Best Comic Book Movie Adaptation (Modern Era - 1989-present)

blade!

seriously... i think blade 1 is one of the best comix adaptations ever. an all-around well-made movie... doesn't go on for like 3 hours either

see almost all the others have some sort of fatal flaw... like the first half of batman begins is great but once he's actually batman the action stuff is pretty lame. spider-man movies all go on way too long and are too cgi cartoony. x-men movies were kind of frustrating in that they also had great setups but dropped the ball majorly when it came to the actual action stuff.

I don't see the reason why non-UK/US films were left out of this? Persepolis and the Corto Maltese animated feature are easily better than most of these films. But lacking them, I think I'm gonna vote for Constatine, not because it was necessarily the best of these, but because it was such a positive surprise. I wasn't expecting much from a film were Keanu plays John Constantine, but it turned out to be a creepy, moody horror flick that relied more on atmosphere and great performances by the supporting actors than on special effects. Compared to that Hellboy was a bit of a disappointment, it started great but fell kinda flat after the set-up had been done.

Would you mind if I did a separate poll on indie/Euro comic book movies?

I left them out because the poll would have been massive and unfocused with them in; feel free to start another poll.

Anybody voting Judge Dredd gets the gas face.

^^^batman's bike thing in his new film is more judge dredd than the bikes in the judge dredd film :(

I'm quite fond of X-2 it seems to be the only X-Men film that got it right. And that opening scene is still astonishing.

Comedy voting: Judge Dredd vs. League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen

Couldnt Comedy voting also include the masterpiece that is Barb Wire. If it's the Pamela Anderson movie I remember from way back when i was still a child. If it's anything else, then, dunno.

one of these 3:
Batman Begins
Hellboy
Spider-Man

fuckin' ell!

Spidey gets it

I'm not voting until I've seen Dark Knight. It's abysmally sad, though, that the newer Punisher is one of the better films I've seen from this list.

I think I want to say Mystery Men.

Darkman, The Shadow and The Phantom are missing, ah well

really tho, why do adults think film adaptations of comic books should meet their expectations based on their love of the source material? bearing in mind this is largely a sci-fi/fantasy domain where storytelling is always going to come off second to the visuals and technological concepts (even here you may argue that these are often best left on the page and to readers imagination)?

Predictably -- tho I'm likely the only one who will do so -- I'm voting for Tim Burton's Batman, which I think really did set the template for the modern comic-book movie (tortured vigilante hero, sociopath/charming rouge villian, a bleak city sinking into decay, a serious -- almost gothic -- feel; thereafter, these elements frequently appeared in other comic book films, e.g., Spiderman, X-Men, the new Batman, The Hulk, and so forth).

Quite enjoyed "Batman Returns" at the time, it was funny, at least.

Most of the others that I've seen have been pretty terrible, a lot of the ones I haven't seen, the trailers & clips have been very offputting. I'd have thought the spiderman movies were good if, as slocki sez, they hadn't dragged on so bloody long.

Worst from the list that I've seen was "Tank Girl", god that was so embarrassing. Probably "Barb Wire" is as bad but I was drunk when I watched it & I LMAO'd all the way through it. Hang on, "Dick Tracy" is worse, cos you had warren beatty's obnoxious "look at me aren't i clever" schtick to contend with, plus it was as boring as hell.

I remember seeing "Rocketeer" on a long bus journey, and I found that one quite enjoyable in its modest way.

Almost went for Sin City, ended up voting for Spiderman 2, which matches that perfect balance between Peter Parker soap opera and Spiderman action.

I can't decide.
Constantine was really impressive visually and even if I didn't fully understand the casting of Shia Where's The Beef? LeBeouf I really liked it but then Sin City was also visually impressive but the accents were BEYOND apalling. Acting was massively hit and miss. No one (including myself) liked Dick Tracy or Catwoman and tho people panned Elektra this was during the time Garner was in Alias so she was still pretty good it was just that the script failed her. Spiderman is waaaay too emo, I'd never pick it, X-Men kept getting somewhere then falling over on itself because they weren't sure how to hold onto a plot thread...Wanted is pretty classy, Mystery Man was very funny, Superman, TMNT, (BLAH), The Punisher (?!), Tank Girl (FOR SHAME)...I can't choose!
I think I'll go for Judge Dredd just to be a challop.
(jokes)

this is largely a sci-fi/fantasy domain where storytelling is always going to come off second to the visuals and technological concepts (even here you may argue that these are often best left on the page and to readers imagination)?

-- blueski, Friday, July 18, 2008 11:17 AM (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

see i think the good movies in sci-fi/fantasy/genre X DON'T sacrifice storytelling for "technological concepts." all good genre = good storytelling. otherwise, i dunno, go look at a hr giger monograph or something.

yeah but those genuinely good movies are so few...probably lower ratio than other common genres?

even with Alien and Blade Runner the #1 virtue seems to be the way horror, suspense, mystery and other similar atmospheric qualities are handled by the director, rather than the strength of the story itself.

if Snyder and contemporaries were able to concentrate on the former like Scott did that would probably be enough, but it does seem unlikely (the trailer gives no real sense of such qualities itself).

out of these, the one most exceeded my expectations is probably daredevil. spiderman could have been ok if it hadn't laid on the 9/11 shit with a trowel or the cgi with a marker.

