TheLe
First Post
Someone said to me "I have my doubt about you liking the [superhero] genre in a TV or motion-picture medium", and so it got me thinking about it. I disagree with that comment whole heartedly. Let's take look at my thoughts at various superhero and comic book adaptation movies in the past few years. Note that I only list the ones that I have actually seen. Key: 1/5 = terrible, 3/5 = average, 5/5 = excellent.
[imager]http://xmen.karenai.net/images/xmen.gif[/imager]X-Men - 3/5 stars. An excellent start, but the movie is actually very slow and booring. But Bryan Singer does a great job of introducing everything to the audience. People whined about "no spandex" before the movie was out, but it worked out great.
X-Men 2 - 5/5 stars. Excellent follow up that "wrath of Kahned" the series. The plot was tight and the story was very interesting. My favorite comic character, Cyclops, got little screen time, but the excellent pacing and story more than made up for it.
X-men 3 - 1/5 stars. Just an awful movie that gives sequels a bad name. Nothing made sense and nothing was sacred. Mindless killing and de-powering for the sheer sake of it. And to add insult to injury, the last scene with Magneto was like a bad horror movie ending.
Spider-man - 3/5 stars.An excellent start for the spider-man series, to introduce all the main players, but not nearly as good as X-men 1. The word-of-mouth was highly overrated and movie was marred with some annoying things (Green Goblins' low-budget look, kristen Dunst' awful red hair, some less than spectacular cgi, and uninteresting ending). However, they did get many things right. People bitched and moaned about "organic web shooters" before the movie was released, but like the X-men tights, they were wrong. It worked out great.
Spider-man 2 - 5/5 stars. Not as action packed as X-men 2, but we have do have an excellent story to tell. Everything fits together well, and we actually care about all the characters -- including the villain, Doc Oc. Alfred Molina was a brilliant choice for the villain and this was just an excellent follow up to the good but not excellent first movie. Easily in my top 10.
[imager]http://img.sparknotes.com/content/sparklife/sparktalk/50px_vforvendetta.jpg[/imager]V for Vendetta - 2/5 stars. This was a really bad remake of a comic book. I am have always believed that you must make sacrifices when going from the comic book to the big screen, but the changes here just didn't work. The characterizations were badly off, and the plot holes were immense. Even if you knew the comic book, you would still be lost in the movie. So a candy striper has access to a high level government official's shower? And after she is accused of being a terrorist, none of her security access is shut off? Those are the kind of things that just made no sense.
Hellboy - 3/5 stars. Better than V for Vendetta, but suffers the same boringness that X-men and Spider-man suffers. The movie just dragged on and on, and I had absolutely no attachment to any of the characters at all. And the finale' was a little lame. Still, it was a big budget production that offered some interesting individual scenes, but the whole was lacking.
Frank Miller's 300 - 4/5 stars. It's hard to judge this one. As an action movie, it is an excellent action packed ride. The death count is immense and the action is varied quite a bit. It was brilliant to have the Spartans fight all sorts of different opponents (monsters, magicians, etc), which kept the movie interesting. The sub plot at home was a little drawn out, and once again it was hard to become attached to any of them. As a historical setting, the story takes a lot of liberties, so don't expect a history lesson here. The only thing that bothered me was King Leonidas talking about how his Spartans need to fight the Persians in order to "protect freedom". Frank Miller is a known political hawk who is all for invading other countries in the name of freedom, and so these speeches comes off as more political than anything else. Worst of all, Sparta was historically a nation of slaves -- men became warriors, so they took on slaves to do all the work. Still, it's a very stylistic movie that keeps my interest the entire time.
[imager]http://msn.mess.be/data/thumbnails/243/superman04.jpg[/imager]Superman I - 4/5 stars. It's a classic. Donner does a great job at creating a Superman mythos for people to attach themselves too. The entire first half is excellent, but the last half leaves much to be desired. The movie certainly isn't perfect - Clark Kent is too much of a bumbling idiot, and Lex Luthor is too quirky. Still, this is an excellent movie for 1978.
