Thursday, May 22, 2008

Superhero Movies, Part Zero

Today I was going to rate all the superhero movies I’ve seen, but when I started compiling the list I realized how incredibly long it is. Instead I’ll space them out to create a lot of short posts with very little effort. These days it seems I’m about quantity more than quality.

Before I rate anything, let me define my standards. I don’t automatically like movies based on comic books, but I don’t hold the origin as a strike against them either. Good art / entertainment can come from anywhere. Movies, books, comics, animation – all have their strengths and weaknesses, but that’s what they are, not how they are about it. A good graphic novel can be emotionally moving and thought provoking, a bad summer blockbuster can be a tedious waste of ninety minutes, and many literary blowhards have shown over the generations that just because the format allows you to print a lot of words, you shouldn’t necessarily do so. Just as a fresh Twinkie is better than a rotten lobster tail, I’ll take a good work of art over a bad one regardless of how it is presented.

Second, I try not to compare the movie to its origin. There’s no law, nor should there be, that states every work springboarded from another should be a 100% replication. That would be pointless if the original work still exists. The only comparisons I make are when the filmmakers deviate from the original work to the detriment of the movie.

Third, I don’t claim to be at all consistent. These are my opinions – I make ‘em up as I go along.

And since I already wasted so much time writing about what I plan to do instead of doing it, I’ll stop here for today. We’ll start tomorrow with what I consider to be the worst modern (say, 70’s and later) superhero film ever created. Anyone who correctly guesses which one it is wins a prize. If a hot available Asian woman makes a wrong guess like 蛍の墓, I’m changing my opinion to whatever she says.

Bikini Bunny!

6 comments:

Tracy Lynn said...

I'm gonna guess Flash Gordon, although I still love that flick. The Hulk is probably going to be in there too.

Stacy The Peanut Queen said...

Yeah, I was going to go with The Hulk too.

Flash Gordan WAS tacky...but I LOVED it. Every time it came on, I HAD to watch it (but then I had a thing for Flash...what was his name? Sam Gordon???

Grant said...

tracy / pq - although debatable, I don't really consider Flash Gordon a superhero, so it's not in my list. I do consider it to be one of the best good bad films ever made. As a kid I loved it as sci-fi and as an adult I like it as camp. If I ranked it, it would probably fall in the middle - not as good as the truly good films, but more enjoyable than the truly bad ones.

pq - Sam Jones.

Stacy The Peanut Queen said...

Jones, dammit. I think he was a pro football player at one time.

Anyway, he's the omnly reason I was crazy over it. That and the bore worms.

"Father, please.....NOT THE BORE WORMS!!!"

Monogram Queen said...

I really liked the first Batman movie but the others - not so much.

Grant said...

pq - I think the bore worms should have tortured you by telling long stories.

mq - I liked the first and last Batman film (the one with Christian Bale), but not so much the others.