Here's an early Friday morning wrap-up of a couple of news-type stories out of San Diego's big Comic-Con. Both articles are of interest to genre geeks, the first about the perceived problems in the Star Trek franchise (and the article mentions the new Battlestar Galactica by way of comparison). Here it is, direct from The Disembodied Brain: Trek's Problem: It wasn't Enough Like Galactica.
The second article looks at the plethora (or should I say glut?) of superhero movies coming out of Hollywood right now. Check out CNN's Who's the next great film superhero?
Personally, I'm a big Captain America fan, and think a film could be done well. Iron Man too. Then again, I'm not thrilled with how Doom looks in the Fantastic Four, so I'm not sure Iron Man's costume wouldn't look pretty lame.
On the other hand, I am delighted that Joss Whedon is working on Wonder Woman. He's got creds in this genre with Buffy the Vampire the Slayer -- perhaps the best superhero TV series of all time. He can make one hell of a movie.
THERE!
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FOUR!
LIGHTS!
Okay, but seriously ...
ReplyDeleteThat CNN article on superhero franchises is a big piece of stinky cheese. You would think that whether a comic-based movie is great or sucks was a random thing.
If the filmmakers don't understand ... REALLY understand the story and what makes it cool, they have no business making the movie.
That doesn't mean they have to stick to every detail of the comic, but they have to think through every deviation they make and have a reason why it's better their way. You have to know and understand the rules before you break them.
Joss will make a truly kickass Wonder Woman movie. I have confidence in him. And if they can get the mojo working on Dr. Strange, look out!
It's weird how filmmaker's don't get the obvious sometimes. I mean, why would you want to see a Catwoman movie that has no connection to the world of Batman? Isn't part of our interest in Catwoman (if not all of it...) her relationship with the Caped Crusader and how she fits into the amoral world of Gotham? It doesn't make much sense to excise Catwoman from her universe. And I think you piss off the fanbase that way. If you don't have the fanbase to begin with, you've got no place to go. I do think this happens because filmmakers can be...arrogant. When they come to a project, they want it to be theirs. They want to put THEIR hand into it, their sensibilities. And often, those sensibilities are absurd or out of place. On the other hand, sometimes a work of genius emerges. Stanley Kubrick's The Shining might be a (non-superhero) example. It has little or nothing to do with Stephen King's book (which was a great read...) and has emerged as a kind of classic. He put his sensibilities into it and it worked; but it wasn't Stephen King. And look at how great Nicholas Meyer - a Trek newbie - did with The Wrath of Khan, by putting his own sensibilities into the franchise. I guess it's just a difficult balancing act. And really, most directors aren't of the calibre of Stanley Kubrick or Nick Meyer, are they? That may be why their sensibilities offend fans.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of directors named Nick, I have high expectations for Nick Cassavetes' take on Iron Man. I never read much of the comic, but I suspect I could really get into this.
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