Comic Book Films & TV

[Noah]

Is Rise of The Silver Surfer so bad it retroactively ruins any enjoyment you could have gotten out of the first FF film? Because I really enjoyed the first FF film and thought it was well casted(for the most part) but I have never seen the second FF film.

[livid]

That's really kind of hard to answer since most people thought both sucked. Like, a lot.

[Noah]

We'll that's interesting, as the only other person I've really discussed those FF movies with before was my ultra picky friend Justin and he liked the first one (granted as more of a guilty pleasure as opposed to my genuine like of it) and he thought the 2nd was shit(which is probably part of why I never watched it) I guess I convinced myself if he actually liked the first one, it had to have been alright.

[Gabriel]

The first one was okay. Essentially, they got a lot right, but when it came down to it, they really messed up on a lot of things as well.

Julian McMahon was absolutely fantastic as Doom. The way the character was written though, was extremely disappointing... and I think that sums up the FF franchise. One step forward, one step back.

The second movie was just terrible though. They took what worked from the first one, and then poorly added the Surfer and Galactus, and more cheesey dialogue.

I don't think the series needed to be rebooted, necessarily, and especially not by the same company that fucked it up in the first place. They could have just done a third movie with a new villain.

I can't wait for the day when all of its' film properties are owned again by Marvel.

[livid]

I can't wait for the day when all of its' film properties are owned again by Marvel.

I wouldn't hold my breath on that one. The day that happens it the day that superhero movies are no longer making boat loads of money and judging by the past year...not gonna be anytime soon.

Also, it's a bit unfair to judge an entire studio on two films. They've rebounded quite nicely with the latest X-Men and plus, Matthew Vaughn is producing it so he'll make sure it's not terrible.

[HailtotheYo]

Julian McMahon was absolutely fantastic as Doom.

That and Jessica Alba on the screen were the only good things about either FF movie.

[Horus]

Has anybody else came across the rumors that Guillermo del Toro has come to an agreement with DC, and is working on a Justice League Dark movie that is already leaps and bounds ahead of schedule of an actual Justice League movie? If this is true, my interest in DC related movies has been resparked, I've never picked up a JLD comic, but when it comes to paranormal related comic book films, its hard not to have faith in del Toro that if anything, it won't be completely horrible.

[TKz]

Yeah, but Del Toro isn't exactly all that reliable when it comes to this stuff. I mean, he's not Tarantino, but still.

I'm all over a film that sees a John Constantine that's actually John Constantine, though.

[=BK=]

Considering watching Green Lantern. I've heard that people hate it. Why?

[livid]

Yeah, but Del Toro isn't exactly all that reliable when it comes to this stuff. I mean, he's not Tarantino, but still.

I'm all over a film that sees a John Constantine that's actually John Constantine, though.

Oh no, it's definitely a thing. There's been news about it for a couple months now. And del Toro's issue really is that he has so many projects that some of the stuff he's developing will take awhile to finally get made, whereas Tarantino just likes to talk.

That said, I do think he was looking to film JLD sooner rather than later. He's working on his show for FX and then his next horror film Crimson Peak but he doesn't have anything concrete after.

[TKz]

I kind of love that we live in a world where a Justice League Dark film is a thing that could happen.

[Gabriel]

Considering watching Green Lantern. I've heard that people hate it. Why?

My big issue with the film is that the villain was Parralax. Personally, I think Parralax needs at least a whole movie of build-up. Preferrably, it would have been the big bad to finish out a trilogy, not a throwaway villain.

A lot of complaints I heard were about Ryan Reynolds playing Ryan Reynolds, but I like him and see a lot of him in Hal Jordan in the books, so I was fine with that. I still think Bradley Cooper would have been better for the role, for the simple reason that Reynolds is connected to other comic characters already, but I think Ryan Reynolds did just fine as Hal Jordan.

What bothered me about the complaints was that a lot of them were about how the movie wasn't dark enough, or serious enough, or wasn't close enough to the source material and blah blah blah. I love the Green Lantern books, and I felt that the movie did a tremendous job of capturing the feel of the books, especially Geoff Johns' re-telling of Hal Jordan's origins.

I loved the movie, and I've seen it countless times, but I guess it's not for everyone.

The big issue I have with DC films is that there's no real direction. It's like they never have a clear vision of what they want to accomplish, and just keep churning out films despite this. It makes it really hard to find a vision and go with it, because now we have a Justice League movie that's supposed to happen, but only Superman has been introduced in their new cinematic universe. Batman is coming off of his highest point of popularity because of Christopher Nolan's trilogy, and now he's going to be recast and rebooted for this universe. Worse than that is the fact that the Justice League movie will have to introduce several other main players who won't have had the benefit of their own feature or cameo's in another feature prior to being thrust into the spotlight.

It also brings into question the Green Lantern. Do they disregard the movie that they just recently released and go with a different Lantern, or just reboot Hal Jordan altogether? Or do they just run with the Hal Jordan character they've established and see if they can get Ryan Reynolds to join Henry Cavill as the leads in the film, giving the other roles to lesser known actors in an effort to establish them and continue the franchises with actors who aren't going to command huge fees.

