Ew's list of the 20 worst comic book movies was a decent one. It also wasn't really all that hard a list to compile. It's easy to take shots at the likes of Catwoman and The Phantom. And Batman and Robin is a no brainer. But most of the entries were pretty obscure (Brenda Starr?)
EW was pretty hard on all things Marvel (I guess if you aren't Spiderman or X-Men, you're just no good). Ghost Rider, Punisher, Daredevil, and Fantastic Four all made shameful appearances on this list, yet Hulk was spared. (?) I feel compelled to defend the latter two, especially Fantastic Four, which was about as good as the comic was anyway (I'm sorry, but there's no way you can make a movie about a guy who stretches and make it look cool).
I thought FF did a fine job with its characters (Dr. Doom not withstanding). I don't think people understand that the comic is lighter than Spidey or X-men, so I think the film did a good job of capturing the family dynamic, and the light tone of the source material. If you want to argue that, look at Josie and the Pussycats. Surely not a great movie, but it honors the comic from which it is based so you can't fault it for that.
Though Elektra was bad, I've always thought Daredevil was completely underrated. I know everyone hates the flick, so I'm not gonna waste my breath trying to defend it. All I can say is that I loved the dark tone it captures, and casting issues aside, Collin Farrell was freakin sweet as Bullseye, and he was alot cooler than that Power Ranger-wannabe from Spiderman 1.
Anyway, here are some comic movies that are alot worse than any of those four:
Popeye.
Alien vs. Predator. That's right. Alien vs. Predator.
If you wanna get really obscure, Dennis the Menace.
Richie Rich. NOT better than Fantastic Four.
Spawn. Would have been better if it was rated R. If you can pick on The Shadow, you can pick on Spawn.
Mystery Men. There's a fine line between satire and stupid.
The comic strip and cartoon show were fantastic. But this movie was absolutely awful. Garfield, I'm talking to you.
X-Men The Last Stand. A true fall from grace for the franchise. Everything they could possibly mess up, they do.
Oh, and Constantine.
Comments
The Counteragent 03/28/08
Keanu Reeves is just so awesomely terrible in Constantine, I can't help but enjoy that movie for pure comic value. And I think Josie and the Pussycats is surprisingly pretty decent in terms of satire.
CptSassyPants 03/28/08
Very good argument Rob. The whole time I was looking through that list I couldn't stop thinking "OK, where's Hulk???"
I kinda wish they put Spiderman 3 on the list. I cringed throughout the whole movie.
Funny thing is I own Punisher (I pretty sure I won it from EW actually) and I remember thinking that while the movie as a whole was ok, the ending was pretty badass.
Liz 03/29/08
I was hoping someone would bring up Spiderman 3. Horrible movie.
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