(Not) Overrated: Superhero Movies

[Wayne]

I'm following your love of correct genre labelling from the 'Don't Watch Alone' thread, Ralph.

[Jeff]

I just watched Fantastic Four last night... I turned my brain off and enjoyed it, but I know it was crap. Not becuase it was a Superhero movie, mind you, but because it was a generic and predictable Superhero movie with corny dialog and cheesy situations.

Haven't seen the last X-Men movie yet, but the first two I loved.. probably my favorite Superhero movies, even over Spiderman. I haven't seen a lot of the superhero movies, but I did like Hellboy, which didn't get mentioned anywhere, and is sort of an underrated Superhero movie, probably because the source material isn't as well known as most of the others. Hellboy is definitely worth watching though, for anyone who is a fan of the genre. Deserves a sequel.

I'm not sure if the Underworld counts or Van Helsing count as Superhero movies or not... I guess they are both similar to Blade, to an extent, which was a comic book adaptation. I liked all of those. The reminds me that The Crow was a comic book adaptation, my one of my favorites in the entire genre...

Superhero movies on my current 'to see' list are Batman Begins, Underworld: Evolution (if that counts), and Constantine. I'll add Superman Returns if it makes it to the premium channels before I lose access...

[WhiteCrow]

Haven't seen the last X-Men movie yet, but the first two I loved..

Number 3 I found to be very poor after the excellence of X2.

[Carol Baynes]

The anoraks have got me cornered

..and Wonder Woman was an ancient Amazon!

I liek superhero films. I especially like it when evil has the upper hand and it look slike there' snothing that can be done to stop them until the goodies ris eup at the last minute and really kick arse. The end of "Superman II" is the epitome of that, when Zod gets his 'golden handshake'.

I do have a personal love for Batman and I did think "Batman begins" was very close to what I know as Batman. A very good film.

[Alex]

Superhero movies on my current 'to see' list are Batman Begins, Underworld: Evolution (if that counts), and Constantine. I'll add Superman Returns if it makes it to the premium channels before I lose access...

I was pleasantly surprised by Constantine, as I am (or at least was) a huge Hellblazer fan, especially during the Jamie Delano and Garth Ennis years. There's a lot wrong with it (Keanu tries his best but bless him, he just doesn't capture the humour in the character), but it does keep a surprising amount of elements from the comic books. And if you don't know much about Hellblazer, then you'd probably enjoy it even more than I did.

I do have a personal love for Batman and I did think "Batman begins" was very close to what I know as Batman. A very good film.

I've gotta agree, though there's part of me that likes The Dark Knight when he's reaaaalllly dark, I'd love to see an adaptation of The Dark Knight Returns, but as it's such a complex work I can never see it making it to the big screen intact.

There's supposed to be a Sandman film one day, and a Watchmen film too. Both are series I love, but I fear the films just wouldn't be able to capture the feel of the comics, not unless they have a very talented director behind the camera for them.

[Jeff]

I was pleasantly surprised by Constantine, as I am (or at least was) a huge Hellblazer fan, especially during the Jamie Delano and Garth Ennis years. There's a lot wrong with it (Keanu tries his best but bless him, he just doesn't capture the humour in the character), but it does keep a surprising amount of elements from the comic books. And if you don't know much about Hellblazer, then you'd probably enjoy it even more than I did.

I wasn't even aware that there was such a comic before the movie came out... I was briefly into comic books back in the early 90's, but I haven't been an avid fan or really read anything that has been turned into a movie, so I am lucky in that regard that I never have to worry about 'fan disappointment' getting a fresh introduction instead...

[Alex]

I was really in to comics up until I went to Uni in 96 when I just couldn't afford them any more. I've recently read about the period I was in to them and it seems to be considered a bit of a golden age, with people like Neil Gaiman, Grant Morrison, Peter Milligan and Alan Moore creating some of their best stuff.

The first sixty issues of Hellblazer are brilliant imo (well, issues 1 - 30, and then 40+ to be v.anoraky!), it's a very british series with a really dark sense of humour, I think because it's been running so long it doesn't get the acclaim it deserves, or at least deserved anyway. I think there are graphic novels of the early years of the comic, so it might be worth hounding your local library in to getting them, as I really recommend them.

I think when it comes to fan disappointment, it's happened so many times now that I just watch the movie hoping it'll be good in it's own right, and I try not to get too frustrated when it doesn't bare much resemblance to the source material.

[SiHart]

I agree with Jeff, Hellboy was great and we could do with a sequel!

Si xx

[Alex]

You've only got about a year or so to wait for that Si!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellboy_2:_The_Golden_Army

[SiHart]

Hooray! That's great news, thanks Alex.

Si xx

[Paul Monk]

I'm looking forward to re-reading the early Hellblazers when my dad gets them out of the loft. There were a couple of issues that really freaked me out at the time and have stuck in head ever since.

[Alex]

Some of the early ones are especially effective, I loved the Vietnam one when I re-read it recently, and also John's vision of a post apocalyptic world...And then of course there's "Newcastle"...

[Paul Monk]

and also John's vision of a post apocalyptic world

Thats one of the ones I'm talking about. The one on the beach by the nuclear power station