Best & Worst Comicbook Movies

[justinsayne]

what are the best and worst comicbook movies?

Best-
-Spider-Man Movies
-X-Men Trilogy
-Batman Begins
-the Punisher
-the Incrediable Hulk
-Superman Returns
-Hellboy
-Sin City
-Blade 1 & 2

Worst-
-Catwoman
-Elektra
-Fantastic Four
-Spawn
-Blade Trinity

I havn't seen Ghost Rider yet so I couldn't put it on a list though I'm sure it belongs on one of them, and I left Daredevil off both list because it was an ok movie imo, I thought that the Ben Affleck as Daredevil was a bad decision, and they tried to pack to much into the story, but other than that the movie wasn't all that bad

 

[Y 2 Jake]

what are the best and worst comicbook movies?

Best-
-Spider-Man Movies
-X-Men Trilogy
-Batman Begins
-the Punisher
-the Incrediable Hulk
-Superman Returns
-Hellboy
-Sin City
-Blade 1 & 2

Worst-
-Catwoman
-Elektra
-Fantastic Four
-Spawn
-Blade Trinity

The Spider-Man movie's are great. My only problem with the new one is that there seem's to be a lot of villain's. Hopefully it does'nt turn into Batman & Robin Version 2.

I think the first X-Men is good, but it did'nt live up to it's potential. The second one is awesome. Really good. The third one is a complete wasted oppertunity. They completley fucked up the Dark Phoenix story. I cant help but think if Brian Singer had done it, it would have been the greatest comic book movie ever.

The Batman movies are good. The 1966 movie is cheese but still really entertaining. The Tim Burton movie's are also good. The only problem is that the bad guy's are the star's. Batman Forever & Robin are complete shit. Absolute pant's. I was 11 when Forever came out, and it could'nt even entertain a child.

I did'nt really like The Punisher. I thought Tom Jane was ok but Travolta was shit. Better than the Dolph Lungdren version though.

I enjoyed The Hulk. But I thought it was better when Bruce Banner was the focus. I thought it went silly when he turned to The Hulk.

Like the Batman film's. Superman has produced some great film's and some utter crap film's. The Quest For Peace anyone?

I like Hellboy but I've never read the comic's so I cant compare them.

Sin City is exactly like the comic's. If you've read the comic's you've seen the film. There identical. Awesome film. Even though all the story's are pretty similar.

Blade 1 & 2 are both good. I prefer the 2nd one. I like how it's an adult film. They completley fucked up the franchise with Blade Trinity. Terrible film.

I hated Spawn when I saw it. But that was 10 year's ago. I want to watch it again so I can decide if I think it's shit.

Elektra was so boring. The only time it got my attention was when Bob Sapp was on screen.

I enjoyed Daredevil. It's not as bad as people say. Colin Farrell was good as Bullseye but Affleck and Michael Clarke Dunkan were completley miscast.

Catwoman is possibly the worst film ever. Even worse than Batman & Robin.

 

[Prax]

I agree with most of what was said EXCEPT:

- The new Spider-Man movie is going to be AWESOME. I have a pretty good idea about how they're going to do the story and although I agree it might be a lot for a single movie, the characters (most of them), are already established so you don't need to waste time there. The first like quarter of the movie will consist of the Venom suit enveloping Parker, the second quarter will be the fight with the Goblin. The Goblin realizes his ways and turns good. The third quarter is Parker fighting the suit and the end is Harry and Peter vs. the Sandman and Venom. Kind of predictable (unless they're smarter than I think), but it'll work.

- Punisher was entertaining, that's all that matters.

- Hulk was extremely boring in my opinion. You can tell they screwed it up because they're re-doing it (they're not making a sequel, they're actually remaking the recent movie).

- Sin City was innovative... but the story was really bland and the movie was really nothing more than a one trick pony (in terms of the style it was shot in). I liked the first time cause the filming style was original, but when I watched it a second time I realized it was just a shitty movie. if they filmed it regularly no one would like it, which says a lot.

- This is what I disagree with the MOST. The Fantastic Four movie was EXTREMELY WELL DONE. It was the most entertaining superhero movie to date, IMO. Well done, the characters built and introduced very well, enough comedy but not too much, good focus on the main characters etc. To date all the people who didn't like it, i can't find a single good reason for them to dislike it.

