Hollywood and an obsession with comic books

Friday, July 11, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Zach Rosenthal⁄Paramount Pictures Robert Downey Jr. made his superhero alter-ego just as cool as Iron Man in the movie based on the Marvel comic book. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

It’s easy to see why comic book movies are all the rage in Hollywood to the point that with most of the major characters — Superman, Batman, Spider-Man and Hulk — covered, anything remotely associated with comic books is optioned for the big screen treatment.

Comic writer Mark Millar sold the film rights to the 2008 ‘‘Wanted,” his tale of supervillains taking over the world, even before he completed the first issue in 2004.

Richard Donner’s1978 ‘‘Superman” is largely considered to be the standard bearer and official start of the comic book film movement. Christopher Reeve captivated audiences and paved the way for unknowns, like Hugh Jackman in ‘‘X-Men,” to become overnight stars.

But during the 1980s, comic book superheroes weren’t as interesting. ‘‘Star Wars” and its sci-fi counterparts had become the new Hollywood darlings.

And then Tim Burton, Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson made Batman the movie franchise of the 1990s with ‘‘Batman,” little realizing that Joel Schumacher’s infamous Bat-nipples would damage the character nearly for good with ‘‘Batman and Robin” in 1997.

On the brink of bankruptcy, Marvel Comics realized they might have a golden goose and signed off on more of their famous characters appearing on the big screen, with their two biggest franchises, ‘‘X-Men” and ‘‘Spider-Man,” at the forefront.

The X-Men trilogy brought in $606 million and the Spider-Man movies eclipsed the $1 billion mark. Not bad for six movies.

With the sixth Batman film, ‘‘The Dark Knight,” set to smash box office records yet again, it’s time to hand out some awards hailing the best and worst of the comic book movie genre.

Most annoying comic book trend: The lack of colorful costumes. As much as ‘‘The Matrix” is revered, it is the bane of many a comic book fan as its black leather look became the norm for many a comic book character.

Most Overrated comic movie: X2. The 2003 sequel to X-Men was lacking in common sense, a cohesive story and didn’t really serve to say much beyond what was already established in the original.

Most deserving character to have his own movie: Green Lantern. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Guy Gardner or Kyle Rayner, the GL concept is tailor-made for a summer movie. Green Lantern has a ring that can make anything its owner can conceive. Giant boxing glove? Check. Laser blast? Check. A visionary team taking advantage of the advances in CGI to create an epic film?

Most Disappointing: Warner Brothers and DC Comics continued dragging their feet in getting their characters feature films. Wonder Woman! The Flash! Green Lantern! The Justice League! But somehow only the big two — Superman and Batman — have had feature films.

Most Underrated: Daredevil: The Director’s Cut. Ben Affleck’s urban vigilante didn’t do great at the box office, but if there was ever a case for buying the DVD extended edition it’s for this film, which does a far better job of fleshing out the characters.

Best Director, Bad Movie: Ang Lee seemed like a good choice to direct Eric Bana in a thoughtful take on the Hulk but it was far too thoughtful for a character audiences just wanted to simply see smash stuff.

Best Villain performance: When thinking of comic book movie villains, Nicholson is in a class by himself with his scene-stealing portrayal of Batman’s arch-foe The Joker.

Best Hero performance: (tie) Christopher Reeve (Superman) and Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man). Reeve was Superman come to life while Downey did the impossible and made his superhero alter-ego Tony Stark just as cool as Iron Man.