Superman II - 4/5 stars. A great follow up to an excellent beginning. Everything from the first is bigger and better, with lots of action. But the movie is still marred by some perplexing characterizations. Lex is still kind of a fool, Clark is still overplaying the idiot, Perry White and Jimmy are pretty useless.
Superman III - 2/5 stars. This is where we start to see a downfall for the series. As a child I still found the movie fun, but things were quite forced. Richard Pryor does what he does best - himself... for better or worse. But the evil Superman thing was pretty awful.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace - 2/5 stars. Far too political for my tastes. Superman tries to destroy all the missiles in the world? Pretty Lame. I get it -- it was released in 1987, still during the cold war period, but the story itself was very loopy. And the main villain just didn't work on the big screen (works in a cartoon or on paper, but not on the screen).
Superman Returns - 3/5 stars. Certainly better than the last two, but Bryan Singer once again delivered a decent but mediocre movie. Like X-men, Superman Returns is pretty boring. His homage to Richard Donner was a mistake that prevents this movie from becoming a new franchise. As it is, it feels like "the lost episodes of so-and-so", something that might have been great 10 years ago, but not so much today. It's a very slow restart for the Superman franchise, that works on some levels, but overall just takes too much time. It's not terrible by any means, but it sure ain't great. The new actors and characterizations are good, but we are still marred with a less-than-convincing Lex Luthor. I'll take Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum any day.
[imager]http://batman.ugo.com/images/galleries/batman_1989_filmtv/batman_1989_9.jpg[/imager]Batman - 1/5 stars. Man this movie is just awful. The story's a mess, and the dialog is just terrible. When I saw this in the theater, three people actually walked out in a spectacular fashion -- I kind of wish I did too. In fairness, I think Michael Keaton is great for the role, but that Joker's smile was terrible and Commissioner Gordan was a useless tool.
Batman Returns - 3/5 stars. This is my favorite of the early years. Everything was better this time around, and we have now have a Batman that acts rather than reacts. Best of all, we see more "Bruce Wayne", which I argue is more important than Batman. Things don't go completely smoothly though as Tim Burton's crazy side takes over - penguins with rocket on their back, bad dialog, heat seeking programmable bat-a-rang, crazy haired Christopher Walken, etc. The story is much better this time around, but there are still really bad plot holes everywhere, and the style leaves much to be desired. And what about the end? Batman never did clear his name with the police. And Commissioner Gordon is still a useless tool.
Batman Forever - 1/5 stars. I didn't think this one was too bad, but it wasn't good by any means. Why do bad guys carry machine guns with swirly neon lights? Why is there a machine that sucks out people minds? What kind of crap is this? I like Jim Carey movies -- really, I do. But his overacting here was just atrocious for his role. In fairness, I think he would have made a wonderful Joker, but as the Riddler he was just kind of stupid. I'll take the intelligent and calculating Riddler from the cartoon any day. Tommy Lee Jones was also pretty awful, and all the dialog was terrible. Val Kilmer wasn't bad, but with Chris O'donnel we have a Dynamic Don't. I remember Tim Burton saying that he wanted the Batmobile to climb up a wall in the 2nd movie, but couldn't do it for technical reasons. As a producer this time, he managed to make his dream come true -- and yes it looks as stupid as it sounds. I think its fair to say that "anything that looks stupid in a comic book is going to look stupid on the big screen too." Too much bad dialog, too much bad acting, and a really awful storyline. Oh, and Commissioner Gordon is still a useless tool.
