JonathanLB
Mar 13th, 2003, 05:47:23 AM
I finished writing a feature article today for my WR201 class, but I chose a topic that I could use for my site too (two birds with one stone, always convenient).
I hope some of you comic book film fans like it, or read it, haha. Oh sorry about the formating. It sucks. Umm, I don't know how to make it indent for paragraphs.
Superhero Movies Are Not Just A New Fad
Film critics, industry analysts, and most of all studios are all wondering if the public desire for comic book films will be sufficient to include all of the major potential blockbusters of 2003, another year when superheroes rule.
In 2002, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man became the fifth highest grossing movie in United States box office history, also claiming the biggest opening of all time and the 2002 throne as the most attended movie. Its final gross reached $403.7 million, also making it one of only three films ever to cross $400 million in a single theatrical release; the other two are Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) and Titanic (1997).
Aside from Spider-Man, other comic book films also came to theaters during the year. New Line Cinema released Blade II, the sequel to 1998’s widely popular Wesley Snipes vampire film. The Blade character, like Spider-Man, is also a Marvel Comics property.
Additionally, another comic book movie sequel, Men in Black II, also achieved wide commercial success during the summer of 2002, grossing $190.4 million.
The success of director Bryan Singer’s X-Men in 2000 spurred other projects based on Marvel characters, many of which are coming to theaters in 2003.
Gitesh Pandya, box office expert and Webmaster of BoxOfficeGuru.com, says, “2000’s X-Men proved that with Batman on hiatus, there was still a huge fan base of people looking for this type on entertainment, based on existing popular material.”
Daredevil, based on a Marvel character, already opened on February 14 and is sailing towards the $100 million mark. Its success has already inspired its studio, 20th Century Fox, to approve both a sequel and a spin-off starring Jennifer Garner’s Elektra character.
Singer’s X-Men 2 opens on May 2, closely followed by director Ang Lee’s The Hulk on June 20. Marvel hopes the success of both films will lead to future sequels, especially with development of future Spider-Man movies also underway.
The success of Spider-Man led to numerous articles about the emergence of the comic book film as a major, viable genre, though many such articles failed to acknowledge the history of superhero films. Even in 1997, USA Today featured an article titled “A comic book invasion,” which discussed the openings of such films as Men in Black, Spawn, Steel, and Batman & Robin.
What the media, and film analysts as a group, are failing to see is the constant popularity of comic book movies, which, far from being a fad, are simply part of the yearly movie industry. With many planned sequels to popular comic book movies of the past few years, the presence of at least several films each year based on comic books is not just a likelihood, but a certainty.
Pandya says, “Studios have known for decades that comic books are a great source for feature films.”
As modern special effects technology has improved, the new equipment and software has given directors and studios the ability to transfer comic books to the film medium. Superman (1978) was perhaps the first notable superhero movie that gave its genre credibility and huge commercial and critical success.
Following Superman, Superman II (1980) bested even its original for quality and artistic merits. Both films routinely rank among the greatest sci-fi and fantasy movies ever filmed.
Superhero movies continued throughout the 1980s and ‘90s with movies such as Superman III (1983), Superman IV (1987), Batman (1989), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Batman Returns (1992), The Crow (1994), The Mask (1994), Batman Forever (1995), The Phantom (1996), and quite a few more.
Another shallow criticism from many industry onlookers and journalists concerns the perceived lower quality of comic book films as somehow not as worthy as a serious drama or a musical, for instance. What such writers fail to realize are the incredible talents attached to many of the greatest comic book movies.
As with any genre of film, however, masterpieces coexist with duds. For every Superman or Batman, there is a Barb Wire (1996), or a Superman IV, both of which routinely make all-time worst 100 films lists.
Nonetheless, consider that Tim Burton, one of the most artistic and talented directors in Hollywood, directed the first two Batman films, or that Singer, the controversial and acclaimed director of The Usual Suspects (1995), also helmed X-Men and its forthcoming sequel. The Usual Suspects ranks highly in many top 100 lists for the greatest movies of all time.
Pandya says Singer’s work on X-Men and its subsequent success “helped other Marvel properties get big directors, great casts, and large budgets which in turn lead to entertaining popcorn films that gross lots of money.”
