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Comic book movies - who says yes and who says no?

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Before the 1978 Superman film, the idea of taking a comic book and doing it as a large scale movie seemed impossible and ludicrous. But after the success of Superman, it didn't seem quite so daunting. After the Superman films burned out, Tim Burton brought Batman to the big screen in 1989's megahit Batman. Then the Batman films burned out (Joel Schumacher, neon sets, campish humor, nipples on the bat suit, George Clooney), and a few years later Bryan Singer gave us X-Men, followed by Sam Raimi's Spider-Man, and the honorable mention of Guilermo Del Toro's film version of Mike Mignola's quirky Hellboy (starring the mighty Ron Perlman in the lead). But we've had some clunkers which would include Mark Steven Johnson's poorly made 2003 Daredevil, Ang Lee's The Hulk (although the Hulk was not completely uninteresting), and the craptacular 2004 film Catwoman (I know Halle Berry was going through a tough time, but what was she THINKING?!). Later this year we're going to be reintroduced to Batman, in the guise of Christian Bale, in Batman Begins, directed by Christopher Nolan, and I'm pretty sure we're going to get a new Fantastic Four movie, starring Welsh actor Ion Gruffud as Mr. Fantastic/Reed Richards, Jessica Alba(!) as the Invisible Woman/Sue Storm-Richards, Michael Chikilis as the Thing/Ben Grimm and some guy who's name I can't remember for the Human Torch. Did I miss any? Oh yeah, I think Keanu Reeves as a Hellblazer movie coming out this year. And next year, Bryan Singer is going to present us with Superman Returns, starring little known, 25 year old soap actor Brandon J. Routh as the title character (it had better be good, seeing as how he abandoned X3 to do it). There's also rumor of an Iron Man film and a new Captain America (with Brad Pitt having been in talks to play the lead).

So before you all here and now, I'd like to ask you what you think of these comic book movies and rate their relative pros and cons and any fears you may have with upcoming comic book adaptations (personally I'm getting a really bad vibe from this new Fantastic Four flick). Any comic books you would like to see done as films are also welcomed (personally I'd like to see movies done on Marvel's Mighty Thor, DC's Aquaman, Dr. Fate, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter) And while we're on this subject, is there anyone here who is really annoyed with this whole concept of casting unknowns in the lead parts (I'm sorry but this whole unknown actor stigma is really starting to bug me).

I enjoyed the X-Men films and Spider-Man films, but I don't know if they're as great as all the critics like to say they are. Hulk and Daredevil deserved much better than what they got.
I'd like a qui-gon jinn please with an Obi-Wan to go.

Red heads ROCK. Blondes do not rock. Nuff said.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/greencapt/hansolovsindy.jpg
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Well I say "whatever, I don't care".
“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country.” — Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goering
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I'd say do a Green Arrow movie, its been a while since we've had a Robin Hood-type movie.
"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings."
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I think some comic books transfer to screen better than others. Plus its also a lot of what the story line is. I mean most comics have been around sooo long that their are so many story lines available for a 2 hours movie.

I actually like the idea that seems to be used in x-men. Use the basis, have it closely relate to the comic, but use the main storyline something new (that fits in with the universe already establised by the comic). And obviously the origin story for superheros usually can be translated into a pretty good movie (just not so much in Hulk, sorry...it was long and drawn out, not enough Hulk)

As far as unknown actors. I honestly have to agree with it. I mean the problem with getting a new batman for instance is that who fits as batman? Keaton does. Same thing with superman, its Reeves. Then if you take some highly known actor, its too jarring and usually doesnt fit as the character. Tom Cruise as superman or batman. Stuff like that...just doenst work in my opinion. I mean who really cares if you dont know the actor. As long as they are a good actor then there is no problem. studios like to use big names because it draws crowds, first you already have that with a comic book movie (get a good chunk of the comic crowd) second, i say give me a good story with good actors and im there, doesnt need to be super famous actors

-Darth Simon
Why Anakin really turned to the dark side:
"Anakin, You're father I am" - Yoda
"No. No. That's not true! That's impossible!" - Anakin

0100111001101001011011100110101001100001

*touchy people disclaimer*
some or all of the above comments are partially exaggerated to convey a point, none of the comments are meant as personal attacks on anyone mentioned or reference in the above post
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Which is another factor in the demise of the latter Batman films, going for big name stars(besides them just sucking horribly).
"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings."
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But Michael Keaton was NOT an uknown when he played Batman in the first two Batman films, nor was Val Kilmer when he played Batman in the 3rd. I thought Kilmer did fairly well considering it was his first and only time as Batman, despite having to say some really bad lines against gaudy neon sets (I cringe whenever I hear "It's the car, right? Chicks love the car."), and I'm usually told to burn in hell for that. The casting of George Clooney was just unforgiveable. Other reasons the Batman films burned out can probably be traced to the instability of Batmen (going from Keaton to Kilmer to Clooney over the course of 4 films is most jarring to the audience), trying to make it too campy to attract the die hard Batman fans and simply cramming in too many villains, and to be honest I think Batman tended to take a backseat to his villains, something the title character should never do. Killing the villains off probably proved to be tiring as well (whereas the X-Men filmmakers were wise enough to keep Magneto alive at the end).