Batman & Robin - 1/5 stars. It's actually not any worse than the others, but the silliness, bad acting, and bad dialog is just excruciating. I am offended when people say this is the worst of the movies that "killed the franchise", because I believe that this is equally as bad as Batman Forever. I actually rather liked Mr freeze's costume, even though I though Arnold was awful. I was especially offended when everyone kept saying that "Uma Thurman" was the only saving grace for the movie -- the fact is that she was part of the problem. I like George Cloony a lot, but he doesn't make a convincing Bruce Wayne by any means; I swear they picked him for the role because his chin looks good in the suit. Over the top just doesn't work, and I am glad that this movie buried the franchise for nearly a decade, something that should have happened with Batman Forever.
Batman Begins - 5/5 stars. Wow, what a rebound from the old days of camp. This movie clearly outshines all the other Batman movies, hands down. They finally did something that I have pushing for, for years: make a movie about BRUCE WAYNE. 'Nuff said
Fantastic Four - 3/5 stars. Once again we have a movie that offers a working introduction, but it just didn't hold my interest. The plot line was workable, but I have absolutely no attachment to any of the characters by the time it was over. Mr Fantastic is really the weakest link here, but lets not forget Jessica Alba's awful wig. The comic relief that is The Human Torch made the movie a bit too campy, but overall the movie is certainly workable.
[imager]http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/300/b/bw2.jpg[/imager]Barb Wire - 1/5 stars. Two words: Bor-ing! Pamela Anderson wasn't too bad here, but her "action scenes" were pretty awful, and the plot was a convoluted. It's just completely unmemorable.
Blade - 5/5 stars. Man this movie creeped me out. It felt very real to me, and made me look over my shoulder when I left the theater, which means the makers did their job right. Wesley Snipes definitely made the character his own, and Michale Dorf was an excellent bad guy. Everything made sense in the movie, and everything flowed very well.
Blade 2 - 3/5 stars. Not nearly as good as the first one, this movie was marred by some bad plot issues and really horrible CGI. The concept was solid though, and there was still a sense of tension and fear for me, but bringing Whistler back was kind of lame and repeated "Blade is hurt and needs real blood" plot-reuse was sad.
The Crow - 5/5 stars. Another excellent movie that is a little slow at times but works very well. It actually feels a bit low budget, but the story is tight and the sense of desperation really penetrates the viewer.
Ghost World - 3/5 stars. It's a good movie, but not really my tastes. There is no one to really route for, and it's kind of slow here and there. Story-wise, it is interesting enough, but it need a little more drama, or romance, or something. As it is, it feels like episodes of the wonder years without the elegance.
A History of Violence - 5/5 stars. I loved this movie from start to finish. The ending is a little less definitive than I would have liked, but that does not detract from a well executed story, Viggo Mortensen is excellent without his beard and long hair, and you really end up caring for his character. There is plenty of mystery for the first half of the film, but once the story unfolds nicely and you end up routing for someone you are aren't sure you should be routing for. A great movie all around.
Batmann tv show - 5/5 stars. Adam West starred in this iconic, but highly campy tv series. I can't bring myself to watch it very much these days, but as a child it was very exciting. Sure there is campiness factor, but it was aimed for kids and worked very well for that target audience.
Doctor Strange (1978) - 1/5 stars. This was an awful attempt at Doctor Strange. They changed a lot for the tv show, and they were severely limited by special effects, but man was this bad...
[imager]http://www.studio-nibble.com/blogger/images/20030820-1131.jpg[/imager]The Incredible Hulk (tv) - 5/5 stars. Bill Bixby did a great job as Dr. Banner (David Banner, not Bruce Banner, since tv execs felt "Bruce" was too feminine). They were long and a bit drawn out, but felt no different than Magnum PI or other sleuth shows from that time period. The tv movies were pretty good too, even if Daredevil wore all black (because tv execs felt red does not look good on the screen) and Thor was kind of a jerk. The Death of the Incredible Hulk is easily the weakest of the entire tv series/movies thanks to a really lame plot, but it was always fun to see shirts rip when he "hulked out".