If Darkman was on this list, it would get my vote. Not sure why Blade is getting more love than Blade II as the latter is better IMO.

yeah i prefer the sequel too but am too down on vampires generally to give a fuck about Blade

I'm still holding out hope that someone one day is going to make a decent Dredd movie. They should get Verhoeven on the case.

really tho, why do adults think film adaptations of comic books should meet their expectations based on their love of the source material?

I don't. I just expect them to be watchable. Because why spend millions of dollars making them if they aren't? Oh, right: because the public will pay money to see anything that's projected on a screen.

(even here you may argue that these are often best left on the page and to readers imagination)?

I would argue this. I would argue this very strongly if the list above wasn't enough of an argument in and of itself.

P.S. My favorite comic book movie adaptation is The Bourne Ultimatum.

yeah but those genuinely good movies are so few...probably lower ratio than other common genres?

even with Alien and Blade Runner the #1 virtue seems to be the way horror, suspense, mystery and other similar atmospheric qualities are handled by the director, rather than the strength of the story itself.

if Snyder and contemporaries were able to concentrate on the former like Scott did that would probably be enough, but it does seem unlikely (the trailer gives no real sense of such qualities itself).

-- blueski, Friday, July 18, 2008 12:44 PM (58 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

i dunno, the majority of good-not-great genre flicks have good serviceable storytelling.

blade 2 was meh... another so-so del toro

How are you going to include "Sin City" but leave off "300"?

Deric most of these films are perfectly "watchable". I think the problem is that the scope for effects, cinematography and action direction is naturally stronger than the scope for storytelling in this field, and their watchability is then dependent on your valuation of the former.

also wait, there was a "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3"??????

that was the one where they went to medieval Japan

http://cinemassacre.com/Movies/Nes_Nerd/images/tmnt3movie-pt1.jpg

http://cinemassacre.com/Movies/Nes_Nerd/images/tmnt3movie-pt1.jpg

I meant

OH THAT'S RIGHT

yikes

they get understandably mistaken for kappa

that happened????

well good for them i guess, got to travel

Either Batman (Burton) or Blade. Biggest disappointments on the list were League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Constantine, but then I was probably too attached to the source material.

Also they were both shit.

Batman Returns
Batman Returns
Batman Returns

is the only one that ever got it right, IMHO

stick to 'superhero' type leads

way down the list

From Hell

This is just nitpicking, of course, but did you never read nor see this?

alien vs. predator

spider-man. or maybe spider-man two because it's better. it wins points by having the best set up; empathisable superhero (+ perfectly cast), living out all your geeky audience fantasies, unattainable girl next door, etc. the batman love confuses me so much; i thought it was really au courant martial arts bullshit on top of some guy who has no powers, doesn't build any of his own cool shit and traipses around with supermodels. he's like an asshole in the top gun era tom cruise mold.

spider-man. or maybe spider-man two because it's better.

The villain and action scenes in 2 are better, but the origin story is the best section in any of the Spider-Man films. It's thrilling, goofy and kind of touching and sweet.

all of these are not quite superhero type leads

From Hell
Sin City
V For Vendetta
Wanted

you might as well include 30 days of night then, no?

I probably haven't seen the right films on this list but I lean towards hellboy or xmen.

Hellboy was definitely the most pleasant surprise. Some crappy lines aside I couldn't find much to hate (was totally unfamiliar with the comic tho which seems to help sometimes).

Yeah, I went Blade II from this list, though Iron Man is close.

hellboy? fucking dreadful film, for any genre.

excellent romcom

I voted for Fantastic Four. I love that film.

you might as well include 30 days of night then, no?

I started another poll for movies not included in this one:

Best comic book movie adaptation (indie/Euro/comic strip/other comics)

X-Men 2, not much of a contest.

I'm probably going to go with X2, Spidey 2, or Batgins (mmm...fix me a bat-Martini, Robin!)

I voted for BB having not had a chance to see TDK.

no aeon flux = no cred

Aeon Flux was an animated short, not a comic book.

Go to the back of the room!

I'm still holding out hope that someone one day is going to make a decent Dredd movie. They should get Verhoeven on the case.

-- chap, Friday, 18 July 2008 14:16 (Friday, 18 July 2008 14:16) Bookmark Link

I'm amazed at how this manages to be simultaneously the best and worst idea I've ever heard.

dude there was an Aeon Flux live action movie

but it still wasn't based on a comic

ah - right

The Shoveler: Oh yeah, well, maybe if we had a billionaire like Lance Hunt as our benefactor, then we could afford some advertising.
Mr. Furious: That's because Lance Hunt is Captain Amazing.
Blue Raja: Oh, here we go.
Shoveler: Oh, don't start that again! Lance Hunt wears glasses. Captain Amazing doesn't wear glasses.
Mr. Furious: He takes them off when he transforms.
Shoveler: That doesn't make any sense. He wouldn't be able to see!

^^^love

Ghost World, I say. (I'll go look at the other thread now...)

Persepolis is better than Ghost World IMO.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Sympathy vote for Tank Girl

Voting for Iron Man for its balance of "not just for kids" angst and realism with ACTUAL FUN (sorry Batman).

Almost voted for Iron Man (which I loved). Went for Batman Returns, just 'cuz it's so fucking odd.

X-2. managed to nicely parallel the state of the US at the time, as well as create a kickass action movie.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.