Punisher: War Zone mini review (2008)

based on a comic

[7/10]

It's been so long since I've seen the last two Punisher movies, I don't remember anything about them. Guess I'll have to go back and rent them and write up my reviews. This third attempt at starting up a Punisher franchise may be the best of the three, despite the poor reviews it's been getting.

Punisher: War Zone follows the basic premise of the comics - the family of Frank Castle (Ray Stevenson) is killed by the mob. He then takes the law into his own hands, becoming judge, jury, and executioner to those who are getting by with the current system. And in this version, he meets up with Jigsaw (Dominic West, 300), his comic book arch-nemesis.

This film has quite a different feel than then other Marvel films that have come out in the last few years - it's a lot darker, a lot more violent, and much more bloody. As a matter of fact, it's one of bloodiest movies I've seen in a long time - maybe moreso than 30 Days of Night. (Which made me wonder why that couple brought their 5-year-old kid; but who am I to judge?)  As a matter of fact, the intro showed the Marvel Knights logo rather than the regular Marvel logo. They also made a decent attempt to try to pull the comic book in - introduction of villain Jigsaw, and ally Micro(chip) (Wayne Knight, Justice League). 

It's a bit difficult to find the right words to describe this movie. I can't really say it was fun or enjoyable, but I guess it was as enjoyable as a movie this dark can be. It's a decent mindless action flick. I wasn't blown away (ha!) by it, but there are some excellent action sequences (the movie opens with an adrenaline rush), and there are some funny lines, and some good scenes.  There were some things that took away from the action, though.  Some plot points were a real stretch.  Yes, it's based on a comic book, so you accept certain things about the world, but when you play with the story, you can really screw it up.  I won't spoil the story with the details, but it left a little to be desired.

And, hey, did you know that Doug Hutchison (Loony Bin Jim) had a part in Batman and Robin?


See it if you like mindless movies with a lot of action, and can handle a lot of blood.

Don't see it if you like your superheroes who believe in a little less bloodshed.

Eddie Murphy as the Riddler?

I don't know...didn't we learn our lesson with Jim Carey? Well, if anyone can pull it off, Christopher Nolan can.

Trailer Park of Terror (2008) mini review

based on a comic
[2/10]

I remember hearing about this a while back, I happened to notice it was on Comcast On Demand, and I was kinda in the mood for a horror movie tonight, so I thought I'd take a look.

I want my $4.99 back.

I think it was supposed to be funny. It wasn't.

I think it was supposed to be scary. It wasn't.

It had decent production values.

But it's just kinda dumb.

A low point in the career of Trace Adkins. The only other actor I recognized was character actor Tracey Walter (Bob the Goon in Batman, and some voice work in Teen Titans and Justice League).

It's based on the Imperium Comic, which appears to be an anthology.



See it if...I don't know; I guess if you like horror movies that are kinda dumb (it's not even bad in a good way).

Don't see it if you've got 30 Days of Night on DVD.

Spider-Man Horror

This is why I wish I had 48 hours in my day.



Spider-Man: Web of Shadows

Looking forward to the Indie Spanish Romantic Comedy Superhero Film

It's called Santos. Take a look at the trailer - it looks like it'd be worth a watch:



Then read the article in Wired.

I know...I've been AWOL.  Just life going on...

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (2008) mini review

  based on a comic

[8/10]

I've caught up on my comic-book movies; now to catch up on my reviews!

Hellboy 2 continues in the same vein as Hellboy - it has the same quirky humor, the same personality, the same awesome effects and fantastic creatures. In this story, Hellboy (along with the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense - the BPRD) has to stop a mechanical Golden Army that is bent on death and destruction. I have to say that I enjoyed this as well as the first, though Guillermo del Toro (who also directed Blade II, and incidentally will be directing The Hobbit) took a bit of a departure and tried to break up the action with a bit of character development in the middle. I don't think it actually took away from the film, but I think it went on a bit too long and very nearly derailed it. (Though del Toro did a much better job trying to break up his fantasy with character development than Wimmer did with Ultraviolet.) This particular plot, though, isn't based directly on the comics, as the first one was.  This is an original story, although it has seeds in the mythology that Hellboy creator Mike Mignola has planted in the comics.

