[rez]

YOC's quick comment on the Ironman, X-men and FF movies in a different thread got me thinking about the films. For the most part I found them pleasant entertainment especially in comparison to they attempts of old but then again I'm easy to please.

Thought to ask among the reader's here their final analysis over the Marvel films.

Cheers

[darkmark]

Well, I liked the heck out of Iron Man and the first two Spidey films, and enjoyed the first couple of X-Men and the second Hulk.  I even liked Daredevil, Ghost Rider, and FF #1, but I'm easy to please.  Quality tends to tail off after the first couple of movies, I fear, but so far Marvel's done a pretty good job.  The main thing is, most of the shows stick to the original concept of the characters and try to present them as HEROES...a thing most contemporary comics writers have forgotten.

[Yoc]

I'd say the go from a high point of Spiderman 1, X-Men 1 to a low point of FF (both), Daredevil and Ghost Rider (which went too hard for the camp element but I loved Fonda as the villain.)
I'm not so easy to please.  The FF movies have so far been the most disappointing of the lot.

-Yoc

[bchat]

I liked both FF films and Iron Man (which surprised me) and have watched them all several times.  I didn't care much for the 1st attempt at a Hulk movie or Daredevil, and I won't torture myself by trying to watch Elektra.  Ghost Rider was so boring that I haven't bothered to watch the entire thing and don't ever plan to.  The Blade and X-Men movies were good but not good enough to want to watch again.  The Spider-Man movies have held-up nicely through repeated viewings.

As much as I like quite a few of the newer Marvel films, there's a lot of other comic book movies that I think are just flat-out better and watch more often, so I guess my "final analysis" would be "they're getting there".

[Yoc]

Actually I didn't mind the Electra movie... it wasn't Great but it was better than I expected.  But I expected nothing.  I forgot about the Blade films and tv show.  I enjoyed them but I've never read any of the comics.
I agree there are better non-Marvel comics movies out there.
History of Violence comes to mind.  American Splendour.  Ghost World got nice reviews.

-Yoc

[bchat]

"V for Vendetta" blew me away.  I never read the comic and didn't care that a movie was even made before I bought the dvd.  The only reason I even picked it up was because I had a little money burning a hole in my pocket (those were the days!).  I expected absolutely nothing from it other than something to watch before I went to bed at night (a habit I have after long days of "too much to do and no time to relax").  Instead of falling asleep halfway through, I got to the end wanting to watch it again right then and there.

Another non-Marvel favorite of mine is "Mystery Men" because it's so darn fun to watch and it has a nice message that it doesn't beat you over the head with.  "Constantine" surprised me, as did Keeanu Reeves.  I look at this as the only movie where his lack of personality was a bonus to the character he was portraying.  And I won't apologize for liking "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" because it has a lot going for it in spite of the fact that it barley resembles the comics. 

Another film that surprised me was "Batman Begins".  I guess what I expected from it was just another Batman film, but the way everything just comes together at the end, it just makes for a solid film from beginning to end.  Out of all the Marvel films I've seen so far, I think "Iron Man" gets closest to that level of storytelling, although I would have liked a little more focus on what Stane was doing behind Stark's back.

[Yoc]

Constantine - good one!  Another one I forgot.
I never read any of the series but enjoyed the film a lot.
I'm looking forward to the 'Y-Last Man' film if it happens.

[rez]

Yes, V For Vendetta was an enjoyable film. I'd never read the books either but recognized the title as from, DC?, as the memory of seeing an enlarged accented 'V' on a cover somewhere came up and thought to try the viewing of the movie. Wasn't disappointed.
Seems there is always room for what one might think could have been done better, tho'. Always the role of the armchair quarterback too. snorK*

Knowing there are time and financial perimeters involved when bringing a project forward kind of reminds me a bit of  catching comic book hand drawn lettering that sometimes made it into print. The bulk of the book will have clear defined lettering techniques in use till you happened to see a page that goes minorly lopsided with various shrinking letters and other misaligned features that is good enough but far from the standard quality of the rest of the book

and one can imagine a late night episode pressing to meet the already extended deadline. heh heh Got to love reality's personal touch.

"V for Vendetta" blew me away.  I never read the comic and didn't care that a movie was even made before I bought the dvd.  The only reason I even picked it up was because I had a little money burning a hole in my pocket (those were the days!).  I expected absolutely nothing from it other than something to watch before I went to bed at night (a habit I have after long days of "too much to do and no time to relax").  Instead of falling asleep halfway through, I got to the end wanting to watch it again right then and there.

