"Angelicomics' Top Ten Things Comic Book Movies Are Doing Wrong (but sometimes get right)" No. 10-6

      Film adaptations of comic books have been in the main stream now for about 15 years. It wasn't until the release of "Blade" in the late 90's that things really started to take off, and people in Hollywood began thinking this was the new cash cow. Well, regardless of the finished product, they were right. These film adaptations have been keeping a steady flow of our cash into the world of lights and glamor regardless of whether they were good movies or not. The interesting thing about these movies is that most of this generation have never picked up a comic book; instead they have wander into a theater and for the price of three comics they get the whole story, the origin, the battle, the end, and then they usually walk away pretty happy. But what about the "fanboys," what about those of us that grew up with these characters. We are left asking, "Why, Hollywood, why do you spit on my childhood?" and yet still we continue to go back years after year to see if Hollywood has been shown the error of their ways, and fixed things in the sequel.
     I wanted to come up with a list of things, which I feel will point out the what Hollywood is doing wrong to our beloved heroes. But don't get me wrong, they are doing some things very right, and I will point those out too. To my knowledge there hasn't been a list quite like this; so here we go. This is "Angelicomics' Top Ten Things Comic Book Movies Are Doing Wrong (but sometimes get right)." (WARNING: May Contain Spoilers)

#10 - Relaunching the Franchise

Wrong:
     Many of the best known titles have already been exhausted, leaving Hollywood to scavenge around for new ways to reinvent the franchise. In such cases as Superman leading into its second relaunch, the Amazing Spider-Man, and a possible Fantastic 4 relaunch in the works, its hard to keep track of the original story. Some younger generations don't understand what's going on half the time; and when watching one of these movies they see action and adventure and little more. The adults on the other hand are left cringing and worrying "Will I ever see my favorite villains again?" Such is the case with the Spider-Man trilogy. When Venom was announced as a villain in the third movie, I was really excited. I think Sam Raimi did a great job thus far with the first two films, but when we got to see the web slinger's dark counterpart, nothing but disappointment filled my mind. Now fast forward a few years and we have a new series in the Amazing Spider-Man; a great movie that stuck to the roots of the original story and had a very unique story driven villain. But still, the fans are left to wonder when and how the return of their favorite villains, who were used in the original trilogy, will be received. I have no doubt that Venom will make an appearance again, but it just keeps confusing us and adds to the speculation of when and where these iconic villains will show up.

Right:
     Obviously the new Superman film, The Man of Steel, hasn't been released yet, but it's shaping up to be a blockbuster. The new uniform, the blue tights, and still the same synopsis from the original, second film, starring Christopher Reeve. This is how a relaunch should be done. After the disaster of the last film, Superman Returns, it was time for Hollywood to step back and say "Hey, we messed up, lets make it right." They cut their losses and came up with this project. Unlike Spider-Man only being relaunched within a few years of the first 3 installments, I see The Man of Steel as a relaunch of the original four films. We can just forget about Superman Returns... He never really came back anyway.

#9 - Bad One Liners

Wrong:
     There is nothing like sitting in a theater with goosebumps while watching your favorite characters duke it out on the big screen; and then one of them opens their mouths and says something disastrous. Yes we have all been privy to the cliche one liners that keep popping up in movies. To give you an example of what I am talking about, one line stick's to mind...

     Yeah... she just said that. I don't think I had caught that line the first time I saw X-Men in theaters, but sure enough after many years of seeing this movie, this one line from Storm, still embarrasses me to this day. Many others come to mind, most of which come from the first three X-Men films. The Juggernaut's catch phrase, "I'm the Juggernaut, b****," being a horrible line taken from a youtube spoof. Its these kinds of one liners that ruin careers.

Right:
     Every once in a while we will hear a line that sticks with us for the rest of our lives. Those are the kind of moments where the music is just right, the tone, the timing, just everything strikes home. Those are the lines that make careers in Hollywood memorable. My favorite being...

