Some comic book movies have been blockbuster hits that spawn sequels, trilogies, and crossover events. Characters go on to become household names top selling costumes on Halloween when prior to their movies they were only known of in the comic book communities. And some characters and movies are so bad that they are an embarrassment. Where the blame can be placed varies. It isn't always one thing. Sometimes it's the combination of a lot of thing. A good amount of time, the story strays so far away from source material that it makes the movie absolutely terrible.
*WARNING* There may be spoilers.
Wanted:
Wanted the movie was a decent movie. A loser by the name of Wesley Gibson (played by James McAvoy) was getting cheated on by his girlfriend with his best friend (and he knew about it and never did anything about it), worked a crappy job he hated with a fat, mean horrible bos, and quite possibly had the lowest self esteem on the planet. One day he gets word that his father that he never met died and was leaving him a ton of money. The catch was that he had to train to take his place as an assassin in the Fraternity. So he would train with a woman by the name of Fox (played by Angelina Jolie). They would get their assignments from loom that was decoded by their boss Sloan (Played by Morgan Freeman). No, that's not a typo. They got their assignments from a magic loom. There are a few other silly things that are in the movie, but what action flick doesn't have it's over the top silly moments?
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The comic book on the other hand is still about Wesley Gibson (who looks like Eminem in the comic) whose life was like the one from the movie with the cheating girlfriend and best friend and such. He also inherited some money to join a fraternity that his father was in and was trained by a woman named Fox (who is drawn as a tough sexy black woman). Other than that, that's where the similarities stop. The comic book Fraternity is about a group of super-villains who got organized and killed or defeated all of the superheroes of the world and are now in complete control of the world. They could do anything they wanted and then all they would have to do is show their Fraternity credentials and they would get away with it. These guys were ruthless murderers, unapologetic rapists, and admitted thieves.
What made the movie such a travesty was the complete neutering of the comic. The story was nothing like the comic, it wasn't nearly as gritty as it should have been, and the villains weren't there. The creativity it took to create all of the heroes and villains and their powers and they don't even bother to put them in the movie. It was a shame. It is understandable that rape and ruthless killings is a touchy subject and is something that can stop people from seeing a movie. That said that comic book could have still been done right without taking out so much of what made the comic book special. Do yourself a favor; find "Wanted" by Mark Millar, read it, and then watch the movie.
Halle Berry:
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No one has done a worse job playing comic book characters than Halle Berry. First off, she was a horrible Storm and had no business playing her to begin with. Storm has been one of the strongest characters in comics. Not just among the females, but among all characters in general. Halle Berry was more than likely picked because she is attractive and a well known actress, because it couldn't have been because of her acting skills. Storm has a commanding presence and no matter how attractive she is, it isn't going to replace the power of Storm. Then there was the half African accent she tried in the first X-Men movie. It just didn't work. Two perfect picks for Storm would have been Angela Bassett or Gina Torres. Torres had a presence in "Firefly" and "Serenity" that would have made an amazing Storm and Angela Bassett is just an amazing actress that would have done the role justice. Plus, there's no way Bassett has aged in years, so she could play Storm well into 2030.
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Then there was Catwoman. Yes, the movie was loosely based on the DC character, but seriously, they used the name to get fans to watch and it failed completely. Again, another strong woman played buy someone who's more of a damsel in distress role. Yes, the movie was different and not Selina Kyle, but COME ON! Halle Berry had big shoes to fill with Michelle Pfeiffer being the most recent actress to play Catwoman before Halle and the story stunk, but Halle has enough star power to have maybe tweaked a few things. Unfortunately, this movie will go down as one of the worst movies ever made.
Julian McMahon as Dr. Doom
First off, Julian McMahon is pretty good actor. He's probably not going to be winning any Oscars, but he was amazing in "Nip Tuck". As Dr. Doom, he was terrible. That said, he is not to blame for his part in Dr. Doom. The writer and directors are the criminals here. Dr. Doom isn't some guy who sits in a boardroom and listens to his investors and co-owners of his country. Dr. Doom is a scientist and one of the first scenes Ben says Victor von Doom is "Strip mall science" pretty much stating that he isn't one of three smartest people in the world (which he is). When Julian McMahon was on "Nip Tuck" he played one of the most arrogant characters in television history and it didn't seem like he was allowed to be that guy and that's what Doom is. There's also the gypsy heritage that is a major part of his life that would have gotten into journey into him learning dark magic. It was depressing how Dr. Doom was turned into just some guy who runs a business and not the genius who rules a country and every knows to not take lightly. At least the costume was cool.
A Great Peter Parker. A Terrible Spider-Man:
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Spider-Man 1 and 2 with Toby Maguire were great movies and a great representation of what Peter Parker had to deal with. Maguire did a really good job breaking into the Parker role. Some of his mannerisms were spot on and he did a great job with the subtle dorky faces or even the surprise when his spider-sense would go off. It was a near flawless Peter Parker and the writers and director did a great job on the story. But for all of the praise this writer will give to Peter Parker, after seeing how great Andrew Garfield was a Spider-Man, the first three movies didn't have a good Spider-Man. That's not to say it was horrible. The action was great. The Doc Ock vs. Spidey fight on the train still holds up to this day. The problem is that Spider-Man lacked something that separates him from Superman and Batman. His sense of humor.
Spider-Man is supposed to joke and be completely annoying. There wasn't nearly enough of that in the first few Spider-Man movies. There were maybe one or two jokes per movie and way more self-deprecation than normal and that is saying a lot. Had the movies been called "The Adventures of Peter Parker" or "Peter Parker: The Amazing Spider-Man" than there would be no complaints from this guy right here. Unfortunately, the movie was called "Spider-Man".
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