Another non-Marvel favorite of mine is "Mystery Men" because it's so darn fun to watch and it has a nice message that it doesn't beat you over the head with.  "Constantine" surprised me, as did Keeanu Reeves.  I look at this as the only movie where his lack of personality was a bonus to the character he was portraying.  And I won't apologize for liking "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" because it has a lot going for it in spite of the fact that it barley resembles the comics. 

Another film that surprised me was "Batman Begins".  I guess what I expected from it was just another Batman film, but the way everything just comes together at the end, it just makes for a solid film from beginning to end.  Out of all the Marvel films I've seen so far, I think "Iron Man" gets closest to that level of storytelling, although I would have liked a little more focus on what Stane was doing behind Stark's back.

[John C]

Just something I want to toss in the mix, here, is a note of dissention on the "make movies that are just like the comics" approach that's become so popular.  While I guess it is actually easier to produce something popular when you precisely adapt something that's already popular (duh), there are cases where I loved adaptations that were very unlike the source material.  The Flash TV series comes immediately to mind, trying to carry the Tim Burton aesthetic to Central City.

The result looked little to nothing like any of the comics (heh--even when they tried to adapt it in a comic!), but I thought it was an excellent show, and I don't think it would've been improved by slavish devotion to the comics.

[Rajah]

Like many here, I thought the best of the Marvel movies were Iron Man and the first two Spider-Man and X-Men films (especially X2, which had my vote for best superhero movie until the Nolan Batman films). The Incredible Hulk and the first two Blade movies were also impressive.

Unlike many, I actually liked the first Hulk movie. It wasn't perfect (the Hulk-dogs and that incomprehensible ending spring to mind) but I enjoyed Ang Lee's approach and the comic book panel split-screen effect. Also, any movie with Jennifer Connelly gets points with me.

Could not stand Daredevil, Elektra, Ghost Rider, X-Men 3, or the Fantastic Four movies. Spider-Man 3 was okay but tried too hard. And I think we'd all prefer to forget the Howard the Duck and Man-Thing movies even exist.

[rez]

What we need is an XO ManofWar movie. That was an enjoyable series.
Been a while. Is the book still being produced?

[Yoc]

I'm likely to get booed for it but I enjoyed 'Sin City' and '300' as well.
(ducks for cover)
Never read the source material of either but never had I seen movies that 'looked' so much like a comic.

Now - the BEST, BAR NONE, 'comicbook' movie I ever saw that wasn't based on a comic was....
THE INCREDIBLES!

[cimmerian32]

Good Comic book movies...

Iron Man (best Marvel superhero movie to date)
The Dark Knight (best DC superhero movie to date)
Sin City (faithful in every way to the comics, and a great movie on its own merits)
300 (as above, so below)
Daredevil (the Director's cut...  MUCH better than the theatrical release version)
V For Vendetta (read the book back when it came out, read it before watching the movie, and was STILL blow away by the story!)
Hellboy (a fun, thrill packed cinema experience, just like the comic)
Batman Begins (great movie, and a decent lead in for The Dark Knight)
Batman (1989...  really liked Nicholson's take on the Joker, and the story was well-paced and kept me interested, but HATED that fat guy (Pat Hingle, BAD, BAD casting) as Commissioner Gordon)
Wanted (not faithful, really, to the comic, but a fun movie none-the-less)
The Punisher (Thomas Jane was great as Frank Castle, and I liked the Garth Ennis nods in the sub-plots)

Bad Comic book movies...

FF (both)
Elektra (would've been alright if the screenplay had made more sense)
Spider-Man (never liked the comics, didn't like the movie)
Superman Returns (never liked the character, didn't like the movie(s))
Batman Returns (HATED that ugly girl as Catwoman, but liked Christopher Walken's turn as the villain)


my tuppence.

[bchat]

I'm likely to get booed for it but I enjoyed 'Sin City' and '300' as well.

I enjoyed "Sin City", too, and I don't know why I didn't mention it before.  I haven't seen "300" yet but I want to eventually.

Now - the BEST, BAR NONE, 'comicbook' movie I ever saw that wasn't based on a comic was....
THE INCREDIBLES!

I agree, but I wouldn't even call it a "comic book" movie, but rather a "superhero movie".  Granted, that's a subtle difference but I don't like the idea of a film like "Incredibles" and "Unbreakable" (another great film) being called "comic book movies" because they really aren't.

And I think we'd all prefer to forget the Howard the Duck and Man-Thing movies even exist.

"Howard the Duck" wasn't such a bad film, but since I never read the comics I had no expectations when seeing it.  "Man-Thing" showed-up on the Sci-Fi Channel a while back, and I was psyched to see it, until it started ... and then nothing happened, so I put something more interesting on (Weather Channel? ... CSPAN??? ... static?).

But as bad as "Man-Thing" was, nothing tops "Doctor Strange".  Even thinking about it makes me want to claw my eyes out.