Judge Dredd - 3.5/5 stars. Certainly better than average, I thought Sylvester Stalone did an excellent job with the character. Mega City had a lot of flavor and Diane Lane was an excellent female lead. The special effects worked well, and I loved the ABC WARRIOR. But the editing was a bit choppy and the story itself was a little lame, especially the climax. The story would have been better for a sequel rather than an introduction to the universe.
[imager]http://www.badmovies.org/othermovies/justiceleague/justiceleague3.jpg[/imager]Justice League of America (live action tv 1997): 1/5 stars. A lame attempt at a live action tv show. Since it was a pilot, they couldn't afford to do much, and it showed. They did get some well known actors, but it all felt so... low budget. There were some great moments though (Barry Allan getting fired from the post office for working too fast), but the lack of money certainly hurt. It's no wonder this pilot was never picked up.
The Mask - 5/5 stars. I like Jim Carey, and I actually find his character here far more interesting than his role in Batman Forever. It's a fun movie all around with a fairly tight plot line. Its fun from beginning to end. My favorite scene - sing/dancing with the police.
Men in Black - 5/5 stars. This was great when I saw it at the movie theater the first time, and is still fun when I see it on tv. It has a certain magic and mystery to it that keeps it interesting.
Men in Black II - 3/5 stars. Certainly not nearly as good as the first, but it as a scifi movie it offers enough to keep me interested. The plot is quite weak and even the actors don't seem to believe what they are doing, but it's fun enough.
Mystery Men - 2/5 stars. There are definitely some interesting moments here, and things are varied enough to give it a "2/5", but overall I did not like this movie. The acting was pretty bad, and it just felt too campy to me. Is it serious or a comedy? Action or drama? It fails at all of the above.
The Punisher (1989) - 2/5 stars. For a low budget movie, this isn't too bad at all, but the plot and acting leaves something to be desired. This certainly feels more like a made-for-television movie and it succeeds at that. But the dialog and flow of the movie is too choppy for my tastes.
[imager]http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/5/57/250px-Rocketeer_Adventure_Magazine_1.jpg[/imager]The Rocketeer - 4/5 stars. I thought this was an excellent movie, that dragged on a bit here and there. The main problem is that it was set in 1938, which is usually pretty tough to pull off successfully in this genre. But I loved Bill Campbell and Jennifer Connelly, and Timothy Dalton does a bang up villain. I liked this movie alot.
Spawn - 1/5 stars. God what an awful movie. I swear everything Todd McFarlane touches is crap. Pretty good special effects, but they really need to hire a real writer.
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - 3/5 stars. I loved the first season when Debrah Joy Levinson was in charge, but then they started to get very campy with the second season, hence the lower score. It was still enjoyable to watch for a while, until they got all "desperate housewives" and added a lame season-long story line (Lois is a clone that eats frogs... yeah, okey). It's still a decent effort for television, but I wish they would have kept more focus on Clark + Lois rather than the all the super power madness.
Tank Girl - 1/5. Messy. Convoluted. Annoying. But Naomi Watts was hot.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) - 5/5. A great movie that was fun an interesting. I am glad they kept Casey Jones, not to mention this was a time when we don't have all the CGI crap. Good fun!
Timecop - 5/5. Regardless of your opinion about Van Damme, this is a great scifi movie. There are some small plot holes here and there, but things seem to move along very smoothly and the audience can't help but care for the main character and events that surround him.
Wonder Woman tv - 5/5. Another great series from the 70s, this one leaves behind all the campiness that was Batman and takes a much more serious tone. Linda Carter was great for the role (for several reasons), and I enjoyed the stories very much. I am surprised we have not seen a revival of this character on live tv or the movies yet.
[imager]http://homepage.mac.com/markrathwell/Spidey/Cast/Cast_Hammond.jpg[/imager]Spider-man (1977 tv) - 5/5. Nicholas Hammond starred in these live action tv series. They made some changes, like webshooters being on the oustide of the glove (ala Scarlet Spider), but it worked very well. The tv movies could have used a bigger budget, but I loved it all. I think they did a great job with what they had to work with, and it all worked great!