I guess one of the things I hate most about the unknown thing is that "unknown" usually boils down to "teen idol", in the case of Bryan Singer's Superman project, that would be 25 year old Brandon J. Routh of the TV soap opera world, a casting decision that does not instill me with confidence. I would much rather have had 36-year old Jim Caviezel as Superman, who was rejected by Singer for being "too famous" thanks to Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ"; I think an older man like Caviezel (who does not have the kind of unalterable persona that Tom Cruise has) could have brought my depth to the character than a soap opera guy. I also think Singer's getting pretty cocky if he thinks he can make lightning strike twice; I know the late Christopher Reeve was in his mid 20s when he played Superman in 1978, but Reeve had the benefit of being a Juliard trained stage actor. Most of today's brood can't even get into Juliard.

Tobey Maguire was not a complete unknown when he signed on to play Spider-Man.

2003's "Daredevil" would have sucked regardless of who was playing the lead character.
I'd like a qui-gon jinn please with an Obi-Wan to go.

Red heads ROCK. Blondes do not rock. Nuff said.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/greencapt/hansolovsindy.jpg
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Don't forget Spawn and how that turned out-thankfully the HBO animated films were far better.
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I'm not overly fond of comic book movies (probably because I'm not really into comic books). However, I can understand their appeal and don't mind the fact that they are around. The problem I have, though, is that due to the initial box office success and general favorable opinions of Spider-Man and X-men, movie companies think that as long as their movie is a comic book adaptation, they can do no wrong. And the result? We end up getting some marginal if not really lousy movies. I mean Daredevil? What is this crap?!?! I guess I just feel they kind of drag the whole genre down.


Anyway, I really like the X-men movies. Not only are they well done, but I like the casting choices (with the exception of Halle Berry). UnfortunatelyI just can't get into Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man.
40,000 million notches away
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I always thought Halle Berry was too young looking to be Storm (I always thought Storm should be older and more weather beaten looking) and a little too much of a lightweight. Her Storm performance, however, is gold compared to the craptacular Catwoman.

And speaking of casting, I hear that Kate Bosworth has signed on to play Lois Lane opposite the soap opera punk Brandon Routh with Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor.
I'd like a qui-gon jinn please with an Obi-Wan to go.

Red heads ROCK. Blondes do not rock. Nuff said.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v72/greencapt/hansolovsindy.jpg
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I'll give Superman a shot. I kind of like the idea of casting an unknown as Superman. If they got some larger-than-life star to fill the cape, it might detract from the overall film and be a distraction. Also, this may sound silly, but I thought it would be cool if the Watchowski Bros. directed Superman. They'd certainly be better than McG. I think that guy is the devil incarnate.
40,000 million notches away
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I say we let Dean Cain have another shot, this time on the big screen.
"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings."
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I don't really care for DC Comics outside the cartoons.

Though Batman begins might be interesting.

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At its worst, it will still be exponentially better than Batman and Robin.
"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings."
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I think one big problem of batman 2,3,4 was that the fact that they decided to go with 2 villians instead of 1. Batman 3 could have been a much better movie with just Two-Face as the villian. IMHO his back story is glaringly missing from that movie and would have been much more interesting than the back story of Riddler. They had too much to cram into one movie with two villians. I much prefer the the 60's tv series to batman 2,3,4.
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Then in B&R they decided to use, what, 3 villians?(Poison Ivy, Bane, Mr. Freeze.)
"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings."
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Bane was technically a lack of Thurman, though.

Who thinks Silverstone was compltetly unbelievable as bat woman?

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and not only did they try to cram the villians stories into movie, but also the story of Batgirl. And wasn't she supposed to be the daughter of Commissioner Gordon instead of a relative of Alfreds?

This movie also brings up a question I have about Bane, I haven't read enough of the comics to know his back story, but I do know he was the one that broke batmans back and nearly ended his career. In the comics, was he orginally a nontalking lacky belonging to Poison Ivy?
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*raises hand*

Who thinks clooney was unbelieveable as Batman?

Edit: No, in the comics, Bane was alot more than some grunting lackey

Quote
Bane was born to serve the life sentence of his father. His childhood and early adult life was spent behind the walls of Pena Duro, the infamous prison fortress of Santa Prisca. After more than three decades, Bane was made the subject of experiments of a highly addictive, gene-altering drug called Venom, capable of giving its user tremendous strength in exchange for sanity.
Escaping from Pena Duro, he made his way to Gotham City, temporarily disabling Batman and taking over the Gotham underworld, proving the merits of his name, Bane. He was soon brought down by Jean-Paul Valley, who took over the mantel until Batman recovered.
Bane is very intelligent and is also a master strategist. He is second only to Batman as a perfect physical specimen. Since his defeat at the hands of Azrael/Batman, Bane has threatened Gotham and the world, both alone and with the help of Ra's al Ghul. Bane is currently at large.
"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings."
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Well, I was too young last I saw it to tell that. I don't remember.

But even then I could tell batgirl looked fake. And yeah, She was supposed to be Bar Bara Gordon. And have red hair.

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I forgot, what was her real identity in B&R?
"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings."
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Her first name was still Barbara, but her last name was not Gordon. I forget what her last name was. As I recall, she was a neice of Alfred's.
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Oh yeah.

Why create a new backstory for the character when a more viable one is already there?
"I don't mind if you don't like my manners. I don't like them myself. They're pretty bad. I grieve over them during the long winter evenings."