Movie Madness Article by aviewaskewed, 01:41 PM 24th Jan Disclaimer: The following column is entirely the opinions of the author (even at that we aren‘t sure), any similarity to the opinions of any other staff or affiliate of theendlesscrew.com is entirely coincidental and unintentional. Unless specifically noted otherwise, all creator comments have been gleaned from other sources and no creators have actually endorsed any aspect of this column. Two weeks in, and he’s already jerking the readers around…yup, this guy is gonna last. Author’s note: For those who tuned in this week expecting my take on the comics publishers, well, you’re not getting that. It was a busy week last week, and while I did get the column about halfway done, I didn’t get it totally finished, or to where I think it’s presentable to you. Also, Elektra has pretty much now bombed in it’s first two weeks, and I’ve had this column sacked away from back when we were on angel fire, I think it’s one of my better pieces, and felt the timing was appropriate. I apologize to my readers who were tuning in for part 3 of my look at the industry, it will be done next week, I promise. You know, I like to try and stay on topics that are of universal appeal here, and this week is no different. Today I want to talk about comics in the movies. You know, Hollywood loves comics right now, and just about anything ever published is headed to the big screen. We've seen some great and not so great movies already come out...and I hear it debated all the time whether these flicks can do a thing to help comics or not. Let me weigh in on this debate by saying yes...good comic movies + good comics= New readers. I know from experience that if the right person goes to see a comic movie, they are going to get interested in the source material...now the problem is, if they don't like the book, they are going to walk off. So I think it behooves regular readers to take their friends with an interest down to the store, and try and find something they might like. Keyword: THEY, not you spunky. Just cause you like Superman doesn’t mean you're friend is going to like Superman, it really takes an open mind, and a good knowledge of what's out there to convert somebody. I know how difficult it can be because I've converted people myself, it can be a real pain because you've first got to break the perception that comics is kiddy crap, and nobody over 12 is going to enjoy it. Personally, I'd say the reverse is true and that nobody UNDER 12 is really going to quite understand, or enjoy what they're reading. I think however we have to be careful about what gets presented though in terms of comic movies. Because as big a success as Spider-Man was, do you really think Namor is going to do the same numbers? Do you even know who Namor is? Do you care? How about Deathlok. Answering no to any of these questions proves my point: If you make a comic movie nobody cares about...even if it's the most faithful translation of the material, it's not going to amount to a drop in the bucket for comics, because simply put, nobody cares, and if it‘s a BAD movie besides? It'll further damage the perceptions of the medium. Elektra in my mind wasn’t too bad a movie, it wasn’t groundbreaking, but it wasn’t bad. There was a good amount of character there, I think it was better then Blade: Trinity, suffers from one of the horrid cliches I hate in comics movies *spoiler warning*: the main villian killed Elektra’s mother…do you know how SICK of that I am? How tired I am of this cliché popping up? There’s no reason for it. It has never really added anything to the film (except for maybe in Daredevil since it helps to drive home to viewers how important it is that Matt doesn’t kill the Kingpin, even after he finds out this man made him an orphan, because he’s not that type of person now), and it was stupid when Batman did it…and that was what? 89? God…I suddenly feel old. But you see my point, like any movie you need good writing, especially on the first one, or just name value (I personally feel the first Spider-Man’s writing wasn’t terribly great, decent, but not great. So the name value picked up the slack there). So I think companies really need to be careful about what they shop to Hollywood, and make sure they're best foot is being put forward, or they're going to find the prosperity comics is beginning to enjoy again slam into a brick wall, and a viable revenue source dry up. Also, while I know it's not strictly comic related, as a fan, I'd like to take a second to offer my sympathy to the family, friends and fans of Johnny Carson. He was one of a kind, a brilliant comedian and a true american original. There will never be another. Back to Rants