There you go -- my options of various comic book adaptations. Note that I have not listed any cartoons or animated series. That is a discussion for another time.
~The Le
[imager]http://xmen.karenai.net/images/xmen.gif[/imager]X-Men - 3/5 stars. An excellent start, but the movie is actually very slow and booring. But Bryan Singer does a great job of introducing everything to the audience. People whined about "no spandex" before the movie was out, but it worked out great.
X-Men 2 - 5/5 stars. Excellent follow up that "wrath of Kahned" the series. The plot was tight and the story was very interesting. My favorite comic character, Cyclops, got little screen time, but the excellent pacing and story more than made up for it.
X-men 3 - 1/5 stars. Just an awful movie that gives sequels a bad name. Nothing made sense and nothing was sacred. Mindless killing and de-powering for the sheer sake of it. And to add insult to injury, the last scene with Magneto was like a bad horror movie ending.
Spider-man - 3/5 stars.An excellent start for the spider-man series, to introduce all the main players, but not nearly as good as X-men 1. The word-of-mouth was highly overrated and movie was marred with some annoying things (Green Goblins' low-budget look, kristen Dunst' awful red hair, some less than spectacular cgi, and uninteresting ending). However, they did get many things right. People bitched and moaned about "organic web shooters" before the movie was released, but like the X-men tights, they were wrong. It worked out great.
Spider-man 2 - 5/5 stars. Not as action packed as X-men 2, but we have do have an excellent story to tell. Everything fits together well, and we actually care about all the characters -- including the villain, Doc Oc. Alfred Molina was a brilliant choice for the villain and this was just an excellent follow up to the good but not excellent first movie. Easily in my top 10.
[imager]http://img.sparknotes.com/content/sparklife/sparktalk/50px_vforvendetta.jpg[/imager]V for Vendetta - 2/5 stars. This was a really bad remake of a comic book. I am have always believed that you must make sacrifices when going from the comic book to the big screen, but the changes here just didn't work. The characterizations were badly off, and the plot holes were immense. Even if you knew the comic book, you would still be lost in the movie. So a candy striper has access to a high level government official's shower? And after she is accused of being a terrorist, none of her security access is shut off? Those are the kind of things that just made no sense.
Hellboy - 3/5 stars. Better than V for Vendetta, but suffers the same boringness that X-men and Spider-man suffers. The movie just dragged on and on, and I had absolutely no attachment to any of the characters at all. And the finale' was a little lame. Still, it was a big budget production that offered some interesting individual scenes, but the whole was lacking.
Frank Miller's 300 - 4/5 stars. It's hard to judge this one. As an action movie, it is an excellent action packed ride. The death count is immense and the action is varied quite a bit. It was brilliant to have the Spartans fight all sorts of different opponents (monsters, magicians, etc), which kept the movie interesting. The sub plot at home was a little drawn out, and once again it was hard to become attached to any of them. As a historical setting, the story takes a lot of liberties, so don't expect a history lesson here. The only thing that bothered me was King Leonidas talking about how his Spartans need to fight the Persians in order to "protect freedom". Frank Miller is a known political hawk who is all for invading other countries in the name of freedom, and so these speeches comes off as more political than anything else. Worst of all, Sparta was historically a nation of slaves -- men became warriors, so they took on slaves to do all the work. Still, it's a very stylistic movie that keeps my interest the entire time.
[imager]http://msn.mess.be/data/thumbnails/243/superman04.jpg[/imager]Superman I - 4/5 stars. It's a classic. Donner does a great job at creating a Superman mythos for people to attach themselves too. The entire first half is excellent, but the last half leaves much to be desired. The movie certainly isn't perfect - Clark Kent is too much of a bumbling idiot, and Lex Luthor is too quirky. Still, this is an excellent movie for 1978.
