Super Hero/Comic Book Movies

[Jim]

I loved Superman 1 and 2 growing up so the thought of this film picking up after the original two had me intrigued.  It started out okay but I think the time of the film is going to kill it for alot of people.  Myself included. It should of been kept right around 2 hrs.  For a Summer Blockbuster type movie I thought it was very boring.  Routh did a great job and I loved all the little things like Brando, the music score and some other things that stayed true to the orginal. 

[Brian]

I'm curious to see how Superman Returns holds up at the box office for the rest of the summer now.  Pirates absolutely crushed SR (in its 2nd weekend), and actually I don't know that "The Devil Wears Prada" was too terrible far behind it either in box office take.  I enjoyed SR, and hope that it does well enough to warrant a sequel (maybe it will be made either way though), but I hoped it would have held up a little better than it has so far.  I think the issue of running time might have something to do with it too.  Maybe a little on the long side.

With the superhero movies, I wonder how much of it has to do with the character itself.  You know, a lot of discussion prior to the release of Superman Returns was whether or not the character of Superman was still popular/relevant with audiences.  I wonder if the box office is reflecting that in any way or not?  It just seems like the buzz for some heroes (Spidey, Batman, X-Men) seems much more than others.  Although I'm a Spidey fan first and foremost, I've always liked Superman as well - and hope that there is still room for him in our pop culture .

[Sprry75]

Having never really been a fan of the Superman comics, I'm unacquainted with Superman's bad guys.  The ones I know--aside from Lex Luthor--seem lame, like Solomon Grundy, Braniac, Bizarro, and Mr. Maalox or whatever.

Batman schools every other comic hero when it comes to bad guys, with maybe Spider-Man a close second, which might be why those characters lend themselves to such great movies.

What could be in store for Superman?

And wasn't General Zod a creation of the movies?  I mean, he wasn't in the comics prior to Superman II, was he?

Anyway, I really liked SR a lot, and hope there's more, but I just don't know what they'd do as far as bad guys.  I'm starting to see why the first movie franchise ended up with Richard Pryor and Nuclear Man.

[Qui-Gon Jim]

I think there are two important factors to consider in "Prada" nearing Superman this weekend.

First, due to the demand for "Pirates," the number of screens were increased, and it was likely at the expense of screens showing "Superman."  Combined with the long running time for "Superman," it translates to less tickets available to sell.

Second, "Prada" was an excellent example of counter-programming strategy.  It went for a completely different audience from the other summer "event" pictures.  Every year there is one romantic comedy chick-flickish film that pulls this off.

[Brian]

There is a rumor over at SuperHeroHype that the Joker will be played by Heath Ledger in the upcoming sequel to Batman Begins.  The rumor was first posted at Latino Review, which had the scoops on Brandon Routh as Superman among a few others.  Grain of salt and all that - but that's the latest rumor.

[Famine]

Hype has the Incredible Hulk director announcment up too.

Kevin

[Brian]

The first trailer is now up for the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.  It will be CG movie, released in March of 07 the way it sounds.

On another topic, how do you feel about the comic movies we've seen so far?  Do you like seeing your favorite characters being brought to the big screen?  Are there others you think would work well in that format - or are the companies stretching too far?  I was curious how some of you might rank the "superhero" movies overall, or your favorites since this craze began again with the first X-Men movie.  Before that, it was basically the 70s/80s Superman movies and the 89-90s Batman movies.  How do you feel about what has been released in the recent crop (Spider-Man, Superman, Batman, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Daredevil, Hulk, Elektra, Punisher, Blade, etc.)?

[Reid]

X-Men- 7/10
Started out a little slow, but got better in the end.

X-Men 2- 7/10
See above.

X-Men 3- 9/10
Very good. Fast paced, with some nice action sequences.

Spiderman- 9/10
Good retelling of his origins, cool villian, good special effects.

Spiderman 2- 10/10
AWESOME sequal. Loved Molina as Doc Ock, great plot, cool action sequences.

Batman Begins- 8/10
A little slow at parts, but was a great retelling of the origin story, and had some great Crooks Vs. Batman fight scenes.

Daredevil- 7/10
Slow at some parts, but had a cool villian and some nice fight scenes.

Hulk- 4/10
One of the few Superhero movies that I hate. Horrible "villian", thought the Hulk dogs were stupid, and had a weak plot. Plus, the toys clogged the shelves to no end. Except those kickass Hulk Hands. Those were better than the movie.

Elektra- N/A
Never saw it.

Punisher- N/A
Never saw it.

Blade- N/A
Never saw it.

Fantastic Four- 8/10
Was a little slow near the end, but ended with a cool final fight scene, and had a classic villian.

Superman Returns- 9/10
Ending dragged on, but had lots of cool scenes, especially the plane scene.

[ruiner]

I finally saw Superman this weekend.  Absolutely loved it.  From the score to the nods of the first two films - this movie had a lot to live up to and it delivered.

This is how you bring back Superman.  I hope the box office $$ picks up so Singer gets the opportunity to do another.

[Brian]

Hopefully this script was long forgotten, but a script review for a possible Green Lantern movie is posted at IESB.net.  Not sure it has any truth to it anymore (hopefully not), but if anyone is interested in reading a quick summary - its at the link.  Yikes.

[Brian]

It sounds like an Avengers movie is in the works over at Marvel.  Apparently screenwriter Zak Penn (X-Men) is on the project.  More Marvel movie news at the linky, including Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk, Ant Man, Nick Fury, etc.

[Brian]

It appears that Fox has officially announced the title for the next F4 movie: Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.  Hopefully it will improve on the last movie.

Also, SuperHeroHype is reporting that on Friday the characters/robots that will be appearing in the upcoming Transformers movie will be announced.

[Jim]

It looks like the Hulk sequel will proceed without Bana. The role is rumoured to go to the main character in Prison Break.  I cant remember his name.

[Brian]

SuperHeroHype is now reporting the Transformers that were announced on a Yahoo Movies webcast.  Details at the linky, but here's the list:

Autobots:
Optimus Prime
Bumblebee
Jazz
Ratchet
Ironhide

Decepticons:
Megatron
Starscream
Brawl
Bonecrusher
Barricade
Scorponok
Frenzy
Blackout

[Mikey D]

No Soundwave?  What a crock.

From what I've seen and read, I'm not exactly instilled with much confidence.  Shame too, because a live action TF done right would kick ass.