Comments on: Superhero Cinema 2008

By: The Auto Blog

The Auto Blog — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:22:32 +0000

[...] aren’t going to make a secret of it: Of all the superhero films out this year, we’re most excited about The Dark Knight. Sure, Iron Man was excellent, but after the first [...]

By: bathulk

bathulk — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:51:13 +0000

Why is AngLee seen as a great director anyway, Ang Lee compared to most Asian cinema is crap. Old boy vs Flying dragon hidden tigers or what ever that shit was called. Or I’m a gay cow boy and conflicted (perhaps get another job and move san fran or new york, maybe) vs Yellow Earth. He makes a film with a few visually stunning scenes and is hailed a genius. Really.

By: bathulk

bathulk — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 22:44:38 +0000

All the skeptism is unfounded. If batman started afresh and good, why not the hulk. I’m worried that they will dumb down the Hulk and Banner charactert on the basis of the first. Many thought the first to be to intelligent, what a load of crap. the reason it failed was because of its stupidity. generally good acting in Ang Lees version, but everything else was nonsence. I’m not sure Ang Lee had ever read a Hulk comic or seen the tv series. The TV movies created a Banner and Hulk one could relate to much more than the 2003 film. Hulk relates and is flawed in a way that batman does, I think he and batman play the opposite psychological and mythic roles than supes and spidey, where as the former draw on the primordial rage, angst and innerdemons manifest in all of us, the latter rel;ate as archetypal heroes to aspire to. thats why people related to Banner, he expressed the suppressed rage in us all. the irony that banner and hulk ultimates goals are to find peace, and yet it is because of the very existence of the other that neither can do so, is one of the most interesting and subtle psychologiocal dilemas explored in superhero mythology. The sense of lonilinesss and pathos in both is really interesting, especially because we know ultimately they are both good guys, and like ying and yang, the soul of hulk and why he is so heroic is banner, but it is also actually banners rage that fuels the hulk, not the obstacles that Hulk faces. By Ang Lee making banner enjoy becoming the Hulk, the story was comprimised and subsequently immediately lost the depth and humanity of the original character. which is why nobody related to him. it was awful, stupid, and it will be unfortunate if they dumb down Hulk again because the first film was to clever, apparently.

That’s all I have to say.

By: JOHN

JOHN — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:02:34 +0000

I AM A LONGTIME CAPT. MARVEL (SHAZAM) FAN. SINCE THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE ROCK AS BLACK ADAM I HAVE NOT SEEN ANY OTHER CASTING NEWS. CERTAINLY I HOPE TO SEE BRANDON MOLALE AS CAPTAIN MARVEL BUT IS THERE ANY WORD ABOUT BILLY BATSON AND THE REST OF THE CAST?

By: Yup.

Yup. — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 03:56:12 +0000

This was great info. Thx for writing it.
I excited to see The Dark Knight. Batman begins has restored my hope that it is possible to make the Bat into someone more complex and more kickass than the original movies, which by the by was just as corny than the first tv series. Bu i do agree that its success will play a lot on Leagers preformance. But now that hes died i think people may be more willing to accept it even if its not up to par.

Im also praying that the new Hulk is more “smash buildings” than “brude on past.” Bana is almost to good of an emotional actor to play the Hulk.

Hellboy i know wont be a total disapointment but i can see how it could go overboard.

Lastly, i am depressed that they changed the cast of the Punisher. Whats-his-face did a great job. Its so sad. o well, as long as there is about the same amount of explostions i will go see it.

Thx again. this was very helpfull.

By: Geeknews

Geeknews — Sun, 20 Jan 2008 06:36:50 +0000

[...] Superhero Cinema 2008 [...]

By: doc

doc — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 08:36:12 +0000

When i first found out that Robert Downey Jr. was cast as Tony Stark in the upcoming Iron Man movie, i was disappointed. I then viewed the trailer and it quickly made me reverse that opinion. I think they have a blockbuster on their hands.–In regards to Conan which was a “pulling of pieces of different stories” I think the original was a great movie for its time. In those days (I saw this in the theatre) we did not have a lot of fantasy movies to pick from. I enjoyed the movie and Arnold as Conan (face it he looks like the guy on the cover of the books) was an easy and good pick. I am looking forward to the new movie, being a Conan fan, and will take what is given. Did a review of a Conan short story in episode 17 and a review of the first Conan movie in episode 8 of Heroes of Science Fiction and Fantasy (an iTunes podcast). http://www.heroesofsciencefictionandfantasy.co m for a quicklink or to listen at your computer.

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 21:31:47 +0000

Great article – must say i have big doubts about a new Hulk movie flying- Norton’s brave for taking on that role, i guess if you figure ” well, it can’t get any worse” there may be something to it. i hope i’m wrong and it kicks because i like Norton & the Hulk !
Batman Begins was excellent and can’t wait to see The Dark Knight – i have to say the clips in the trailer have me won over already also- i think Ledger is an excellent choice for The Joker.
too bad Oldman never got cast as a Batman villain though –
he plays a wicked bad guy!

