I digress.
Many movies, both recent and old, have been based off of sturdy fan-bases. From the popular Batman Begins to the disappointing failure of The Last Airbender, from the fan-freakin-tastic The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and Prince Caspian to the disappointing Voyage of the Dawn Treader, we've all seen them.
There's a danger in adapting our favorite comics, books, and cartoon shows into movies, though. And it seems that the 'misses' far outweigh the 'hits'.
Why am I bringing this up? Well, with major comic book names like Green Lantern and Superman on the horizon, trying to live up to hits like Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, while battling the shadows of Eragon and The Last Airbender (and for Superman in particular, fighting tooth and nail to get past Superman Returns)- I am legitimately concerned.
This is the reason I've never been one who begs for big screen representations of my favorite fandoms. I know Hollywood and I know that far more often than not, they make me wish I wasn't a fan in the first place. Sure, I'd love to see my favorite comic book character, The Flash, in his own feature film IF THEY DID IT RIGHT. However, I'm far too scared that they'll botch him up so badly that no one will have respect for him any longer.
I'll not give the lecture on accurate representation of the actual characters, no matter how much I want to strangle the creators of Green Lantern already. (The ring chose Hal Jordan because he's virtually fearless, and yet they're already saying in the trailer that he's never been fearless and now the responsibility of being a Green Lantern scares him. Are you kidding me?!)
My point is, by looking at the history of movies based on previously established fanbases, don't expect too much.You'll probably be disappointed. I've learned from one of my best friends to go in with low expectations. If it's bad, you won't be as disappointed; if it rocks, you have something to be excited about.
Don't get me wrong, I don't want to be the bearer of bad news. And you'll definitely find me standing eagerly in line outside of the midnight showing of Green Lantern, the Superman reboot, the Spiderman reboot, and many others (even Marvel movies, of whose comics I am not a fan, but I have trouble resisting anything superhero-esque when it comes to entertainment). I'm just prepared, after seeing all that I have, for it to be ill-represented.
So, Green Lantern Hal Jordan, even if the ridiculously hot Ryan Reynolds doesn't do you justice, I still know how awesome you are!!
This entry makes me think of an article that Patton Oswalt wrote for Wired a while back. He argued that all of these remakes and mainstreaming of geeky stuff is destroying the creativity of the geek culture, but that it will eventually suck so bad the movement will collapse in on itself and geeks will have their stuff back.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/12/ff_angrynerd_geekculture/
This happens every time a movement starts and studios see "Oh, hey, this makes a ton of money. Where are we on that?" and eventually it dies down when the general populous gets tired of it.
The thing is...DC Comics is the one that has been sucking it in the theaters. Don't get me wrong, Marvel had plenty of terrible failures. But, recently they've redeemed themselves and Christopher Nolan has grabbed the ever-bucking horns of the DC genre and held it steady (he's even writing or directing the new Superman reboot).
ReplyDeleteI'm not disagreeing with you, I'm just saying that Marvel has learned how to please the fans and DC is quickly catching on, though there are probably a few more misses in the near-future *cough cough*GreenLantern *cough cough*
I'm the biggest Marvel nerd and sometimes the harshest critic of nerd movies but I have faith that the genre is about to redeem itself.
Hi there Kirsten!
ReplyDeleteHow would I contact you for possible reviews in the future?
Thanks!
Gina
Gina, you can contact me at kirsten_erin@yahoo.com. :)
ReplyDelete