Comic Books Movie Reboots: How to Stop Caring and Love the Stories. Or Not.
[I was on a bad blog site for a year and hardly anyone saw my stuff, so occasionally I will be reposting old posts that are not necessarily topical or relevant, but still interesting to me.]
It is no secret that I have been a life-long comic book fan. I am by no means though, a fanatic. I love comics so much that I don't care about good and bad. I Love the art, the stories, the characters, and most of all the people that create them.
But what I don't understand is the venom groups of people have against when they are made into movies. For good or bad I have watched them all. I never thought that the stories I read as a kid and now as an "adult?" would ever be made into big screen movies.
I actually own a bootlegged VHS copy of Dolph Lungren's "The Punisher" that I bought at a comic book convention way back. They never thought it would be released. It has cool music and firecracker sound effects for gunshots. And the story is, well I was going to say laughable, but... It is actually a passable story. It was gritty before that was a Hollywood trend. Dolph was a good Punisher in my humble opinion. Obviously, MANY would disagree. And eventually, they re-edited it and released it.
So when I say I love Comic Book Movies, I know from whence I speak. I loved the old serial style Spiderman and Capitan America movies. Which I saw on TV.
But what this is really about is the concept of the "Reboot". I wish they would stop calling it that. You see, there have been many different versions of my favorite characters over the years. Some good, Some horrible, Some that just made me laugh so hard I busted a gut. But the stories and the characters were always there. You may hate one version of a character, but you still loved the character.
There have been some very good critics of movies. Alan Moore is one of the best comic book writers ever. And he has totally disenfranchised himself from movies based on his works. With some very high profile words to boot. But I think even he missed the point. His story was given the Hollywood greenlight because someone loved his work and wanted to see it on the big screen. This does not by any means diminish his work. It just re-interprets it. Maybe they didn't follow every little detail that was lovingly crafted for the story, but, someone loved it. And after release, whether or not it was well received, people were interested. They went out and bought the originals. Sometimes they liked the movie better. This all leads to a conversation about the story. Which, when all is said and done, most writers really want that. They want people to talk about their story. To see a different point of view.
When a story runs its course, it is retconned. Meaning that the baseline story or just some minor details were changed to move the characters forward. Bucky Barnes in the Captian America stories has changed quite a few times. Batman once carried a gun and killed. Thor has been a woman and a strange alien and a robot. Just to name a few.
People get very uptight about changes in the things they love so passionately. And to move them on to the big screen and try to encompass years of back story to suit all audiences is a sizeable task for any filmmaker. People want to see their love reciprocated. This is a fine idea, but honestly love is a perspective. And others are not wrong simply because they love the characters differently. I know that personally I am kind of reviled among comic book forums because of my easy acceptance of movie interpretations of characters I love. That doesn't mean I cannot be critical about them and see holes in plots. But I am a different breed. I see all the angles and stories in total and don't condescend change.
Let me sum up with a non-comic book moment to show my point. My wife and I, years ago, went to see Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. After he took my money and as he handed me my tickets, the young ticket booth operator said, " You know it's not very good." to which I replied, "I'm just here for the lightsaber fights.". He smiled and responded, "You are going to LOVE this movie." And I did. Because even though it was ham-handed and not well done, I was finally able to see the Obi-Wan/Anakin fight. Blue on Blue Lightsabers. I love the characters and stories so much, that I was dying to see that fight.
I loved it.
But That's Just Me...Walking My Mind
It is no secret that I have been a life-long comic book fan. I am by no means though, a fanatic. I love comics so much that I don't care about good and bad. I Love the art, the stories, the characters, and most of all the people that create them.
But what I don't understand is the venom groups of people have against when they are made into movies. For good or bad I have watched them all. I never thought that the stories I read as a kid and now as an "adult?" would ever be made into big screen movies.
I actually own a bootlegged VHS copy of Dolph Lungren's "The Punisher" that I bought at a comic book convention way back. They never thought it would be released. It has cool music and firecracker sound effects for gunshots. And the story is, well I was going to say laughable, but... It is actually a passable story. It was gritty before that was a Hollywood trend. Dolph was a good Punisher in my humble opinion. Obviously, MANY would disagree. And eventually, they re-edited it and released it.
So when I say I love Comic Book Movies, I know from whence I speak. I loved the old serial style Spiderman and Capitan America movies. Which I saw on TV.
But what this is really about is the concept of the "Reboot". I wish they would stop calling it that. You see, there have been many different versions of my favorite characters over the years. Some good, Some horrible, Some that just made me laugh so hard I busted a gut. But the stories and the characters were always there. You may hate one version of a character, but you still loved the character.
There have been some very good critics of movies. Alan Moore is one of the best comic book writers ever. And he has totally disenfranchised himself from movies based on his works. With some very high profile words to boot. But I think even he missed the point. His story was given the Hollywood greenlight because someone loved his work and wanted to see it on the big screen. This does not by any means diminish his work. It just re-interprets it. Maybe they didn't follow every little detail that was lovingly crafted for the story, but, someone loved it. And after release, whether or not it was well received, people were interested. They went out and bought the originals. Sometimes they liked the movie better. This all leads to a conversation about the story. Which, when all is said and done, most writers really want that. They want people to talk about their story. To see a different point of view.
When a story runs its course, it is retconned. Meaning that the baseline story or just some minor details were changed to move the characters forward. Bucky Barnes in the Captian America stories has changed quite a few times. Batman once carried a gun and killed. Thor has been a woman and a strange alien and a robot. Just to name a few.
People get very uptight about changes in the things they love so passionately. And to move them on to the big screen and try to encompass years of back story to suit all audiences is a sizeable task for any filmmaker. People want to see their love reciprocated. This is a fine idea, but honestly love is a perspective. And others are not wrong simply because they love the characters differently. I know that personally I am kind of reviled among comic book forums because of my easy acceptance of movie interpretations of characters I love. That doesn't mean I cannot be critical about them and see holes in plots. But I am a different breed. I see all the angles and stories in total and don't condescend change.
Let me sum up with a non-comic book moment to show my point. My wife and I, years ago, went to see Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith. After he took my money and as he handed me my tickets, the young ticket booth operator said, " You know it's not very good." to which I replied, "I'm just here for the lightsaber fights.". He smiled and responded, "You are going to LOVE this movie." And I did. Because even though it was ham-handed and not well done, I was finally able to see the Obi-Wan/Anakin fight. Blue on Blue Lightsabers. I love the characters and stories so much, that I was dying to see that fight.
I loved it.
But That's Just Me...Walking My Mind
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Comments and creative criticism are always appreciated. But like the good Wil said "Don't Be A Dick"