Creative decisions in comic book movies you loved/hated
No comic-book movie has been truly adapted straight from the page into celluloid (unless it was a Zack Snyder film). Often creative license is employed by the director/crew, where the source material is adjusted or altered so that it can fit the director’s vision, but is still reasonably the same thing. It’s like Peter Jackson putting in all that extra backstory into LOTR, or like when Francis Coppola set Joseph Conrad’s novel HEART OF DARKNESS in Vietnam.
It’s definitely a bit of a gambit, one which can prove successful or not. It would depend on how well-written the change is, and the impact of the change, and of how course how acceptable the audience finds it...
So what creative decisions in comic-book films did you like, and not?
Richard Donner’s SUPERMAN
Loved – The Christ-like symbolism given to Superman, it fits perfectly regarding him. The crystal architecture/tech on Krypton was a great touch, emphasizing the heavenly superiority of the Kryptonians but also (in hindsight) showcasing that Krypton had become cold and sterile and was soon to come to an end.
Hated – Lex Luthor had too many funny scenes. Hackman was good when he was acting ruthless and evil (the scene where he reveals his plan to Superman and drops the kryptonite necklace on him), but there wasn’t enough of that. To be fair, in the 1970s Luthor was more a Dick Dastardly-mad scientist villain rather than a corporate businessman with a chip on his shoulder towards the blue-suited alien. Otis and Miss Tessmascher too were overused and overstayed their welcome.
Zack Snyder’s MAN OF STEEL
Loved – Krypton’s new look, a wilderness of organic-looking tech with liquid metal interfaces. A new look was really necessary, and this new one is a great reinvention of Krypton .And finally Superman’s speed and strength are fully rendered to their glory.
Hated – There’s not really a good/evil morality here, it’s just that Zod was bred to be militant and to do whatever it takes to revive his people and that Kal-El is no more than an alien trying to find his place in the world. To be fair, the film was very much Superman Begins, but still I miss my inspirational blue boy scout.
Tim Burton’s BATMAN couplet
Loved – The overall dark vision that Burton came up with is gorgeous: a mixture of film noir and Goth surrealism (small wonder Bruce Timm used this aesthetic in BTAS). Batman makes a great “Phantom of the Opera” portrayal: a masked, traumatized figure gliding around Gotham delivering vengeance to criminals. Making the Joker and Batman their own creators is a very ironic move and works well considering how freakish the two really are. The Penguin as a monstrous victim of society and Catwoman a feline-themed victim of misogyny are also great representations, darker ones as compared to the previous Adam West lighthearted portrayal (and even the Nolan present-day portrayal).
Hated – The films often look very staged at times. And casting Harvey Dent when he didn’t become Two-Face wasn’t really fair to the character (I also worry how he would have looked – probably a black-and-white face design, knowing Burton).
Christopher Nolan’s BATMAN films
Loved – Batman’s journey to becoming Batman is given more detail, as is the way he acquires his tech: he doesn’t really create it, rather its military tech his company had adapted. Ra’s Al Ghul as a terrorist with the intent to wipe out all corrupt authorities makes for a great contemporary villain. I love what they did with the Joker: he’s still crazy, but he’s more an anarchist out to spread chaos and disorder rather than a clownish criminal. And Bane’s mask used to give him anesthetic rather than a steroid sounds more realistic; he doesn’t need to be strengthened, he’s already strong enough and smart enough.
Hated – I think this film underused Harvey Dent; he was more a consequence and victim of the Joker’s onslaught rather than a villain in his own right. The Scarecrow was just wandering around doing next to nothing after his appearance in the first film. And there’s Robin and Talia, whose names were removed simply for the sake of making a good twist.
THE MASK
Loved – The source comic was a dark story about a loser who becomes a deranged murderer when he puts an enchanted mask on. Instead the film was a comedy showcasing Jim Carrey’s breakout SMOKING performance.
Hated – The sequel.
The MEN IN BLACK films
Loved – The source comic was a dark story about a renegade agent trying to stop the MIB from taking over the world. What we got was GHOSTBUSTERS with aliens, and Smith and Jones make it work so wonderfully.
Hated - ... I love this series, I don’t really have any complaints.
The X-MEN series
Loved - ... I’m stumped. The performances and that it was X-Men were all that engaged me. Okay, I did like that Wolverine became head of the school, but that was only really because of the WOLVERINE & THE X-MEN comic.
Hated – The leather black suits (yes, Cyclops, I would take yellow spandex). Combining Rogue with Jubilee. Scaling down Professor X and Magneto’s abilities (Charles more than Erik). No use of Psylocke at all. Turning the Phoenix into Jean’s dark side instead of an alien being. Mystique and Nightcrawler having blue scales (why couldn’t they look like Beast or Neytiri?). Cyclops, Jean Gray and Professor X getting killed in X3 (though Cyclops was Singer’s fault as he took Marsden for SUPERMAN RETURNS). Gambit and Emma Frost in the past instead of the present.
Sam Raimi’s SPIDER-MAN films
Loved – Raimi made each villain sympathetic enough to be understandable but not necessarily sympathetic. Norman Osborn’s split personality disorder: his dark side manifesting itself as the Green Goblin (despite the suit, it made sense and the mirror scene was great). Otto Octavius going insane through mind-melding with his sentient tentacles. The Sandman as a thug trying to save his daughter (making him Uncle Ben’s killer was a bit unnecessary, but the overall concept – a villain who’s not really that bad and challenges Peter’s black/white view – more or less work).
Hated – They couldn’t do enough justice to Harry Osborn or Venom. Especially Venom. Reportedly the writers didn’t find a good cliffhanger to end SPIDER-MAN 3; really, the symbiote falling on Eddie wouldn’t have made a great ending scene?
Ang Lee’s HULK
Loved – The film actually gave Banner legitimate issues (genetic experimentation, trauma) that formed a plausible motive for him to Hulk out. This is more in keeping with the original portrayal in the comics of a monstrous anti-heroic figure, rather than the angry hero he later evolved into.
Hated – There wasn’t a good enough villain. But then, apart from General Ross hunting him Hulk hasn’t really had good villains, most of them are gamma-irradiated clones. And the split-screen technique was overused.
THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN
Loved – the whole steampunk-era superhero concept, actually. And that these aren’t heroes but rather legendary figures brought together: a hunter, a sailor, a vampire, an invisible man.
Hated – the plot twist that M brought them together just so he could steal their abilities to be copied. I mean not only was that not according to the comics but it was a dumb idea that backfired spectacularly on him.
GREEN LANTERN
Loved – Clancy Brown as Parallax. And the connection between Hector Hammond and Parallax was an interesting one, sort of bridging Green Lantern’s human and cosmic antagonist.
Hated – Hal Jordan’s suit. I mean, who thought that an emerald X-ray of his muscles would make for a good design for his suit? Why didn’t they go with a TRON design? And making Parallax a cloud, didn’t they think the insect design was freaky enough?
The Marvel Cinematic Universe
Loved – Jarvis, usually Stark’s butler, as Stark’s AI. The Asgardian gods being a part of Earth’s ancient history. Captain America being the start of it all (the Tesseract from Asgard, the Super Serum that Banner experimented on, and Rogers’s association with Howard Stark). And Thanos being the ultimate bad guy of it all.
Hated – The fact that the Asgardians could not be true gods, or the Dark Elves proper elves. The Mandarin twist. And Ultron not being created by Henry Pym (though it’s early days yet).
07/08/06... 786... the sentinel of Allah has arrived.