The rise of the Silver Surfer looks incredibly sick. I CAN'T WAIT to see Galactus, it's going to be insane, and if they do it right (which i think they will now that the characters have been established), it could be the best one to-date.

- Finally, the one I have to add to the list of best superhero movies is: CONSTANTIN.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Constentine is good but I hate the fact it's evolved form Hellblazer. They could have made the same film without using Constantine's name. It's so far removed from the comic it's pointless.

 

[Prax]

I just saw Ghost Rider tonight, Put it on the Best list. It was honestly one of the best comic movies I've ever seen. The dialogue was exactly like what you would expect of a comic book, it was extremely well directed and the fight scenes were excellent.

Also they directed it in the form of a modern-type western, which was amazing!

Definitely 2 thumbs up.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I saw it the other day. I enjoyed it. I thought it was a bit childish. It would have made a better film if it was more adult. Although I've never read the comic so I dont know who it's aimed at.

 

[Prax]

That's the thing, it was filmed in an actual comic-book style fashion. The dialogue was very comic-bookie, if that makes any sense. And the way it was filmed and edited, the way one scene moves to the next if you will, was like going from one cell to the next in a comic book, which I absolutely loved.

A lot of people didn't like it because they weren't expecting a western (I honestly don't know many people my age who are fans of westerns, which is a shame, but kudos to the director for being brave and making something other than a cookie-cutter comic book movie).

 

[Bernkastel]

Most of the comic book movies that i've seen, ive enjoyed, several being the crow (brandon lee), hellboy, the punisher, blade trinity, and batman begins. Although I've never seen daredevil, catwoman, or the Hulk.

I agree that spawn could have been better, but I remember a full length animated version of Spawn that was a whole lot better than the 1997 adaptation. It was much more graphic and had a slightly different plot than the movie, but most of the characters are the same.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Yeah. I remember the cartoon. It was really violent. I think they should make another film like them. It's a good character, I think it has potential. The other film was'nt really violent if I remember correctly.

 

[Prax]

With how popular these movies are, I wouldn't be surprised if they made another one.

Frankly I can't wait to see their adaptations of Captain America, Iron Man etc. I wonder who's going to play all of them.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Robert Downey Jr is going to be Iron Man. I dont know if that's a good choice as I've never read the comic. I heard Brad Pitt for Captain America.

 

[Prax]

Hmmm... both could work... or both could majorly flop.

I liked Keanu as Constantin, even though it was completely different from what Constantin is like in the comic books... so maybe it could work.

I wonder also who's going to play the new Hulk... I truly do hope they bring back Eric Bana.

Oh and I want the Rock to play Aquaman, lol

 

[Y 2 Jake]

It would be awesome if the brought back eric Bana for the Hulk. But I heard David Duchovny (sic?). He's an awful choice.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

What does everyone think of The League Of Extrordinary Gentlemen? I thought they seriously dropped the ball with this one. It's an amazing comic. It's really dark. The second is even more adult. The Invisible Man get's raped by Mr. Hyde. Instead it's a glorified kid's film. The cast is fine but it bored the shit out of me.

 

[Prax]

Never really read that comic so I wouldn't be able to compare it but the movie was meh for me. Didn't bother me too much but didn't entertain me too much either.

Thought they could have done a lot more with it.

 

[Kasey]

What does everyone think of The League Of Extrordinary Gentlemen? I thought they seriously dropped the ball with this one. It's an amazing comic. It's really dark. The second is even more adult. The Invisible Man get's raped by Mr. Hyde. Instead it's a glorified kid's film. The cast is fine but it bored the shit out of me.

LXG as a movie was the perfect example of why Alan Moore HATES Hollywood. And rightly so. He is at the point where he completely disavows himself from his own properties with regards to them being made into films. Hell, the only script anyone has turned in for one of his books in the last decade that he didn't feel like pissing on was David Hayter's script for the Watchmen (which was recently altered with unnecessary and pretty much stupid re-writes). I am a HUGE Alan Moore fan, but when his stories are made into films, the people behind the wheel are typically complete fu**ing idiots that think about toy tie-ins and what movie was hot last week instead of delivering a good film that stays true to the source material (see: Joel Silver). I liked LXG as popcorn fluff. In order to watch it without getting pissed off, I have to continually avoid thinking of how awesome the books are. And I do agree that the cast was pretty rock-solid (especially Connery as Quartermain), the problem is that none of the characters are developed in any sort of intelligent way that actually makes you give a damn about them.

