1.24.2005
FODDER
There are some people that know this subject matter far better than me, so I most assuredly do not write the following as anything other than an interested party.
Growing up, there were pretty much 3 flavors of comic books I get a hold of easily; Marvel, DC, and "Kid comics" which was pretty much everything not in the first two groups. Being a creature possessing a modicum of intelligence, it is not surprising that I gravitated to Marvel. I dabbled in comics, never being a completist on any one title, never making it a mission to stay up to date on all the intertwining storylines. But I was a fan. Still am to a certain degree, though I couldn't tell you the last time I actually picked up an issue of any comic.
Now Marvel has had numerous attempts at porting its wares to other medium. Spiderman was on the little screen in both cartoon and live action form, long before Sam Rami had his crack at ol' webhead. Many of Marvel's best known characters have enjoyed the crossover successes and failures. (Watch The Punisher - The one with Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gosset Jr., and you will understand the failures part quite well) Spiderman and the Hulk were no-brainers to bring to the Big Screen - Huge followings of fans from several generations, not to mention they are the highest profile characters Marvel has as far as mainstream recognition.
Trust me on that last one, there is a much higher probability of your Grandma knowing the Hulk than Cyclops or Nightcrawler - that's just the way it is.
Now the balancing act that is taking time honoured characters from one particular outlet (the comic book) and trying to translate that onto film is a bitch. It's a bitch because to do it well, you have to appease the fans, while engaging an audience that most likely does not posess an encyclopedic understanding of the pre-existing mythology. I'd give Spiderman and X-Men high marks for succeeding with the balance, and I'll even give Daredevil grudging marks for effort.
For the most part I watch the hype build up and try and keep my distance until the final print makes it to my local cinema. While the true giants of the Marvel Universe have had their screen treatments taken care of, there was in my mind always one glaring ommission.
Surrounded in rumor for the last few years, with the occasional on set spy photo to keep the faithful hoping, I truly thought this film would never be made, but - here it is.
Now the die hards are already picking apart the trailer for numerous reasons, some of them no doubt, legit. But c'mon it's January. Release is set for July. They are called "Teaser Trailers" for a reason. To try and divine what the final product will be based of those few seconds of film is silly. Still let's have some fun. Here are my predictions:
Dialouge for Jessica Alba, kept to a minimum of polysylabic words.
Michael Chiklis will steal the show as The Thing.
The script will be pretty predictable.
Number one complaint from fanboys after its release - Tie: Dr. Doom was a wuss / No Galactus references.
Still, I'll probably go see this one in theater. But I'm a sucker for reliving my childhood.
go and tell me all about it
Growing up, there were pretty much 3 flavors of comic books I get a hold of easily; Marvel, DC, and "Kid comics" which was pretty much everything not in the first two groups. Being a creature possessing a modicum of intelligence, it is not surprising that I gravitated to Marvel. I dabbled in comics, never being a completist on any one title, never making it a mission to stay up to date on all the intertwining storylines. But I was a fan. Still am to a certain degree, though I couldn't tell you the last time I actually picked up an issue of any comic.
Now Marvel has had numerous attempts at porting its wares to other medium. Spiderman was on the little screen in both cartoon and live action form, long before Sam Rami had his crack at ol' webhead. Many of Marvel's best known characters have enjoyed the crossover successes and failures. (Watch The Punisher - The one with Dolph Lundgren and Louis Gosset Jr., and you will understand the failures part quite well) Spiderman and the Hulk were no-brainers to bring to the Big Screen - Huge followings of fans from several generations, not to mention they are the highest profile characters Marvel has as far as mainstream recognition.
Trust me on that last one, there is a much higher probability of your Grandma knowing the Hulk than Cyclops or Nightcrawler - that's just the way it is.
Now the balancing act that is taking time honoured characters from one particular outlet (the comic book) and trying to translate that onto film is a bitch. It's a bitch because to do it well, you have to appease the fans, while engaging an audience that most likely does not posess an encyclopedic understanding of the pre-existing mythology. I'd give Spiderman and X-Men high marks for succeeding with the balance, and I'll even give Daredevil grudging marks for effort.
For the most part I watch the hype build up and try and keep my distance until the final print makes it to my local cinema. While the true giants of the Marvel Universe have had their screen treatments taken care of, there was in my mind always one glaring ommission.
Surrounded in rumor for the last few years, with the occasional on set spy photo to keep the faithful hoping, I truly thought this film would never be made, but - here it is.
Now the die hards are already picking apart the trailer for numerous reasons, some of them no doubt, legit. But c'mon it's January. Release is set for July. They are called "Teaser Trailers" for a reason. To try and divine what the final product will be based of those few seconds of film is silly. Still let's have some fun. Here are my predictions:
Dialouge for Jessica Alba, kept to a minimum of polysylabic words.
Michael Chiklis will steal the show as The Thing.
The script will be pretty predictable.
Number one complaint from fanboys after its release - Tie: Dr. Doom was a wuss / No Galactus references.
Still, I'll probably go see this one in theater. But I'm a sucker for reliving my childhood.
go and tell me all about it
Comments:
You bring up a classic point. Fanboys will sit around for days on end debating mythical casting calls for various hero books. All the while, wishing to see it on the big screen. But once the trailers hit, they pound the net murdering it. (a.k.a Hulk looks like Shrek, Mary Jane has clearly canibalised Gwen Stacey's character into her own, etc.)But then once the general population tears it apart, they then tend to turn into staunch defenders.
Me personally, I think there are good and bad ways to do these films. You are correct, that it's impossible to really capture everything about a character, because there is so much mythology behind them. So you're left picked from: origin and story, origin alone, or origin glossed over and right into story. I think each character is different and lends itself to different approaches based the type of character they are. But in the end I think the best way to look at it is this: a movie is either good or it isn't, regarless of subject matter. A trailer will never give you the full picture. Comic fans are probably going to see this regardless. The trailer is for evereyone else.
Now having said that, I don't think this will be very good. Too much mythology to cover. That's why The Incredibles worked so well. No mythology. So they were able to tailor the backstory perfectly for film without having to worry about upsetting the fans.
Now if you want to see a comic book film trailer done right, check out Sin City. That is going to rock. Plus you still get your Alba fix.
Me personally, I think there are good and bad ways to do these films. You are correct, that it's impossible to really capture everything about a character, because there is so much mythology behind them. So you're left picked from: origin and story, origin alone, or origin glossed over and right into story. I think each character is different and lends itself to different approaches based the type of character they are. But in the end I think the best way to look at it is this: a movie is either good or it isn't, regarless of subject matter. A trailer will never give you the full picture. Comic fans are probably going to see this regardless. The trailer is for evereyone else.
Now having said that, I don't think this will be very good. Too much mythology to cover. That's why The Incredibles worked so well. No mythology. So they were able to tailor the backstory perfectly for film without having to worry about upsetting the fans.
Now if you want to see a comic book film trailer done right, check out Sin City. That is going to rock. Plus you still get your Alba fix.
No doubt you've hit it on the head sir. And indeed, having no prior knowledge of Sin City, the trailer has me very interested. Looks Like I may get out to the Movie Theater more than twice this year.
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