Singer and Burton are hardly the only acclaimed directors to choose work on comic book films. Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) not only became the highest grossing foreign film in United States history, but also received ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director. It won four Oscars, including Best Foreign Language Film. Yet after his success with the martial arts period piece, Lee had no qualms about directing The Hulk for Universal.
Richard Donner, hardly a name director, has nonetheless proven his mastery of film with more than just Superman and Superman II. He also has directed such classics as The Goonies (1985), Lethal Weapon (1987), and all of its three sequels.
Spider-Man’s Raimi gained substantial praise and cult followings for his work on movies such as The Evil Dead (1982), Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn (1987), and Army of Darkness (1993), though his more traditional work on A Simple Plan (1998) also earned him recognition.
If comic book movies are inferior works not worthy of classification as art, but rather simple entertainment for the masses, then why have many of the top directors created many of the best films of the genre?
Rob Blackwelder, editor of SplicedWire.com and frequent guest critic for the San Francisco Examiner, questions the long-term value of comic book movies, however.
“I almost always have high hopes for comic book movies,” Blackwelder says, “but I’ve come to realize that almost all of them – even the good ones – have one inherent problem: They’re made with too much of an eye for a pop-culture audience and become quickly and badly dated.”
Nonetheless, serious moviegoers and critics can hardly praise the rest of the work from Singer, Burton, Lee, Donner, and Raimi without recognizing their achievements in creating wonderfully entertaining, artistic films based on characters previously appearing in comic books. Whether or not such films remain as potent years later as they are at the time of release is a matter of debate.
Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Men in Black, Men in Black II, Spider-Man, and X-Men are all among the top 100 highest grossing movies of all time, yet range from 1989 through 2002. Superman only misses the list because of inflation.
Given the continuing success of comic book films over several decades, not just commercially but also critically in many cases, a serious film historian can hardly conclude that comic book movies represent merely a passing fad, or that they are inherently lower quality. Instead, just as an increasing number of movies come from mediums other than books, such as video games and television, for instance, films based on comic books will continue to prosper well into the future and will also lure many of the top directors.
The success of comic book films “should continue,” Pandya says, “until the franchises are worn thin and the public finds them less exciting.”
I hope some of you comic book film fans like it, or read it, haha. Oh sorry about the formating. It sucks. Umm, I don't know how to make it indent for paragraphs.
Superhero Movies Are Not Just A New Fad
Film critics, industry analysts, and most of all studios are all wondering if the public desire for comic book films will be sufficient to include all of the major potential blockbusters of 2003, another year when superheroes rule.
In 2002, Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man became the fifth highest grossing movie in United States box office history, also claiming the biggest opening of all time and the 2002 throne as the most attended movie. Its final gross reached $403.7 million, also making it one of only three films ever to cross $400 million in a single theatrical release; the other two are Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999) and Titanic (1997).
Aside from Spider-Man, other comic book films also came to theaters during the year. New Line Cinema released Blade II, the sequel to 1998’s widely popular Wesley Snipes vampire film. The Blade character, like Spider-Man, is also a Marvel Comics property.
Additionally, another comic book movie sequel, Men in Black II, also achieved wide commercial success during the summer of 2002, grossing $190.4 million.
The success of director Bryan Singer’s X-Men in 2000 spurred other projects based on Marvel characters, many of which are coming to theaters in 2003.
Gitesh Pandya, box office expert and Webmaster of BoxOfficeGuru.com, says, “2000’s X-Men proved that with Batman on hiatus, there was still a huge fan base of people looking for this type on entertainment, based on existing popular material.”
Daredevil, based on a Marvel character, already opened on February 14 and is sailing towards the $100 million mark. Its success has already inspired its studio, 20th Century Fox, to approve both a sequel and a spin-off starring Jennifer Garner’s Elektra character.
Singer’s X-Men 2 opens on May 2, closely followed by director Ang Lee’s The Hulk on June 20. Marvel hopes the success of both films will lead to future sequels, especially with development of future Spider-Man movies also underway.
The success of Spider-Man led to numerous articles about the emergence of the comic book film as a major, viable genre, though many such articles failed to acknowledge the history of superhero films. Even in 1997, USA Today featured an article titled “A comic book invasion,” which discussed the openings of such films as Men in Black, Spawn, Steel, and Batman & Robin.