#8 - Dramatic Character Changes

Wrong:
     Sometimes with new directors come new perspectives on a character. Perhaps going from one film to the next there was some inner turmoil that was taking place, which caused the character to go a little mad. However, when the previous film ends on a good note, why should we suspect anything has gone wrong during the time between the two films? Case and point, Ghost Rider; the first film ended, all the loose ends tied up, but now in Ghost Rider the Spirit of Vengeance we see that our heroin is suffering from the loss of his sanity, and now the spirit seeks to take control. The depiction of Ghost Rider was a much more in control character which was pulled off fairly well in the first film, but in the second movie he just feels entirely different and at times its confusing.

Right:
     X-Men, the Last Stand, although not a great movie still had a few good moments. In the beginning of the film we see a very troubled Cyclops who is still mourning the death of Jean from the previous film. His disheveled appearance makes us feel that these last few years between films have taken their toll on the lead X-Man. In The Dark Knight Rises we see a weak and decrepit Bruce Wayne which accurately displays realism and carries over the sentiments of the Dark Knight's ending. We can honestly say that Batman hasn't been out prowling the rooftops in some time while we were away. When he gave up the cowl, he meant it, and that's how it should be.

#7 - Adding Original Characters

Wrong:
     There are millions characters in the comic universe to choose from, but for some reason Hollywood thinks its okay to come up with original characters to try and steal the spotlight. Looking back at Superman Returns, Bryan Singer thought it might be nice to give Superman a son. Interesting idea, poorly executed. There was no story as to how it was possible that Superman would have a son. It was left for the fans to figure out that somehow, in Superman II, when Superman gave up his powers to be with Lois, he impregnated her. Let alone, she has no recollection of sleeping with him after that movie; so whose child did she think she was having. Moving onto Spider-Man 3 we are given the New Goblin. Why was this even a character? There was the Hobgoblin, Demi-Goblin, heck he could have just taken the old goblin costume and I would have been alright with that. But instead we got the super rad hover boarder known as New Goblin. Something completely original, gone so very wrong. Lastly, Superman 3 gave us a machine that could kill Superman; why not just call it Brainiac? Problem solved.

Right:
     Sometimes we get some nice additions to the comic universe. I don't know if many of you will agree with me but because of the Batman the Animated Series we now have such loveable characters as Harley Quinn. Not many other Hollywood adaptations introduce new characters that survive the test of time.

 #6 - Reusing the Same Actors

 Wrong:
     Chris Evans, James Marsden and Ryan Reynolds, this one is directed at you. I am almost willing to forgive Ryan and James just because the probability that a film crossover is unlikely. Ryan Reynolds plays both Green Lantern (DC) and Hannibal from Blade (Marvel); while James Marsden plays both Cyclops (Marvel) and Richard White (DC) in the Superman movie. However, Chris Evan's portrayal as both Human Torch and Captain America are unacceptable. With all the hype about film crossovers nowadays we will never see the Fantastic Four help the Avengers because of this fiasco, or until they relaunch the Fantastic Four. I am all for getting good actors to play these parts, but again, it just confuses people not familiar to the films and sometimes its good to give others a shot in the film industry. If you look at Hugh Jackman, he was barely a blip on the radar until he played Wolverine in the first X-Men film. Now he calls that role his roots.

Right: 
     I really cant say that using the same actors is a good thing, but with new adaptations of previous films I think that sometimes its okay to say goodbye to actors who didn't do the rolls justice and let someone else take over. I felt Edward Norton was a great replacement for the Hulk in his one appearance, but then he was replaced in the Avengers by Mark Ruffalo. I like both performances, but this little screw up is the splinter in the series continuity. Toby McGuire as Spider-Man was great for its time period, but I think Andrew Garfield's adaptation is much more fitting. I also agree that Liev Schreiber's portrayal of Sabertooth in 2009's Wolverine: Origins was a better fit than Tyler Mane's in the original series.

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