I'm taking a break from posting artwork this entry because the summer movie season is shortly upon us, folks. And with the likes of The X-Men, Thor, Captain America, and Green Lantern all on tap to dazzle us as well as next summer's crop of "The Amazing Spider-Man", "The Dark Knight Rises", "The Wolverine", and "The Avengers" I think we can safely say that the comic book (or at least superhero) genre is here to stay.
The genre born with Richard Donner's "Superman" and teased with by Tim Burton's "Batman" took full commercial form after the success of 1997's "Blade" and was permanently cemented by the box office triumphs of the first "X-Men" and "Spider-Man" film installments.
But here we are, about to ride the first major wave of reboots, relaunches, and cinematic universe enrichment. We're being presented "Comic Book Movies 2.0" and thankfully, all the major mistakes have been made at this point. I mean, Fox'll never learn as proven by the now in-production "Ghost Rider 2", but as long as we have A-Listers like Christopher Nolan, Darren Aronofsky, and Joss Whedon working on these kind of films the maturation will continue to some degree with some non-superhero indie gems along the way.
So, with all of this content lying in wait I thought now was as good a time as any to apply some study to this genre just out of its infancy and present the very best it has to offer. And although, I tried to find the most unique or my favorite visual representations of these various works I do not claim to own any of this imagery. Enjoy!
1) "Ghost World" By Terry Zwigoff (2001)
Adapted From "Ghost World" By Daniel Clowes
A statement on modern youth, emotional isolation, the search for identity, and friends growing apart, "Ghost World" provides hilariously biting social critique in both its film and comic incarnations. Daniel Clowes (who wrote the screenplay) fully realizes his existing characters of Enid (Thora Birch) & Becky (Scarlett Johansson) and humanizes them with a new character, Steve Buscemi's brilliant Seymour and Brad Renfro's deadpan portrayal of Josh. This is a top class movie that could rival any festival darling or Oscar-bait, but it's still a comic adaptation and with that as criteria I can't deny it the top spot.
2) "Sin City" By Robert Rodriguez & Frank Miller (2005)
Adapted From The "Sin City" Comics Of Frank Miller
Visually inventive to the highest degree, wholly devoted to its source material, and perfectly cast, this was a movie that visually changed movies as much as "The Matrix". The world of Sin City is as harsh and unforgiving as it is spare & alluring, just like Frank Miller imagined it. A lot of ground is covered in the 2 hours and change of run-time, but nothing feels bloated. It's a ride that must be taken and there's plenty of beauty amid the carnage of this most faithful of adaptations...
3) "The Dark Knight" By Christopher Nolan (2008)
Adapted From Various Works
Sure, there was plenty of warranted fanfare surrounding Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker but make no mistake, Aaron Eckhart's tragic Two-Face is the heart of this movie. His relationships with everyone from James Gordon to The Batman, from Rachel Dawes to The Joker are what drives the story. Now, I'm pretty sure anyone reading this has seen this movie and at least liked it, so let me just say as the Batfan I am that this is possibly the greatest Batman story ever told outside Frank Miller's comic work on the character.
4) "Crumb" By Terry Zwigoff (1994)
Presented As The Life Of Robert Crumb
A comics pioneer gets a worthy retrospective in this 1994 biopic of Robert Crumb. Hilarious, insightful, and sometimes heartbreaking the film tracks Crumb's artistic development and life circumstances with his signature brand of humor, weirdness, and social commentary.
5) "Kick-Ass" By Matthew Vaughn (2010)
Adapted From "Kick-Ass" By Mark Millar & John Romita Jr
Equal parts wish-fulfillment and cautionary tale, this is a story that revolutionized the idea of the teenage superhero and showed just how great making a movie with no studio involvement can end up. The casting is superb, the tone uncompromised, and every change made between the two medium's respective stories is made in the name of serving its respective audience. This is the superhero movie for any comic geek who's ever dared to dream!
6) "The Fountain" By Darren Aronofsky (2006)
Adapted From "The Fountain" By Darren Aronofsky & Kent Williams
Out of this world visuals, spare thematic scripting, puzzle pieces of histories based on the quest for eternal youth and love. This one sticks with you well after first viewing for its unique directing, emotional focus, challenging format, and sheer spectacle for the eyes.
7) "Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut" By Richard Donner (1980)
Adapted From Richard Donner's Imagination
DO NOT watch any other version than the one below. Truly, the Richard Lester one is that different and pardon me, stupid and disrespectful. For every Superman fan who just wants to see him beat things up, this is your movie. But it's so much more than that! Terence Stamp's General Zod provides a chilling nemesis on the intellectual level with Lex. And with Superman de-powered and Lois in the know of Clark's double-life all the wheels are turning. This one's classic, actually the only classic...