DC is such a mess in their film department right now. Man of Steel's success, or lack of, will ultimately determine what happens here. If the movie performs well financially and critically, I expect DC to formally announce the Justice League film and give us a better idea of what's staying and what's being let go. If Man of Steel flops either financially or critically, I expect DC to announce a Justice League film still... but I expect that it will be the launching point for their cinematic universe, and that everything that came before will be disregarded.

[Skummy]

I would love to see a Justice League Dark movie, and I've never even read any of the Justice League Dark comics, just the old Vertigo stuff. I'd imagine some of the copyright issues would be a little complicated getting it to film, though? Unless it's another case of "DC own all of this now".

[Horus]

Exluding the FX show, that was pretty much how the article seemed everything up. Apparently theres already a script outline done, its just a matter of turning in a product thats going to translate well on the big screen, but the way he was talking in the article, even with his other projects taking up time, odds are we'll see a JLD before a Justice League movie.

[TKz]

I've been writing a fairly in depth article on how I'd see a Justice League film come about... and one of my main points (SPOILERSLOL) is that you just can't include Green Lantern. That's an entire franchise in itself that's almost as big and would take as much build as Justice League to set up, almost. Leave him the fuck out. I'd build the first film around Superman, Batman (because he doesn't need any real explanation, do it how Burton did in the first film), Flash, who you can probably get away with introducing in the film. And then either make the fucking Wonder Woman film (because there's no way you can introduce her without her own film. "Here's an Amazonian... she's around, that's a thing") or don't include her. Pad out the rest of the cast with some heroes who don't need a whole film, someone like Green Arrow and Black Canary, though that'd be feel like a total ripoff of Widow/Hawkeye.

[livid]

I think it was IGN (not entirely sure) brought up the idea that the Arrow show is being used to launch a character or two for the JL film and I thought that was a tremendous idea because it would be a little twist on the Marvel formula.

[Gabriel]

I've been writing a fairly in depth article on how I'd see a Justice League film come about... and one of my main points (SPOILERSLOL) is that you just can't include Green Lantern. That's an entire franchise in itself that's almost as big and would take as much build as Justice League to set up, almost. Leave him the fuck out. I'd build the first film around Superman, Batman (because he doesn't need any real explanation, do it how Burton did in the first film), Flash, who you can probably get away with introducing in the film. And then either make the fucking Wonder Woman film (because there's no way you can introduce her without her own film. "Here's an Amazonian... she's around, that's a thing") or don't include her. Pad out the rest of the cast with some heroes who don't need a whole film, someone like Green Arrow and Black Canary, though that'd be feel like a total ripoff of Widow/Hawkeye.

If they keep the Green Lantern film in continuity, I would like to see Hal Jordan on the Justice League team.

If they wipe the Green Lantern film, then I would prefer that they leave the team without a Lantern, and reboot the Green Lantern franchise.

If they reboot it, I want to see the first film be Hal Jordan learning the ropes and fighting the Manhunters with Sinestro. The second film needs to be Sinestro going darkside on Hal and wiping out a good number of the Lantern Corps. In the end, Jordan defeats him, but it doesn't feel like he won the war. The third film is Hal being celebrated by the Guardians and the Corps, while Sinestro unleashes Paralax from within the Central Power Battery. Jordan seems to keep Paralax at bay, until something happens and Coast City gets destroyed. Paralax latches onto Hal, giving him the power to return his home to what it was, but at the cost of his soul. Jordan goes crazy and does something so bad that even Sinestro is appauled. The remaining Green Lanterns then have to work with Sinestro to bring down Paralax, and in the end, wind up killing Hal Jordan.

I would probably move some of the Sinestro/Paralax stuff into the second film though, if only so that the third film doesn't have to be four hours long, or feel like it was cut to pieces.

Anyways, I would do that with a Green Lantern trilogy, and then have John Stewart join the Justice League. His presence there would have two purposes. 1, so that the team has a Lantern and ties to the Guardians if they should ever need cosmic help. 2, so that the team can keep an eye on Earth's new Green Lantern, to make sure that something as bad as what happens with Hal and Coast City doesn't happen again.

[TKz]

Yeah, not a bad idea. You'd think Arrow would probably be kind of suffocated by that. There'd be a ton of stuff they wouldn't be allowed to do just in case the film want to use the characters.

And yeah, that's a pretty sweet idea Gabriel. Only thing I'd change is try and set up a second Green Lantern in time for the third film, so you've got a hero to take over the Hal Jordan role and do the deed of taking him down. I'd quite like to see Sinestro go darkside in the first film and then we could have Sinestro Corps Wars in the second film.

Again. We live in a world where all this is possible. Life is sweet sometimes.

[Horus]

Ive been saying this for awhile now, and I realize I'm probably alone in this thinking, but honestly, I think its in DC'S best interest to stop worrying about keeping up with Marvel when it comes to movies, and look into the television medium more.

Although it wasnt't extremely true to the comics, Smallville was a success, if it wasn't, it wouldn't have been on for as long as it was. Arrow has improved alot since debuting. Why not give other, probably less now characters such as The Question for example a run on television, instead of rushing anything other then Batman to the big screen and failing to bring in Marvel numbers. If nothing else, it buys them time to sort there bigger characters out for the big screen.

[TKz]

It'd be sweet if they made a Birds of Prey that wasn't shit.

Honestly I'd take any female hero getting a decent role in the spotlight. There's so many great ones, yet pretty much the only prominent role is Black Widow.