Superman II - 4/5 stars. A great follow up to an excellent beginning. Everything from the first is bigger and better, with lots of action. But the movie is still marred by some perplexing characterizations. Lex is still kind of a fool, Clark is still overplaying the idiot, Perry White and Jimmy are pretty useless.
Superman III - 2/5 stars. This is where we start to see a downfall for the series. As a child I still found the movie fun, but things were quite forced. Richard Pryor does what he does best - himself... for better or worse. But the evil Superman thing was pretty awful.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace - 2/5 stars. Far too political for my tastes. Superman tries to destroy all the missiles in the world? Pretty Lame. I get it -- it was released in 1987, still during the cold war period, but the story itself was very loopy. And the main villain just didn't work on the big screen (works in a cartoon or on paper, but not on the screen).
Superman Returns - 3/5 stars. Certainly better than the last two, but Bryan Singer once again delivered a decent but mediocre movie. Like X-men, Superman Returns is pretty boring. His homage to Richard Donner was a mistake that prevents this movie from becoming a new franchise. As it is, it feels like "the lost episodes of so-and-so", something that might have been great 10 years ago, but not so much today. It's a very slow restart for the Superman franchise, that works on some levels, but overall just takes too much time. It's not terrible by any means, but it sure ain't great. The new actors and characterizations are good, but we are still marred with a less-than-convincing Lex Luthor. I'll take Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum any day.
[imager]http://batman.ugo.com/images/galleries/batman_1989_filmtv/batman_1989_9.jpg[/imager]Batman - 1/5 stars. Man this movie is just awful. The story's a mess, and the dialog is just terrible. When I saw this in the theater, three people actually walked out in a spectacular fashion -- I kind of wish I did too. In fairness, I think Michael Keaton is great for the role, but that Joker's smile was terrible and Commissioner Gordan was a useless tool.
Batman Returns - 3/5 stars. This is my favorite of the early years. Everything was better this time around, and we have now have a Batman that acts rather than reacts. Best of all, we see more "Bruce Wayne", which I argue is more important than Batman. Things don't go completely smoothly though as Tim Burton's crazy side takes over - penguins with rocket on their back, bad dialog, heat seeking programmable bat-a-rang, crazy haired Christopher Walken, etc. The story is much better this time around, but there are still really bad plot holes everywhere, and the style leaves much to be desired. And what about the end? Batman never did clear his name with the police. And Commissioner Gordon is still a useless tool.
Batman Forever - 1/5 stars. I didn't think this one was too bad, but it wasn't good by any means. Why do bad guys carry machine guns with swirly neon lights? Why is there a machine that sucks out people minds? What kind of crap is this? I like Jim Carey movies -- really, I do. But his overacting here was just atrocious for his role. In fairness, I think he would have made a wonderful Joker, but as the Riddler he was just kind of stupid. I'll take the intelligent and calculating Riddler from the cartoon any day. Tommy Lee Jones was also pretty awful, and all the dialog was terrible. Val Kilmer wasn't bad, but with Chris O'donnel we have a Dynamic Don't. I remember Tim Burton saying that he wanted the Batmobile to climb up a wall in the 2nd movie, but couldn't do it for technical reasons. As a producer this time, he managed to make his dream come true -- and yes it looks as stupid as it sounds. I think its fair to say that "anything that looks stupid in a comic book is going to look stupid on the big screen too." Too much bad dialog, too much bad acting, and a really awful storyline. Oh, and Commissioner Gordon is still a useless tool.
Batman & Robin - 1/5 stars. It's actually not any worse than the others, but the silliness, bad acting, and bad dialog is just excruciating. I am offended when people say this is the worst of the movies that "killed the franchise", because I believe that this is equally as bad as Batman Forever. I actually rather liked Mr freeze's costume, even though I though Arnold was awful. I was especially offended when everyone kept saying that "Uma Thurman" was the only saving grace for the movie -- the fact is that she was part of the problem. I like George Cloony a lot, but he doesn't make a convincing Bruce Wayne by any means; I swear they picked him for the role because his chin looks good in the suit. Over the top just doesn't work, and I am glad that this movie buried the franchise for nearly a decade, something that should have happened with Batman Forever.