Hellboy is obviously back (Ron Perlman -  Blade II, Comic Book: The Movie, Prince Valiant; Killer Croc in The Batman; other voices in Kim Possible, Afro Samurai, Justice League, Teen Titans, The Tick, Superman: The Animated Series, Batman: The Animated Series, Phantom 2040, the 90's animated incarnations of Iron Man and Fantastic Four). As is Liz Sherman (Selma Blair). David Hyde Pierce is gone as the voice of Abe Sapien, but he's replaced by Doug Jones (Fantastic Four: The Silver Surfer, Men In Black II, Monkeybone, Mystery Men, Tank Girl, Batman Returns), who actually played the physical part of Abe in the first movie. Several other actors have had parts in other comic book films: John Hurt (Professor Broom) - V for Vendetta, Luke Goss (Prince Nuada) - Blade II, Jeffrey Tambor (Tom Manning) - Superhero Movie).



See it if you like fantasy, and you're a fan of the first Hellboy.

Don't see it if you haven't seen the first, which really sets the backstory and the tone.

The Dark Knight

Best comic book movie so far this year; and that's saying a lot. That line you see at the bottom right is people waiting to get into a sold out theater.

Michael Bay and Batman

Apparently Michael Bay (Bad Boys, Armageddon, Transformers) wrote a script for The Dark Knight. Take a look - it's one of the funniest things I've seen in a long time.

Batman Begins (2005) mini review

based on a comic

[8/10]

I wrote this back around the time the film came out, before this blog, but thought it was probably good timing to post it here, what with Dark Knight coming out and all.

As I watch Batman Begins, opening with a million flying bats briefly forming the Bat Symbol, I think to myself, DC Comics is finally back in the game. Constantine was pretty good, but he's not one of their flagship superheroes. Batman is. And with the upcoming Superman Returns and Wonder Woman, I think we've got a lot to look forward to.



While it's not based on Frank Miller's Batman: Year One, Batman Begins shares a number of elements with the classic mini-series. They're both obviously origin stories and include the first meetings of Batman and Jim Gordon, Gordon's dealing with Gotham City Police Department corruption, Gordon's corrupt partner Flass, and mob boss Carmine Falcone. That's not all, but I don't want to ruin every surprise. A number of other comic elements work their way into the film - Lucius Fox (who runs Wayne Industries for Bruce Wayne), the name of Bruce's parents's murderer (a key player in Batman: Year 2), even a cameo from a lesser known villain from Batman's Rogues Gallery.



One of the interesting differences is the idea that Ra's Al Ghul - a villain created by Dennis O'Neal in the 70's - is instrumental in the etiology of Batman. In the comics, Ra's wants to destroy most of humanity so that the earth can heal itself of man's ills and return to a more natural state; in Batman Begins, he wants to destroy the corruption in the world that seems to be the ultimate state of man's existence. To accomplish this end, his organization enlists the Scarecrow to help destroy Gotham City by unleashing a fear toxin via the city's water system.



Batman Begins is well-written, well-directed, and well-cast. Writer-director Christopher Nolan (Memento) has succeeded in bringing the Batman franchise up from the Lazarus Pit (sorry - a Ra's al Ghul comics reference). Christian Bale is Batman, Michael Caine is Alfred, Morgan Freeman is Lucius Fox, Gary Oldman is Jim Gordon, Cillian Murphy is the Scarecrow, Ken Watanabe is Ra's, Liam Neeson (Darkman) is Ra's henchmen Henri Ducard, and Rutger Hauer (Sin City, Smallville) is Earle, supplanter of Bruce's father's position as head of Wayne Industries.





See it if you're a Batman fan or if you want to see how DC re-enters the comic book movie game.



Don't see it if you're too much of a purist and can't handle any deviation from the source material.

Hellboy and Chuck

This promo for Hellboy II: The Golden Army is probably one of the coolest fanboy videos I've ever seen.  Of course, part of that reason is that Chuck was probably my favorite new series this past season.

Here are a couple more Hellboy promos - one with the American Gladiators, and one with Bravo's Inside the Actor's Studio.

Hancock (2008) mini review

superhero movie not based on a comic book

[9/10]

Will Smith (Men in Black, Men in Black II) is Hancock.  A superhero that Los Angeles loves to hate, badly in need of some good PR. Jason Bateman (Justice League) is Ray, a PR agent badly in need of a new account.  It's a match made in...well, maybe not.



This is the type of film that I always feel I need to keep the review short.  Let me just say it's the best superhero film I've seen in a long time.  I'm continually impressed by the depth Smith can display as an actor; and Batemen seems to be good in anything he's in. I couldn't count how many times Hancock made me laugh out loud, but it's not a comedy. It's got a ton of action, but it's not an action movie.  It's got depth, but it still doesn't take itself too seriously.  Iron Man is good.  Incredible Hulk is excellent.  I haven't seen Wanted, yet, but I bet that's pretty amazing, too.  But if you had to make a choice and only see one superhero or comic film this summer - go see Hancock.



