHT. Use a good CHILD actor, not 22 year old beach bum in a van. For a Villain, Use Mister Mind and Dr. Sivana. Be careful not to make it GRIM 'N' Gritty, but bright and cleaner, with hope and such abundant, but not too corny. a little Cheesy? Yes, sure... Alternately, write it as Billy Batson being in foster care, but the old lady only lets him watch old rerun shows and such, and so the 'wisdom of Solomon' gives him the idea to talk like an old TV show, thus his 'big red cheese' nickname.
Watchmen - This movie recently got put on hold, or into turnaround, meaning it will probably never happen.
Wonder Woman - Get a good actress, NOT the tits of the month club pin-up girl. She's an Amazon. Use that. Do NOT get Sandra Bullock ,she's 42, and dippy. Do not get Lucy Lawless, NOR Chyna. Neither can act. Get someone in between. Catharine Zeta Jones is STILL my top pick, though she's a bit too old.
THE INDEPENDENTS:
Sin City and Hellboy. Both were AMAZING!!! Both Sequels should be just as good. Sin City's doing the other hugantic (pronounced Huge-antick... from Huge and Gigantic) story arc from Frank Miller's existing stories. if you haven't read them, I won't spoil it.
Hellboy 2 - I don't know what's going on, but I want to see Abe Sapien in his wetsuit ,walking around, I want to see Lobster Johnson, or one of the other characters, and I'd love to see the Agent of Liberty origin of Hellboy's big damn gun.