Batman Begins - 5/5 stars. Wow, what a rebound from the old days of camp. This movie clearly outshines all the other Batman movies, hands down. They finally did something that I have pushing for, for years: make a movie about BRUCE WAYNE. 'Nuff said
Fantastic Four - 3/5 stars. Once again we have a movie that offers a working introduction, but it just didn't hold my interest. The plot line was workable, but I have absolutely no attachment to any of the characters by the time it was over. Mr Fantastic is really the weakest link here, but lets not forget Jessica Alba's awful wig. The comic relief that is The Human Torch made the movie a bit too campy, but overall the movie is certainly workable.
[imager]http://images.darkhorse.com/covers/300/b/bw2.jpg[/imager]Barb Wire - 1/5 stars. Two words: Bor-ing! Pamela Anderson wasn't too bad here, but her "action scenes" were pretty awful, and the plot was a convoluted. It's just completely unmemorable.
Blade - 5/5 stars. Man this movie creeped me out. It felt very real to me, and made me look over my shoulder when I left the theater, which means the makers did their job right. Wesley Snipes definitely made the character his own, and Michale Dorf was an excellent bad guy. Everything made sense in the movie, and everything flowed very well.
Blade 2 - 3/5 stars. Not nearly as good as the first one, this movie was marred by some bad plot issues and really horrible CGI. The concept was solid though, and there was still a sense of tension and fear for me, but bringing Whistler back was kind of lame and repeated "Blade is hurt and needs real blood" plot-reuse was sad.
The Crow - 5/5 stars. Another excellent movie that is a little slow at times but works very well. It actually feels a bit low budget, but the story is tight and the sense of desperation really penetrates the viewer.
Ghost World - 3/5 stars. It's a good movie, but not really my tastes. There is no one to really route for, and it's kind of slow here and there. Story-wise, it is interesting enough, but it need a little more drama, or romance, or something. As it is, it feels like episodes of the wonder years without the elegance.
A History of Violence - 5/5 stars. I loved this movie from start to finish. The ending is a little less definitive than I would have liked, but that does not detract from a well executed story, Viggo Mortensen is excellent without his beard and long hair, and you really end up caring for his character. There is plenty of mystery for the first half of the film, but once the story unfolds nicely and you end up routing for someone you are aren't sure you should be routing for. A great movie all around.
Batmann tv show - 5/5 stars. Adam West starred in this iconic, but highly campy tv series. I can't bring myself to watch it very much these days, but as a child it was very exciting. Sure there is campiness factor, but it was aimed for kids and worked very well for that target audience.
Doctor Strange (1978) - 1/5 stars. This was an awful attempt at Doctor Strange. They changed a lot for the tv show, and they were severely limited by special effects, but man was this bad...
[imager]http://www.studio-nibble.com/blogger/images/20030820-1131.jpg[/imager]The Incredible Hulk (tv) - 5/5 stars. Bill Bixby did a great job as Dr. Banner (David Banner, not Bruce Banner, since tv execs felt "Bruce" was too feminine). They were long and a bit drawn out, but felt no different than Magnum PI or other sleuth shows from that time period. The tv movies were pretty good too, even if Daredevil wore all black (because tv execs felt red does not look good on the screen) and Thor was kind of a jerk. The Death of the Incredible Hulk is easily the weakest of the entire tv series/movies thanks to a really lame plot, but it was always fun to see shirts rip when he "hulked out".
Judge Dredd - 3.5/5 stars. Certainly better than average, I thought Sylvester Stalone did an excellent job with the character. Mega City had a lot of flavor and Diane Lane was an excellent female lead. The special effects worked well, and I loved the ABC WARRIOR. But the editing was a bit choppy and the story itself was a little lame, especially the climax. The story would have been better for a sequel rather than an introduction to the universe.