My 6 degrees of comic book movie separation - other parts are played by Eddie Marsan (V for Vendetta), Johnny Galecki (Batman Beyond), and Hayley Marie Norman (Trailer Park of Terror).  Also look for a cameo from Akiva Goldsman (writer of Batman Forever and Batman and Robin)





See it if you like stories about people and enjoy a little dark humor.



Don't see it if you don't like the fantastic mixed with your reality; or if you're wanting light superhero fare to take the kids to or are offended by a little language - this isn't a movie for children.

Hancock

Got to the the theater 30 minutes early for a sneak preview of Hancock - and the place was *empty*. But the theater ended up filling up pretty well. Anyway, go see it. It may be the best superhero movie of the summer. Seriously.

The Incredible Hulk (2008) mini review

based on a comic book

[8/10]

It's incredible how they can turning something around.  (Ha! Get it? Incredible? Sorry.)  I saw The Incredible Hulk last weekend and was really impressed.  Particularly after the disappointment of Ang Lee's Hulk. Actually, I'm trying to decide if this movie was better than Iron Man. The interesting thing about the Hulk is that he is as ingrained in the public consciousness as Batman, Superman, or Spider-Man. Everyone knows that some guy named Banner was in some sort of accident, and now every time he gets angry he turns into a large, green, incredible hulk.  And this second attempt at a Hulk origin story capitalizes on that. The origin is squeezed nicely into the opening credits, and it works.  Sure, if you've got a background in the comics, you'll follow it a lot easier, but it's not necessary.  It's brilliant, really - smashing the origin story that usually takes a superhero film a half an hour to tell into just a few minutes - and in this case, the film is better for it.



The film itself was enjoyable - actually owing almost as much to the classic 70s TV series as to the comic book.  If you haven't seen it, I won't ruin it for you, but it does a great job being based on the comic, but still borrowing from the show. And whenever you go into something heavy CGI, you worry that the human element is taken out.  But that's the beauty of what Marvel has done with a lot of its heroes - made them so human.  And Marvel (this is the second Marvel Studios film, after Iron Man) accomplishes this in amazing ways with The Incredible Hulk. This character is more human and relatable than any superhero I've seen in a long time.  He's not a billionaire playboy, an alien, a demon, or a billionaire tech genius.  Twenty years ago, I might have identified with Spider-Man a bit more, but I'm not that young anymore. This man trying to overcome his inner demon was more real to me than a lot of characters in movies that don't have the fantastic elements that are the stuff of comic books.  The way Ed Norton (Bruce Banner) and Liv Tyler (Betty Ross) portray their characters, they seem so real. I think this is why I thought it was better than Iron Man.



Of course, Norton and Tyler are joined by the likes of William Hurt (A History of Violence) playing General "Thunderbolt" Ross, Tim Roth (Emil Blonsky), and Tim Blake Nelson (Dr. Samuel Stern).  Although the Hulk was my favorite superhero as a child, while I watched the film, I didn't know enough to link all the characters with their comic book cohorts.  I knew enough to recognize the Abomination in the previews, but after seeing the movie, and doing a bit of research, I was surprised at how well they kept true to his role in the Hulk's life.  And during the movie, I wondered about some foreshadowing they did with Dr. Stern - and a quick Google search on his name proved my suspicions right. 



Some trivia: Peter Mensah (General Joe Gellar) also played the messenger in 300. ("This is madness!")  Also, Greg Bryk, who played one of the commandos, will be in the XIII mini-series.





See it if you like action, but you still like your superheroes embued with a bit of humanity.



Don't see it if you don't like all the CGI...but keep in mind, this superhero's more real than the ones that don't rely on computer graphics.

I Wanted to See Wanted

Good grief - can't a guy get a break? So many comic book movies, so little time...

It looks like I'm not going to have a chance to see Wanted this weekend. Now I'm going to have to double it up with another superhero or comic book film. Like Hancock next weekend. Or Hellboy the week after that. Or Batman the week after that. Then we get a 2-month break until Whiteout in September (doesn't that film have a website, yet?).

I can't wait for DVD...(as bad as I wanted to see Get Smart, my comic book films get priority).

The Incredible Hulk

I think Hulk may have been better than Iron Man. Saw previews for Dark Knight, Hellboy II, Wanted, and Hancock. It's going to be a great summer!