What the media, and film analysts as a group, are failing to see is the constant popularity of comic book movies, which, far from being a fad, are simply part of the yearly movie industry. With many planned sequels to popular comic book movies of the past few years, the presence of at least several films each year based on comic books is not just a likelihood, but a certainty.
Pandya says, “Studios have known for decades that comic books are a great source for feature films.”
As modern special effects technology has improved, the new equipment and software has given directors and studios the ability to transfer comic books to the film medium. Superman (1978) was perhaps the first notable superhero movie that gave its genre credibility and huge commercial and critical success.
Following Superman, Superman II (1980) bested even its original for quality and artistic merits. Both films routinely rank among the greatest sci-fi and fantasy movies ever filmed.
Superhero movies continued throughout the 1980s and ‘90s with movies such as Superman III (1983), Superman IV (1987), Batman (1989), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990), Batman Returns (1992), The Crow (1994), The Mask (1994), Batman Forever (1995), The Phantom (1996), and quite a few more.
Another shallow criticism from many industry onlookers and journalists concerns the perceived lower quality of comic book films as somehow not as worthy as a serious drama or a musical, for instance. What such writers fail to realize are the incredible talents attached to many of the greatest comic book movies.
As with any genre of film, however, masterpieces coexist with duds. For every Superman or Batman, there is a Barb Wire (1996), or a Superman IV, both of which routinely make all-time worst 100 films lists.
Nonetheless, consider that Tim Burton, one of the most artistic and talented directors in Hollywood, directed the first two Batman films, or that Singer, the controversial and acclaimed director of The Usual Suspects (1995), also helmed X-Men and its forthcoming sequel. The Usual Suspects ranks highly in many top 100 lists for the greatest movies of all time.
Pandya says Singer’s work on X-Men and its subsequent success “helped other Marvel properties get big directors, great casts, and large budgets which in turn lead to entertaining popcorn films that gross lots of money.”
Singer and Burton are hardly the only acclaimed directors to choose work on comic book films. Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) not only became the highest grossing foreign film in United States history, but also received ten Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director. It won four Oscars, including Best Foreign Language Film. Yet after his success with the martial arts period piece, Lee had no qualms about directing The Hulk for Universal.
Richard Donner, hardly a name director, has nonetheless proven his mastery of film with more than just Superman and Superman II. He also has directed such classics as The Goonies (1985), Lethal Weapon (1987), and all of its three sequels.
Spider-Man’s Raimi gained substantial praise and cult followings for his work on movies such as The Evil Dead (1982), Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn (1987), and Army of Darkness (1993), though his more traditional work on A Simple Plan (1998) also earned him recognition.
If comic book movies are inferior works not worthy of classification as art, but rather simple entertainment for the masses, then why have many of the top directors created many of the best films of the genre?
Rob Blackwelder, editor of SplicedWire.com and frequent guest critic for the San Francisco Examiner, questions the long-term value of comic book movies, however.
“I almost always have high hopes for comic book movies,” Blackwelder says, “but I’ve come to realize that almost all of them – even the good ones – have one inherent problem: They’re made with too much of an eye for a pop-culture audience and become quickly and badly dated.”
Nonetheless, serious moviegoers and critics can hardly praise the rest of the work from Singer, Burton, Lee, Donner, and Raimi without recognizing their achievements in creating wonderfully entertaining, artistic films based on characters previously appearing in comic books. Whether or not such films remain as potent years later as they are at the time of release is a matter of debate.
Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever, Men in Black, Men in Black II, Spider-Man, and X-Men are all among the top 100 highest grossing movies of all time, yet range from 1989 through 2002. Superman only misses the list because of inflation.
Given the continuing success of comic book films over several decades, not just commercially but also critically in many cases, a serious film historian can hardly conclude that comic book movies represent merely a passing fad, or that they are inherently lower quality. Instead, just as an increasing number of movies come from mediums other than books, such as video games and television, for instance, films based on comic books will continue to prosper well into the future and will also lure many of the top directors.
The success of comic book films “should continue,” Pandya says, “until the franchises are worn thin and the public finds them less exciting.”