Apparently the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie is coming out right about now. While the explosion-filled trailer I saw for it (before the equally explodey Transformers 4) made up my mind that I won't be seeing this particular movie, comics have been the inspiration for some great films.
Because comic book movies are almost always superhero movies, my own preferences reflect what I like best about the original superhero comics. In my opinion, the best superhero films are the ones that preserve the campiness inherent to superheroes. So while I remember being impressed by The Dark Knight when it came out, I could never enjoy it as much as Adam West's Batman. I also thought the Thor movies (based on my all-time favourite superhero) were pretty good. And Scott Pilgrim vs. The World immediately became one of my favourite films. Overall I tend to avoid any comic book films that seem to take themselves too seriously.
What are your favourite comic book films? Have you seen TMNT, or are you planning on it?
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HippieVan at 12:00AM, Aug. 8, 2014
4 likes!
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fallopiancrusader at 4:17PM, Aug. 9, 2014
One of my favorite comic books as a kid was "Barbarella"(1966) by Jean-Claude Forest. In 1969, Roger Vadim made a movie adaptation which wasn't nearly as good as the comic, but boy, did the costumes rock! I didn't like the TMNT comic when it first came out, so I can't imagine that I will like the movie.
tupapayon at 5:04AM, Aug. 9, 2014
Film adaptations of literature works will always disappoint some people. Without forgetting where the story came from, a movie should be able to stand on its own. I watched Son of God, and I gotta tell you, the Book is better. Ok, that ws not a comic book.
meemjar at 9:38PM, Aug. 8, 2014
I think that's why Tim Burton's Batman was one of the best. It took itself seriously enough to be a far cry from the overly silly Adam West version to still holding on to that surrealism that made it catchy!
KimLuster at 10:23AM, Aug. 8, 2014
It's weird in that I'm somewhat acceptable of superhero costumes in movies, I really don't like them in comic books (which, admittedly, I pretty much never read). I guess it's because I know there's no way anyone would really look like they do in a superhero comic, whereas in a movie, they really can look that way because that really is a real person in a real suit. I do like 'super powers' and extraordinary people but I prefer both without costumes. I liked Sin City more than Batman, John Hancock more than Thor (even though Johnny was wearing a 'suit' at the end, it was more 'uniformy' if that makes sense). It's why I'm looking forward to Scarlet Johanssen as Lucy but not so much Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. I guess, of the movies I've mentioned, the ones I liked also tended towards gritty realism. Having said that, I did really like the Avengers :)
Abt_Nihil at 7:58AM, Aug. 8, 2014
kawaii, I couldn't agree more (on every single point, down to McAvoy & Fassbender). Did you check out the Nickelodeon's recent Turtles cartoon? I quite enjoyed it.
kawaiidaigakusei at 7:18AM, Aug. 8, 2014
I was such a fan if the original TMNT cartoon when I was younger. Even with the steller leaps cg animation has come in the last two decades, or having Megan Fox as April O'Neil, nothing will ever compare with the lighthearded and friendly Jim Henson costumed turtles from the early 1990s. I remember when the turtles used to be nicer, they used to say "cool" words like cowabunga, and Corey Feldman was the voice actor for Donatello. There have been several reincarnations of the friendly turtles--the last ones looked evil and the current ones look scary. But unless the new movie has MC Hammer or Vanilla Ice rocking the credits, I might just give my movie money to Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" also opening this weekend. X-Men: First Class was a comic movie that did not disappoint. I loved the Uncanny X-Men growing up. I just know that it is impossible for a movie to bomb as long as it has James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender in the cast.
Abt_Nihil at 6:49AM, Aug. 8, 2014
But if we're only talking about the aspect of adaptations, and not necessarily about great movies in and of themselves, then the Marvel Studios movies are probably the pinnacle of comic-book adaptations... they're fairly close to the source material and they're a lot of fun. Still, if taking liberties results in a more engaging, powerful movie, then I'm all for that.
Abt_Nihil at 6:45AM, Aug. 8, 2014
I really don't want the TMNT film to succeed, so I'll try not to watch it on the opening weekend at least :) But I'm much too curious not to watch it... even though I fear it will be about as terrible as the Transformers movies. Probably the best comic book adaptation is the small-screen Batman the Animated Series... it was dark, psychological, but it wasn't depressing or anything... it had appropriate humor. But I'm really not into campiness. I was a big fan of the Adam West Batman series when I was a kid, but at some point I figured out that all the adults were laughing at it, and I felt cheated :D So I loved the Tim Burton Batman movies, and Batman Returns is still my all-time favorite comic book movie. The Nolan movies have some problems, but I think they're more film-making problems than comic-book-adaptation problems. Batman Begins, for all its pseudo-realism, took away some of the psychological depth and nightmarish/surreal overtones Batman could have.
usedbooks at 5:04AM, Aug. 8, 2014
I like Dick Tracy. Heh. I know it was silly, but I loved the cinematography and the way they used colors. (The night scenes were blue! I thought that was so cool.) -- And Tintin. They did a good job with that. I've never liked superheroes, not in film, TV, or comics.