Article by Staff Writer Mike Murphy
Over the years there have been numerous movie adaptions of some truly amazing comic book heroes and stories. Some have successfully succeeded in capturing the true essence of the original characters, plot-lines and story. But more often than not these attempts at replicating the original masterpieces onto digital film (and celluloid in some cases), have failed on a truly grand scale!
Don’t get me wrong, movie adaptations of Comic Books have without a doubt come a very long way in the last 10 years. There have been some truly spectacular films, but there have also been some down right awful attempts that should have never even made it to dvd let alone the cinema screen. If we put all previous cinematic offerings to one side for the moment, I strongly believe that filmmakers are at long last finding the right formula based on the spate of reboots that have recently emerged. Although some could have potentially been a lot better, what we really need are comic book to movie adaptions that develop the genre; opening it up to not only the comic book fans but also new fans.
There is no single specific reason why some comic book films fail and others succeed. In reality, it’s probably a combination of some fundamental filmmaking elements such as poor script, bad casting, restrictive budget, unrealistic visuals or maybe it’s just one of those adaptions that was never meant to be.
Saying that, not all have been doomed to fail. Many have been real masterpieces of cinematography. Take the film ’Watchmen’ (which I never tire of re-watching), for me this worked just as brilliantly as the graphic novel but not everyone may agree. Although, it does seem that the Superhero movie adaptations are somewhat harder to deliver than the flat 2 dimensional characters we’ve had to suffer.
Now the cinematic world we live in today is drastically different from the one 10 years ago, even 5 years ago come to think of it. The most significant change has been the use and development of Computer Generated Imagery or CGI as its fondly referred to. With it, film makers have set out to create fantastical worlds and characters, but to be honest, maybe they should have taken their time. At present the film industry seems to be happy with CGI, focusing more on the visual imagery within the film than ensuring there’s a good story in place. Big mistake! CGI is one of many filmmaking tools. It’s not the only one and as such should not take precedence over other elements at can make a great film.
All the amazing CGI in the world isn’t going to develop a flat character or put meat on a poorly written story. And the story above everything else is the fundamental element in any film. But sadly, it has been the one continually weak and overlooked element in all the failed comic book adaptations. Unfortunately, a purely glitzy, action packed movie will get a lot of ‘bums on seats’ but this chic over substance approach and “CGI overkill” is not ‘The Winning Formula’ to a quality movie. CGI must be supplementary to the story and not the driving force!
Look, I’m not saying a non-CGI comic book movie won’t succeed. Batman Begins worked much better than its predecessors. By the end of that move you actually felt like you had grown with the character. It was less about the loud colours, cheesy one-liners and more about character and heart.
I think what’s been missing from the movies in general is “Longevity” which is a direct result of a good story. We live in a society of disposable entertainment, we really want to go back and see a movie again and again because of it’s quality. Films such as Spider Man, Harry Potter and The Dark Knight are near the top of the All Time Box Office list for a very good reason. Those movies worked because:
- The story was good,
- The film investing time in the characters
- They got talented people to act it all out.
You might have laughed at the name of Peter Parker’s Uncle because of a very popular brand of rice, but I’m sure you were sad when he died in Peter’s helpless hands because it felt like you got to know him.
This is all my personal opinion, and I don’t have the math for a successful comic book movie but I know what I need to see for the movie to work for me. Equal parts origin story (for those who don’t know the history), great writing (both plot & dialogue), fan service (the “What were you expecting, yellow spandex?” reference worked well with X-Men), and lastly a modest attempt at the first entry to a mythology which is so much larger than the one movie. I for one would not want to see an entire universe of a character I adore shoddily crammed into an hour and a half. If a comic has been around for all this time what makes you think the hero’s story can be summed up in on feature film?
Hollywood wants to make good movies. Period! Isn’t that how they make their money. However, things like time, budget and other factors always get in the way. Great comics and their characters have been around for decades. So filmmakers, don’t demean the legacies and dishearten the fans by trying to cram 50 years of content and great story lines into a thin or heavily convoluted 90 minute movie.
There is hope! The last few years have shown major signs of improvement and while there are still a fair amount of stinkers, the odds are faring better for comic book adaptations in general. A few years ago we saw lesser known comic book films Kick-Ass and Scott Pilgrim succeed while the mighty Iron Man 2 faltered. In 2011, Thor and the X-Men were met with some pretty solid reviews although Green Lantern was a bit of a stinker. But more and more there’s been a constant element increasingly injected that had previously been missing in most recent adaptations.
What is that you ask? Well it’s simple. Most failing movies lack sufficient heart in their stories, although it could be easier if studios just didn’t waste their time on 2nd and 3rd tier heroes. Fans not withstanding, people care less about Matt Murdock aka Daredevil or Ghostrider Johnny Blaze because the scripts for their movies didn’t get us interested in their characters. You get the audience behind the character and you could watch them wash dishes or read the newspaper for 90 minutes and they’ll be happy. But that’s just what I think.
What about you! What comic book adaptation would you like to see made or think would work or works well on the big screen?
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