By: Diego

Diego — Sat, 29 Dec 2007 14:41:14 +0000

Jack Nicholson was a terrible choice for the Joker. Jim Carrey’s riddler was more Joker-like than Nicholson’s version. After Seeing the photos, hearing the laugh and watching the new trailer I have no doubt Ledger will be the best Joker yet.

By: NeverWanderer

NeverWanderer — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 23:26:38 +0000

…awww, what a cute little fella.

By: John Wayne

John Wayne — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 22:09:54 +0000

The Hulk is posssibly one of the worst films i have ever had the misfortune to see, anybody who thinks it is even slightly good is a freakin moron and deserves 2 die a slow and painful death involving red hot pokers and a range of small possums, anywho…… nice page n good info.

By: JR

JR — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:56:05 +0000

Judging from the trailer, it sounds more like Ledger is doing an insane impression of Richard Dreyfus than of Jack Nicholson.

By: Fred [The Wolf]

Fred [The Wolf] — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:29:17 +0000

I’m definitely paying my money on mostly all of these. Especially HELLBOY II and THE DARK KNIGHT. I know Ledger is gonna be the wild card in the film as The Joker, but I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt because he’s a good actor and I think he can pull it off. Great job, Wordslinger!

By: ecommerce-solution

ecommerce-solution — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 21:10:14 +0000

Can’t wait to see Ed Norton in the new Hulk!

By: WordSlinger

WordSlinger — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 20:27:06 +0000

@ Allen

You’re right. My mistake, but even if he had nothing to do with Epic Movie, his previous work isn’t exactly stellar and parody movies in general have gone downhill in recent years.

I’m sure Nielsen can still deliver with good material, but he hasn’t had any recently.

@R1000

I disagree with them too and agree more with your sentiment. I just want to make sure people realize the opinions in the “Why it might” sections aren’t necessarily mine.

By: Slayve

Slayve — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 19:15:16 +0000

I don’t get why so many people are down on the CGI in Hulk. That was some of the most technologically sophisticated yet subtle CGI animation I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen a lot. No one does CGI better than ILM (except perhaps WETA), and the facial animation in particular was exceptional. I guess if you just don’t like CGI in general you wouldn’t like it, but would you rather see a guy in a rubber suit against a green-screen background? I kinda doubt it.

By: Allen

Allen — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:52:21 +0000

I hate to burst your bubble, but Craig Mazin had nothing to do with Epic Movie, that was Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer (Worst directors ever.). While I don’t think Superhero! will be great by any means, I highly doubt that it will sink as low as Epic Movie and Date Movie, or at least I would hope not. Mazin did write for Scary Movie 3&4, and while those movies weren’t great, they beat the hell out of the first two Wayans brothers movies.

I just hope that it actually has a plot that stands on its own to some degree. That’s what I think the difference is between the good parody movies of yesterday and the steaming piles of crap of today. Movies like The Naked Gun and Jane Austen’s Mafia! parodied the movies they loved, but also had semi-original characters that you almost cared about. Epic Movie and Date Movie both seem more like a collection of bad sketches that try to completely remake what they are are parodying only give it a grossout twist, loosely held together by some bad plot and characters that you hope die in the end.

On another note, Leslie Nielsen is still funny as hell, he just hasn’t been given any good writing lately.

By: bobarobes

bobarobes — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 18:06:46 +0000

You did forget about ‘Wanted’ or are we ignoring that because they completely missed the point and went with assassins instead of super-villans?

By: Cartoons Plugin

Cartoons Plugin — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:35:37 +0000

[...] look at the upcoming superhero movies for 2008. read more | digg [...]

By: Aaron

Aaron — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:42:06 +0000

The Ang Lee Hulk movie wasn’t that bad, well, up until the last 15 minutes. Though, overall, the movie was so-so, my favorite part of the movie was, by far, the beautiful, arty, comic panel styled transitions between scenes. Unfortunately for Lee, the artistic beauty of films like Crouching Tiger don’t translate well to other fantastical stories, such as the Hulk. I do look forward to the new Hulk movie. I would like to see more done (visual, visceral eye candy) with the idea that as the Hulk gets angrier, his strength grows exponentially.

I saw a trailer for The Dark Knight recently and feel that Ledger will do an excellent job as The Joker. He doesn’t seem to be disfigured but hopefully this time The Joker’s character will be shown for what he really is, a totally psychotic, murdering bastard who loathes Batman and people in general.

Also recently saw a trailer for Iron Man. This took me up then brought me down again. GREAT scene clips of the classic Iron Man suit only to be watered down with an overly CG-looking modern suit, flying around, for about 1 solid minute. I HOPE that part of the trailer was filler and not part of the actual film.

I will probably see many of these films on the big screen because, bad or not, big, visual movies like this need to be seen on a giant screen.