 

[bigbossman316]

the best movie was Batman Begins, the batmans before this were terrible i dont even know what words to use they just sucked i can see the new batman franchise goin along way

The worst was fantastic 4 they took a good comic and just destoyed it, i cant believe there is another one coming out

 

[Y 2 Jake]

I think the new one is mostly going to be about the Silver Surfer. Although I fear it's just going to be another kid's film. I demand a more intelligent comic book film. Bring on Preacher or Sandman.

 

[justinsayne]

What does everyone think of The League Of Extrordinary Gentlemen? I thought they seriously dropped the ball with this one. It's an amazing comic. It's really dark. The second is even more adult. The Invisible Man get's raped by Mr. Hyde. Instead it's a glorified kid's film. The cast is fine but it bored the shit out of me.

I thought the movie was pretty good, I didn't even know about comic until I saw the movie, still haven't read it, to tell you the truth I don't read a lot of comics anymore, just watch the movies now

I like to see them make a good Spawn movie, just start over from scratch, and don't acknowledge the crappy one that was made way back when, also would like to see a Spider-man movie with the main villian being Carnage

 

[Prax]

Y2Jake I find your comments pretty ironic since comic books are intended for KIDS, lol.

As for Fantastic Four, I said it before I'll say it again. The main point of the first movie was to establish the characters, which they did EXTREMELY well. It's hard sometimes in these movies because the comic books are based so much on knowing the characters, superheroes and what they stand for that it's hard to establish a them in a short time frame.

Spider-Man took the entire 3 hours to set up the character, or so, and if you notice none of the plots were really resolved by the end. Granted Fantastic 4 didn't have much of a plot to begin with, I'll give you that, but there's only so much you can do in 2 hours (and no one would've gone to see that movie if it was longer... it's not like spider-man that already had a HUGE buzz and a huge following before it came out) ... and setting up the characters was a must for the first movie, considering it's just a little complicated.

 

[Y 2 Jake]

Yeah but I dont like kid's. I've never read a Fantastic fout comic. So If there for kid's then it's fine to make the movie like that. But Conctantine/Hellblazer, LXG etc are not for kid's so I dont see the need to dumb down the film's.

 

[Prax]

LOL you know what I find really funny? Everyone that I have this discussion with about Fantastic Four and they say they don't like it for whatever reason ALWAYS says they never liked the comics.

I just find that interesting. Granted you're right that comic books that were darker and intended for a more mature audience should have a more serious movie.

But I didn't think there was anything wrong with Constantine. The only thing I didn't like about it was they they kinda changed the main character... but other than that it was enjoyable, well done.

But yeah... the type of movie they make should be comparable to the content of the comic book and how said comic book was written, drawn, etc.

That's why I really liked Ghost Rider... it was written like a Marvel Comic, it was directed like a western and it was edited as if you were going from one cell to another, all the while keeping the actual feel of the original comic book.

 

[Kasey]

Y2Jake I find your comments pretty ironic since comic books are intended for KIDS, lol.

As for Fantastic Four, I said it before I'll say it again. The main point of the first movie was to establish the characters, which they did EXTREMELY well. It's hard sometimes in these movies because the comic books are based so much on knowing the characters, superheroes and what they stand for that it's hard to establish a them in a short time frame.

Spider-Man took the entire 3 hours to set up the character, or so, and if you notice none of the plots were really resolved by the end. Granted Fantastic 4 didn't have much of a plot to begin with, I'll give you that, but there's only so much you can do in 2 hours (and no one would've gone to see that movie if it was longer... it's not like spider-man that already had a HUGE buzz and a huge following before it came out) ... and setting up the characters was a must for the first movie, considering it's just a little complicated.

