Post by ZX on May 7, 2007 14:21:24 GMT -5
This has been bothering me for a long time, especially nowadays when I'm even more critical of films I watch since I'm a film studies major. Why does Hollywood constantly make these superhero movies based off comicbooks and they decide to go as far away from the source material as possible?
Those of you who've known me since elementary school should remember I've been a fan of comicbooks since then, when I would draw Captain Planet, Superman, Batman, and Power Rangers in art class all the time. Time passed and I finally began collecting my own comics instead of reading my older brother's ones all the time. I got hooked on numerous titles, including my favs - X-men, Spider-man, the Avengers, Cyberforce, Wetworks, X-Force, WildCATs, Witchblade, Lady Death, and so many other titles I'm still collecting back issues of. Then there was the period between the end of my elementary school days to the end of high school where I KNOW most people still remember me doing this - drawing my own comicbooks in class. Funny, I still have like 2 of these but I bet most my 'fans' have more than that. Anywho, I wanted to go away from the norms of the comicbooks I held so precious and create my own gripping stories and characters that people would enjoy. I still have this dream to this day to somehow bringing my characters (I write my stories now - I'm not the best writer but heck, I get ideas down) to the world can enjoy them just as much everyone enjoys Batman, Superman, Spider-man and so many other comicbook heroes - whether that be in a story, a video game, an anime/cartoon/manga, comicbooks, or even a movie.
But here's what I have a problem with the movies based on my childhood entertainment. I know that all of comicbooks have changed as we've all grown up to suit the culture and society as time moves forward, but why does it have to be almost moronic on some of these changes?
For example, I pick up X-men a few months ago and about all the mutants have lost their powers. WTF. Ok I can understand that maybe being a mutant is a common thing now but seriously, just flipping the switch to 'Off' on their powers is just lame. Jean's dead for like the 100th time and Cyclops is dating White Queen. That's not even logical. Wasn't she nursing the Generation X kids LOL? Then the fact that Juggernaut is a good guy, Xavier is in the crazy asylum, and that there's at least 3-5 X-men books to keep up with per month just adds to the stupidity of this new generation stuff.
Another example is Marvel's "Ultimates" line of remakes on their heroes. There's Ultimate X-men, Ultimate Spider-man, etc. You get the idea. I liked the Heroes Reborn (2001 to 2003) retelling of most of the heroes' stories and origins, not none of this new crap. Spider-man died and gets new powers? He gets a new costume (I thought it looked OKAY) and becomes Ironman's bitch for a while? Is Stan Lee even reading his own comics anymore? I think he's just enjoying the money at this point.
Now people don't go out there and see EVERY damn superhero movie that comes out just b/c of its popular name. Hollywood doesn't give a damn about reviews, if it makes money they'll keep making more of the same garbage. That's why we get goddamn awful movie video games b/c dumb parents go and buy these things for their kids b/c they don't know what else to buy. It's the same thing in movies too. Hollywood can and will keep dishing out these awful and unfaithful comicbook/TV hero movies just earn some cash to make their own wallets fat.
Don't get me wrong but I did enjoy the new TMNT movie as that was as faithful to the comics as we're gonna get. (FYI for those who don't know, the old TMNT cartoon was NOT faithful to the comics. It was just the cartoon channels having fun with the TMNT license). Then I enjoyed the 2nd X-men movie, regardless to the fact how Lady Deathstrike and Wolverine's past was handled, but compared to the 1st and the recent 3rd one that X2 is pure gold.