[imager]http://www.badmovies.org/othermovies/justiceleague/justiceleague3.jpg[/imager]Justice League of America (live action tv 1997): 1/5 stars. A lame attempt at a live action tv show. Since it was a pilot, they couldn't afford to do much, and it showed. They did get some well known actors, but it all felt so... low budget. There were some great moments though (Barry Allan getting fired from the post office for working too fast), but the lack of money certainly hurt. It's no wonder this pilot was never picked up.
The Mask - 5/5 stars. I like Jim Carey, and I actually find his character here far more interesting than his role in Batman Forever. It's a fun movie all around with a fairly tight plot line. Its fun from beginning to end. My favorite scene - sing/dancing with the police.
Men in Black - 5/5 stars. This was great when I saw it at the movie theater the first time, and is still fun when I see it on tv. It has a certain magic and mystery to it that keeps it interesting.
Men in Black II - 3/5 stars. Certainly not nearly as good as the first, but it as a scifi movie it offers enough to keep me interested. The plot is quite weak and even the actors don't seem to believe what they are doing, but it's fun enough.
Mystery Men - 2/5 stars. There are definitely some interesting moments here, and things are varied enough to give it a "2/5", but overall I did not like this movie. The acting was pretty bad, and it just felt too campy to me. Is it serious or a comedy? Action or drama? It fails at all of the above.
The Punisher (1989) - 2/5 stars. For a low budget movie, this isn't too bad at all, but the plot and acting leaves something to be desired. This certainly feels more like a made-for-television movie and it succeeds at that. But the dialog and flow of the movie is too choppy for my tastes.
[imager]http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en/thumb/5/57/250px-Rocketeer_Adventure_Magazine_1.jpg[/imager]The Rocketeer - 4/5 stars. I thought this was an excellent movie, that dragged on a bit here and there. The main problem is that it was set in 1938, which is usually pretty tough to pull off successfully in this genre. But I loved Bill Campbell and Jennifer Connelly, and Timothy Dalton does a bang up villain. I liked this movie alot.
Spawn - 1/5 stars. God what an awful movie. I swear everything Todd McFarlane touches is crap. Pretty good special effects, but they really need to hire a real writer.
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman - 3/5 stars. I loved the first season when Debrah Joy Levinson was in charge, but then they started to get very campy with the second season, hence the lower score. It was still enjoyable to watch for a while, until they got all "desperate housewives" and added a lame season-long story line (Lois is a clone that eats frogs... yeah, okey). It's still a decent effort for television, but I wish they would have kept more focus on Clark + Lois rather than the all the super power madness.
Tank Girl - 1/5. Messy. Convoluted. Annoying. But Naomi Watts was hot.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) - 5/5. A great movie that was fun an interesting. I am glad they kept Casey Jones, not to mention this was a time when we don't have all the CGI crap. Good fun!
Timecop - 5/5. Regardless of your opinion about Van Damme, this is a great scifi movie. There are some small plot holes here and there, but things seem to move along very smoothly and the audience can't help but care for the main character and events that surround him.
Wonder Woman tv - 5/5. Another great series from the 70s, this one leaves behind all the campiness that was Batman and takes a much more serious tone. Linda Carter was great for the role (for several reasons), and I enjoyed the stories very much. I am surprised we have not seen a revival of this character on live tv or the movies yet.
[imager]http://homepage.mac.com/markrathwell/Spidey/Cast/Cast_Hammond.jpg[/imager]Spider-man (1977 tv) - 5/5. Nicholas Hammond starred in these live action tv series. They made some changes, like webshooters being on the oustide of the glove (ala Scarlet Spider), but it worked very well. The tv movies could have used a bigger budget, but I loved it all. I think they did a great job with what they had to work with, and it all worked great!
There you go -- my options of various comic book adaptations. Note that I have not listed any cartoons or animated series. That is a discussion for another time.
~The Le
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