Tuesday Top Ten
Hello, and welcome to another Tuesday Top Ten. Sticking with the geek theme that was suggested last week (by me) I have decided this week to present the top ten comic book to movie adaptations.
Before we get to the actual top ten though, some things need to be cleared up. First, this top ten, as is the case with any top ten that I write, should be considered as an official document full of nothing but truth. These movies that I’m about to rank from one to ten are in fact the greatest comic book to movie adaptations ever made, and that includes movies I haven’t seen about comic books I’ve never heard of. If they were any good, I’d of seen them. I mean, obviously everyone’s entitled to there own opinions, it just happens that mine are the right opinions, and any opinions that differ from mine are deviant and wrong and stupid.
Secondly, I’ll just come right and and say that I don’t have anything that even resembles a consistent standard when judging these movies. Perhaps one movie makes in on because it is particularly faithfull to the comic, or maybe it’s extremely entertaining, or maybe it just made me laugh for some reason that the filmaker never, ever intended.
Whatever. You don’t care. If you’re reading actually taking the time to read this, odds are you’re my Mom and you’ll love me no matter what I do.
1. X2
Now, this movie has everything going for it. A) it’s a pretty faithful representation of the comic, the most notable difference being that Cyclops is not nearly that much of a loser in the book. Still, that made me laugh anyways, so no harm done. B) It’s just an awesome movie, period and C) We get to see alot of Nightcrawler, who was always my favorite X-Man. I’ve never been a huge fan of the comic. I think the only X-Men comics I still own are the Age of Apocolypse series (which are probably the greatest X-Men comics ever made. For more info, you could click here. I just picked this site from google, in case you’re wondering), not because I disliked the comics, I just didn’t like having to buy five titles a month to keep up with the story, although I’m told that hasn’t been the case for awhile now. Anyways, to get back on topic, X-Men 2 is just a great movie, period.
2. Spiderman
Some people will, and have, disagreed with me about this (for more info on that, see above), but I’ll stand by it. Spiderman, to me, really did an excellent job of conveying the feeling and emotion of Spiderman comics. Now, Spiderman is the only marvel or DC comic I seriously read, so I’m a bit biased, but I think you’ll find most Spiderman fans agreeing that Spiderman the movie stayed more or less true to the comic, especially in regards to Tobey Maguire’s portrayal of Peter Parker. Of course, there were some notable exceptions, the most notable being the absence of Gwen Stacy. For one of the most famous pieces of spiderman art in existence, click here. Plus, the Green Goblin’s costume was ridiculous. I’ve got to believe they couldv’e done better than that. Still, all in all, a great movie.
3. Mystery Men
While not really faithful to the comic, this is still an awesome movie that pokes fun at alot of the comic book/superhero conventions. Any fan of comics will get a big kick out of this movie.
4. X-Men
Everything that made the sequel great is here, only less of it. Plus, they gave Halle Berry more lines in this one, which was a mistake. Basically, for the sequel they took everything that made this movie good and gave us more of it, creating that oh-so-rare situation where a sequel is better than the original. Still, the original is a great movie, and would probably have been as good as the sequel, if the necessity of introducing the situation and characters had not eaten up alot of the movie.
5. Blade
Again, this movie was both reasonable faitful to the comic, and well made. The movie attempts to make vampires plausible and believable, using comic book science of course, which is like Star Trek science without the particles. After going to alot of trouble to establish this scientific reason for vampires existing, the movie proceeds to throw all of it out of the window in the end scene, where Blade fights the god of the vampires, who’s name I don’t remember and don’t care enough to look up. This really was too bad, as not only did it undermine much of the framework set up by the movie, it also involved some really bad cg and effects.
6. Batman
While Michael Keaton was a pretty mediocre Batman, Jack Nicholson was a freakin’ awesome Joker. Personally, I believe that this movie paved the way for the current glut of comic book movies on the market, so we have alot to thank it, and to a lesser degree it’s sequels, for. A good show and definetly something and reader of comic books should see, if they haven’t already.
7. Hulk
There was a time I might of rated this movie a little higher, if only for the fact you have to use your brain a little more than in your standard superhero movie, and the comic panel effent used throughout the movie was really cool. However, after seeing this movie four times (it’s a long story and it’s not interesting. Suffice to say that it wasn’t my idea.) I’ve come to the realization that it’s really boring in some parts and doesn’t make much sense in others. What bothers me the most is the fact that Bruce’s father, Dr. Eric Banner, changes personality about 15 times in the movie, from loving foather, to mad scientist, to regretful father, to power hungry maniac, to nihlistic anarchist (that one really caught me off gaurd), etcetera. Still, see the Hulk himself in action covers over a multitde of sins.
8. Men In Black
Great idea that was sucessfully transfered from the comic to the big screen. I don’t have alot to say about this movie, except that it’s good and you should see it and read the comic and send me five dollars.
9. The Punisher
Ha ha. Just kidding. Still, if you’re ever bored and this movie happens to be on TV, then it’s worth watching, if only because it’s funny seeing Dolph Lundgren trying to act.
9. Road to Perdition
Now, I’m going to be honest, which doesn’t happen often, so you should listen. I haven’t ever read the original comic this movie was based on, so I can’t speak to the faitfulness of the movie translation. I’d really like to, because I enjoy comics that tell stories not usually found in comic books, such as 30’s gangsters tales. I did enjoy the movie quite a bit though, so go see it.
10. From Hell
A pretty cool movie based on a pretty cool comic. Alan Moore, the comics creator, is a tremendous writer. Once again, I’m a fan of comics with original storylines, and there nothing conventional about this. For those of you who may not know, ‘From Hell’ was how Jack the Ripper would sign the letters he wrote after a killing.
There you have it. As a final closing note and a service to the public in general, here are some comic to movie projects that you should never, ever, under any circumstance watch: Any version of Captain America or The Fantastic Four (there are several of each), Batman and Robin, Howard the Duck and Tank Girl.