Last but not least, let's talk about the Spider-man movies. The first one was a class and accurate to the teeth to the original comics, minus the fact about Spidey could shoot the webbing from his waists naturally. That's a new generation thing but that was forgivable, along with having Kirsten Durst play MJ. I'm still not too keen on her playing her. ANYWHO, onto Spider-man 2...The CG behind Doc Ock's arms and the guy who played him was just perfect. Still I hated how they made Spidey losing his powers bad as him not scoring with MJ at the prom or something. *sighs*
**Spoilers for Spider-man 3** Along w/ my Opinion of it:
Finally Spider-man 3. I went into this thinking it was going to be horrible just like X-men 3 was. I would say this movie was mediocore at best. Instead of making the Black Suit Spider-man just as a monster as the villians that Peter Parker faces on a daily basis, they turn Peter into a mad, emo nerd. That and the entire black suit thing was just rushed entirely. They did successfully play onto the fact that The Sandman wasn't entirely a bad guy. But killing both Venom and "New" Goblin (that costume design was MORONIC - how the hell you can call yourself a Goblin when you look like a ninja on a surfboard?) off, was just stupid. I mean c'mon. Spidey never completely beat Venom in the comics and well, so many people have been the Goblin(s) in the comics that's not even funny. But making him and Spidey tag team was lame - sure it worked in the Spider-man Unlimited cartoon but hello people this isn't Counter-Earth. Looking at this film from a technical point of view - it's awesome if you really like CG effects. About 95% of the time of every fight and every time you see the Black Suit is done on CG. Maybe it's me, but its REALLY obvious. The plot is just full of a LOT of plot holes that don't get answered. For example, if Peter got a raise why is he still living in a dump, or what was the point of bringing Gwen Stacy into the storyline if they weren't going to use her like she was supposed to be used in the original story? FYI Gwen dies thanks to the Green Goblin tossing her off a bridge; Spidey catches her with his webbing but her neck snaps from the sudden stop. Then what was the point of Don Knotts playing the butler in Harry's house? Or how about what was so special about that pumpkin bomb that it COMPLETELY destroyed Venom? I could go on all day about the pros and cons of this movie.
The facts are hard but true people. Hollywood doesn't care about how you feel about your favorite franchises and heroes on the silver screen. The only thing they care about is the green. And they'll keep getting that green while you go watch this crap they hype and hype as the best movie for the summer or whenever and you leave the theater regretting you've spent that $5-8 on that damn garbage you just saw. Really how hard is it to make a decent superhero movie? X-men is a story about indifference in a world where the 'gifted' don't fit in. Spider-man is about an ordinary kid who gets super-powers and tries to have an ordinary life. Sure these themes are simple, but somehow Hollywood finds a way to screw them up to suit their moronic ideals.
Those of you who've known me since elementary school should remember I've been a fan of comicbooks since then, when I would draw Captain Planet, Superman, Batman, and Power Rangers in art class all the time. Time passed and I finally began collecting my own comics instead of reading my older brother's ones all the time. I got hooked on numerous titles, including my favs - X-men, Spider-man, the Avengers, Cyberforce, Wetworks, X-Force, WildCATs, Witchblade, Lady Death, and so many other titles I'm still collecting back issues of. Then there was the period between the end of my elementary school days to the end of high school where I KNOW most people still remember me doing this - drawing my own comicbooks in class. Funny, I still have like 2 of these but I bet most my 'fans' have more than that. Anywho, I wanted to go away from the norms of the comicbooks I held so precious and create my own gripping stories and characters that people would enjoy. I still have this dream to this day to somehow bringing my characters (I write my stories now - I'm not the best writer but heck, I get ideas down) to the world can enjoy them just as much everyone enjoys Batman, Superman, Spider-man and so many other comicbook heroes - whether that be in a story, a video game, an anime/cartoon/manga, comicbooks, or even a movie.
But here's what I have a problem with the movies based on my childhood entertainment. I know that all of comicbooks have changed as we've all grown up to suit the culture and society as time moves forward, but why does it have to be almost moronic on some of these changes?
For example, I pick up X-men a few months ago and about all the mutants have lost their powers. WTF. Ok I can understand that maybe being a mutant is a common thing now but seriously, just flipping the switch to 'Off' on their powers is just lame. Jean's dead for like the 100th time and Cyclops is dating White Queen. That's not even logical. Wasn't she nursing the Generation X kids LOL? Then the fact that Juggernaut is a good guy, Xavier is in the crazy asylum, and that there's at least 3-5 X-men books to keep up with per month just adds to the stupidity of this new generation stuff.