Prax, this is where I staunchly disagree. Comic books haven't been geared towards children for a few decades. The industry itself had to adapt because kids don't even read them anymore on the whole. The key demo that does read them is the same one that watches wrestling (18-34 males).

As for Fantastic Four as a film? I thought it was decent. Dr. Doom was a lousy characterization that pales in comparison to the Doom presented in the books as he seemed more of a sexual pervert towards Susan than he did an evil genius, which is the point of his existence in the first place. Otherwise, the only things about the movie I felt were in keeping with the best of the books were the portrayals of Torch and Thing which were spot-on for my tastes. Jessica Alba is a lousy actress, but at least she wore a milliskin suit through the bulk of the movie. She is good at that.

As for Spider-Man? Pretty good. The origin section of the film was solid for me and ranks up there as one of the best origins in a film. There is some of the dialog that is just cringe-worthy, though. I can't stand the sequence in the hospital where Pete talks about Mary Jane because his whole series of lines is badly acted, scripted, and conceived. As a whole, though, it was a good first effort and there are definitely some solid geek-out moments for me. I much prefer Spider-Man 2 as I felt Raimi had really found his rhythm with that one (except for the ridiculous plot point of them doing a fusion test inside of a New York flat, which was damn stupid).

 

[Kasey]

Yeah but I dont like kid's. I've never read a Fantastic fout comic. So If there for kid's then it's fine to make the movie like that. But Conctantine/Hellblazer, LXG etc are not for kid's so I dont see the need to dumb down the film's.

What I couldn't stand the most was that Constantine changed key points of the mythos just because Keanu Reeves can't do an English accent. Everyone knows that the character was based on Sting (musician) and that it was supposed to be set in London (which is the furthest thing from Ted "Theodore" Logan as you can get). Instead, they transported it to California and changed things unnecessarily in these respects to fit a Hollywood prima donna because they didn't have the balls to cast someone who can actually play the REAL character and actually do the movie right. I can think of ten guys who would've done the role more justice (Jude Law, Jason Isaacs, Guy Pearce, Sean Bean, etc.). My feeling is that, if you're going to change so much of the root notes on the character, just remove any trace of the original property altogether. Same with the title. WB was so sure that the idiot masses were going to confuse the film with Hellboy that they changed the name altogether. I would've at least settled for "Constantine: The Hellblazer" so you'd at least know the name of the goddamn book. I liked the film, don't get me wrong, but the changes were stupid and pointless as far as the context of the story and were only done because of stupid Hollywood bul$hit politics. It'd be like if in Superman Returns, they said Superman didn't grow up in Kansas/Metropolis, but rather landed in Manchester or something.

LXG was another one that was changed because of rights clearances and so forth, but it was also a film that was watered down in a very stupid manner and definitely didn't have a speck of the flair Moore's books possessed. It was turned from a wonderfully lush story full of character and intelligence to a two-hour popcorn extravaganza that had as much substance as the latest Britney Spears record. Just like Constantine, they didn't have the balls to do the film right and actually respect the source material. Look at Sin City. That film stayed true to the source and it showed onscreen. The true guts of what Frank Miller originally envisioned in his books came out and I personally think the results were awesome and even moreso didn't have to be raped by some studio assclown like Jon Peters who thinks only about merchandising and the almighty dollar as opposed to turning out a movie that is good.

 

[Prax]

Kasey, I guess then I'm just stuck in the 80s and early 90s when it comes to comic books! That is where most of my collection stems from and pretty much the bulk of the time I was a comic book fan. I do agree that the content and the way they've been written and drawn has evolved, adapted, matured over the years, probably in order to follow the earlier fans laterally throughout their lives.

And if you're talking about comic books as a whole, a whole-heartedly agree with you. That's why we call them "graphic novels" (uggghhh) now. And by we I don't mean me, lol. However I still consider Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Captain America, etc, to be what I read of them back in the day. Frankly I really haven't touched that stuff in a lot of years, and I really don't feel like re-starting a collection at this point, so the only thing I'm willing to do is revisit older issues, and that, I think, is where the inspiration from the movies stems from.

And you have to admit that when you watch these movies, in particular the Marvel movie adaptations, they do have a really good comic book feel to them, if that makes sense. And that's what I like the most about them.