8) "Scott Pilgrim Vs The World" By Edgar Wright (2010)
Adapted From The "Scott Pilgrim" Comics Of Bryan Lee O'Malley
I'll never forget when a friend said to me that this movie reminded her that special effect can actually look cool. And that's exactly right, this movie takes what's possible with today's effects technology and produces visuals reminiscent of the original O'Malley comics and the 8-bit era of video games. Along the way, it's a indie rock romance with well-placed fisticuffs, a conflicted hero, plenty of funny & pretty girls, and a whole lot of sound (mostly from Beck). This is about as close to a date movie as one of these is going to get...
9) "The Incredible Hulk" By Louis Leterrier (2008)
Adapted From Various Works
Not perfect, but HULK finally "SMASH!" just like we always wanted him to. Ed Norton plays a flawless Banner and Liv Tyler surprisingly outshines her predecessor, Jennifer Connelly in the role of Betty Ross. The energy between the two is just perfect and with General Ross and Emil Blonsky (later Abomination) as baddies it gets right to the roots of the Jekyll & Hyde balance and military critique of the character. Plus, that showdown on campus with the wind machines was as Kirby-esque as anything I've seen out of a Marvel adaptation...
10) "American Splendor" By Shari Springer Bergman & Robert Pulcini (2003)
Adapted From The "American Splendor" Comics Of Harvey Pekar
This one occupies a strange and inventive space. It's a biopic of Harvey Pekar as much as it is an adaption of his comics, but it's also a film continuation of the comics that preceded it. Paul Giamatti does his best Harvey Pekar and you even get confirmation of such when the real Harvey Pekar (RIP) shows up now and then. This is the story of trying to making a small life into something substantial and all of the "life" along the way...
11) "Watchmen" By Zack Snyder (2009)
Adapted From "Watchmen" By Alan Moore & Dave Gibbons
Everything important from the comic makes its way into this one and that is no small feet when you're adapting Alan Moore and getting it more or less right. Snyder had the story that changed superheroes forever, transformed the comics medium, had almost a quarter-century of false film starts, and had a rabid fan community ready to pounce when he took this project on and for the most part I think he silenced his dissenters. I'm not trying to say it's anything it's not, but I think this movie changed what superhero movies can be as much as "The Dark Knight" or "Kick-Ass" and he did it with a team book to boot. Also, the opening credits must be counted among the greatest of all-time for film in general...
12) "Batman Begins" By Christopher Nolan (2005)
Adapted From Various Works
Moving on though, I don't think we'd have even seen a "Watchmen" movie without Christopher Nolan's first foray into superhero movies. "Batman Begins" was released in 2005, when the massacre of Marvel properties, mostly by Fox, was in full swing with "Fantastic 4". This film along with "Sin City" politely told the genre to "Grow up and understand your source!" and brought The Batman back to onscreen glory after the disastrous and insulting "Batman & Robin" (1997). And Nolan did this all while exposing the characters of Scarecrow and Ra's Al Ghul to a greater audience than they'd ever known..
13) "Iron Man 2" By Jon Favreau (2010)
Adapted From Various Works
Robert Downey Jr is once again the perfect Tony Stark, but things get even better when Sam Rockwell shows up as rival arms manufacturer Justin Hammer. Every ante is upped along the way. The movie never loses focus on itself even while it sets pieces in place for the Marvel movie universe like Scarlett Johansson's Black Widow and Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury and introduces Mickey Rourke's Whiplash as well as 2 new armors. For me, it could have only been better if they introduced the Extremis armor...
14) "Road To Perdition" By Sam Mendes (2002)
Adapted From "Road To Perdition" By Max Alan Collins & Richard Piers Rayner
"Road To Perdition" is a story of father & son, a gangster epic, a gorgeous period piece, and a road movie all in one. Sam Mendes outdoes himself as director in his follow-up to "American Beauty", Tom Hanks gives his last truly great performance, and Paul Newman provides his last performance altogether. This one is right up there with "Ghost World" as far as prestige and place within the history of film in general.
15) "Spider-Man 2" By Sam Raimi (2004)
Adapted From Various Works
I don't want to say that Raimi's first effort was generic, but this Spider-Man movie comes off less as studio product and more of a contemporary vision of a classic superhero/supervillain origin with plenty of comics iconography worked in. The fight scene special effects are still among the best I've seen. This is the only "Spider-Man" movie with true ups, downs, and reasons for its hero and villain and everything is in its right place mythologically speaking...