Another example is Marvel's "Ultimates" line of remakes on their heroes. There's Ultimate X-men, Ultimate Spider-man, etc. You get the idea. I liked the Heroes Reborn (2001 to 2003) retelling of most of the heroes' stories and origins, not none of this new crap. Spider-man died and gets new powers? He gets a new costume (I thought it looked OKAY) and becomes Ironman's bitch for a while? Is Stan Lee even reading his own comics anymore? I think he's just enjoying the money at this point.
Now people don't go out there and see EVERY damn superhero movie that comes out just b/c of its popular name. Hollywood doesn't give a damn about reviews, if it makes money they'll keep making more of the same garbage. That's why we get goddamn awful movie video games b/c dumb parents go and buy these things for their kids b/c they don't know what else to buy. It's the same thing in movies too. Hollywood can and will keep dishing out these awful and unfaithful comicbook/TV hero movies just earn some cash to make their own wallets fat.
Don't get me wrong but I did enjoy the new TMNT movie as that was as faithful to the comics as we're gonna get. (FYI for those who don't know, the old TMNT cartoon was NOT faithful to the comics. It was just the cartoon channels having fun with the TMNT license). Then I enjoyed the 2nd X-men movie, regardless to the fact how Lady Deathstrike and Wolverine's past was handled, but compared to the 1st and the recent 3rd one that X2 is pure gold.
Last but not least, let's talk about the Spider-man movies. The first one was a class and accurate to the teeth to the original comics, minus the fact about Spidey could shoot the webbing from his waists naturally. That's a new generation thing but that was forgivable, along with having Kirsten Durst play MJ. I'm still not too keen on her playing her. ANYWHO, onto Spider-man 2...The CG behind Doc Ock's arms and the guy who played him was just perfect. Still I hated how they made Spidey losing his powers bad as him not scoring with MJ at the prom or something. *sighs*
**Spoilers for Spider-man 3** Along w/ my Opinion of it:
Finally Spider-man 3. I went into this thinking it was going to be horrible just like X-men 3 was. I would say this movie was mediocore at best. Instead of making the Black Suit Spider-man just as a monster as the villians that Peter Parker faces on a daily basis, they turn Peter into a mad, emo nerd. That and the entire black suit thing was just rushed entirely. They did successfully play onto the fact that The Sandman wasn't entirely a bad guy. But killing both Venom and "New" Goblin (that costume design was MORONIC - how the hell you can call yourself a Goblin when you look like a ninja on a surfboard?) off, was just stupid. I mean c'mon. Spidey never completely beat Venom in the comics and well, so many people have been the Goblin(s) in the comics that's not even funny. But making him and Spidey tag team was lame - sure it worked in the Spider-man Unlimited cartoon but hello people this isn't Counter-Earth. Looking at this film from a technical point of view - it's awesome if you really like CG effects. About 95% of the time of every fight and every time you see the Black Suit is done on CG. Maybe it's me, but its REALLY obvious. The plot is just full of a LOT of plot holes that don't get answered. For example, if Peter got a raise why is he still living in a dump, or what was the point of bringing Gwen Stacy into the storyline if they weren't going to use her like she was supposed to be used in the original story? FYI Gwen dies thanks to the Green Goblin tossing her off a bridge; Spidey catches her with his webbing but her neck snaps from the sudden stop. Then what was the point of Don Knotts playing the butler in Harry's house? Or how about what was so special about that pumpkin bomb that it COMPLETELY destroyed Venom? I could go on all day about the pros and cons of this movie.
The facts are hard but true people. Hollywood doesn't care about how you feel about your favorite franchises and heroes on the silver screen. The only thing they care about is the green. And they'll keep getting that green while you go watch this crap they hype and hype as the best movie for the summer or whenever and you leave the theater regretting you've spent that $5-8 on that damn garbage you just saw. Really how hard is it to make a decent superhero movie? X-men is a story about indifference in a world where the 'gifted' don't fit in. Spider-man is about an ordinary kid who gets super-powers and tries to have an ordinary life. Sure these themes are simple, but somehow Hollywood finds a way to screw them up to suit their moronic ideals.
