Comic Book Movies

So, I've decided that I'm going to introduce to you one of my favourite genres to begin with, and there's no type of film I love more than sitting down and watching some form of comic book film, whether it's a bright character such as Spider-Man or Green Lantern, or into the much darker side of them, Nolan's Batman, Spawn or Punisher for example.
*And just so you know, there may be some spoilers in here*

Now as a self confessed comic book geek I can't helped but love any form of superhero movie, even when Green Lantern came out in 2011 and people said it was awful I still gave it a watch and I even quite liked it. Admittedly some parts of it seemed rather silly, but it was just like the comic book, a man who can create anything with just his mind, so it was good enough.

But I certainly believe that through the last 10-20 years superhero films have become a lot better than they previously were, actually not better, but more popular, meaning the film industry's much more likely to make more of them. For example I recently acquired a copy of a Captain America film from 1990, and I have to say it's really worth a watch, it follows just about the same plot as the newer version except it's set in the present day (1990). It was a flop when it came to the box office, only being released in the UK and gaining $10,173 gross after having a budget of $10,000,000. But really I believe that this is down to the fact these sort of films weren't popular back then. But thanks to likeable actors such as Robert Downey Jr. and Christian Bale, and the rest of the great casts, these films have become so massive.

That's not to say that previous films of the genre haven't been great. No-one can have a chat about great superhero films without bringing up Tim Burton and Michael Keaton's Batman from 1989, which seems to have been denied it's greatness thanks to the bad bunch of sequels that followed it's success. Personally Batman (1989) is one of my favourite films because it is almost as dark as Nolan's trilogy, but still has the camp style from Adam West's years in the cowl.

 

Also the fact that I've spent years flicking through the pages of comic books and am aways happy to see them on the big screen. I think the easiest way to give an example is to use the God of all comic book stories, Batman: Knightfall, a story in which a Mexican Titan using Luchador from Hell, Bane, wreaks havoc upon Gotham, and when Batman faces him, he picks up the masked vigilante and breaks his back over his knee, a scene of which has been recreated by Nolan in his final instalment of his trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. For me it brought back memories of getting to the last page Knightfall and my jaw dropping instantly, and I found the exact same thing happened when I saw TDKR for the first time, I just couldn't believe Nolan would put that in, not that I'm complaining, I thought it was the greatest thing I'd ever seen, and I'm not saying I don't like Batman and wanted to see it happen, but it was the iconography this showed and how to-the-comic the trilogy could be that really made me think about how much of a good movie it was, and how sad it was that it was Nolan's final Batman.

Now as I read through what I have written so far, I feel it's a little too much for one post, so I may have to carry on with my view on the Comic Book Movies in my next post, where I'll be looking into the Marvel side of life and the more independent films, and maybe a little bit more on DC and it's villains also.
So for now, stay safe and I hope to you'll be back soon.