16) "X-Men 2" By Bryan Singer (2003)
Adapted From Various Works
Yes, another early Marvel sequel... By 2003 there still hadn't been many of these movies and the X-men were now wearing black leather in the comics. I think that helped in not polluting the vision Singer had in mind for his second installment of the X-Men series. It's probably the best weaving of classic storylines with its own twist that I've seen. With the astonishing backdrop of "Weapon X" and the themes of "God Loves, Man Kills", Singer neatly wraps up his story for the most part before the heinous debacle that was Bret Ratner's "X-Men: The Last Stand"...
17) "Art School Confidential" By Terry Zwigoff (2006)
Adapted From "Art School Confidential" By Daniel Clowes
Zwigoff & Clowes ("Ghost World") reunite for their second effort in film and bring the horrible, hilarious truth about Art School. Complete with a college slasher subplot, depictions of every stereotype these institutions have to offer, and an ensemble boasting John Malkovich, Anjelica Huston, and Adam Scott* this one hits with the reality check every art student needs to either quit or keep pursuing the dream (if only for their own pleasure)...
*This is my favorite actor to play me if anyone ever makes "Gone To Earth : The Ballad Of J-Nel"...
18) "Superman Returns" By Bryan Singer (2006)
Presented As A Continuation Of Richard Donner's "Superman" Films
That line above is really what needed to be said from the outset with this movie, although I'm not sure even that could've saved it at the box office. I loved it for its portrayal of Clark/Superman as a man unsure of his place in the world and how he reacts to losing his strongest connection to the human world in Lois. Metropolis looks majestic, the Superman costume was the best live action interpretation to date, Kevin Spacey shines as a truly convincing Lex Luthor, and Clark/Superman is noble in a world that has cast him by the wayside. This movie and most moviegoers' reaction to it are an interesting inverted metaphor for the character's diminished position in modern popular culture, but check it out again after watching "Superman" & "Superman 2: The Richard Donner Cut" and I believe you'll believe a man can fly!
19) "TMNT" By Kevin Munroe (2007)
Presented As A Loose Continuation Of The 1990s Film Series With An Emphasis On
The "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Comics Of Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
Years have passed since the fall of The Shredder. Leo lives in South America and operates as a rural vigilante legend, Don has a day job in telephone tech support, Mike operates as children's party entertainer "Cowabunga! Carl", and Raph, unbeknownst to his brothers patrols the night as armored warrior "The Nightwatcher". As much as I was disappointed that there was no Shredder, this was the first Turtles movie to ever get the Turtles' personalities in line with their comic book counterparts. And as throwaway as the whole "capture the stone warriors" subplot was, The Foot Clan was still around with Karai in charge and the real conflict was between Raph & Leo and the Turtles' greater struggle to rebuild their family. Plus, Imagi Animation Studios showed that Pixar wasn't the only game in town for high-end 3D-modeled animation...
20) "The Spirit" By Frank Miller
Adapted From "The Spirit" Comics Of Will Eisner
I've only met one other person in my life who liked this, but like me he was familiar with the work of Frank Miller and Will Eisner. And I think that's the key to enjoyment with this movie. I would just imagine that if Frank Miller were going to write and draw a Spirit comic book that it'd look and sound like this. I mean, "Sin City" has kinda been his default mode for awhile now... Yes, an animated or colorful affair along the lines of the original Eisner strips or Darwyn Cooke's stellar 2007 DC Comics revamp may have been a better way to present this character to a wider audience but this movie, although thin on story and heavy on visuals, is as full of Miller's signature tone and artistic flair as any comic book by him from the 00s on...
*Honorable Mention For Films With No Theatrical Release*
"Turtles Forever" By Roy Burdine & Lloyd Goldfine
Based Upon Both "TMNT" Animated Series (1987-1996 & 2003-2009)
& The "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" Comics Of Kevin Eastman & Peter Laird
The Animated Turtles of today meet their goofy dimension-hopping 1980s counterparts as well as their black & white comic book predecessors. It's the best Turtles movie so far, hands down...
"Justice League : The New Frontier" By Dave Bullock
Adapted From "DC : The New Frontier" By Darwyn Cooke
Cooke's unforgettable bridge from DC Comics' Golden Age to Silver Age permeates the hope and spirit of late 1950s America and the DC heroes who graced its comic pages. Also, I'll just say this now because I'm 99% sure about that Ryan Reynolds trainwreck, this is the greatest Green Lantern movie anyone will ever see!
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