So with TDK destroying the box office this past weekend yet again and
probably to come in the upcoming weeks as well I ask myself and to you gang;
Do you think that all comic book movies would benefit from having a dark and
gritty feel to them? Take a moment, or, as you read this piece, think of
the movies I mention or some that I do not, and imagine them in the tone I
describe. Let’s rewind it to Batman Begins. Everyone loved it with it’s
new take and imagining, this dark, gritty take on a 50+ year old comic. A
version of the story nobody has seen on screen and a version most have yet
to experience in the comics. Understand that Batman in the comics is a dark
D.C. spawn. Tim Burton’s Batman had a sense of grit to it but was lacking
something special that Nolan has brought to us and I think that would be a
certain sense of realism and actuality. What do I mean? For the most part,
everything we’ve seen in Batman Begins and TDK could happen in reality sans
a few details i.e. driving a “tumbler” on roof tops. But for the most part,
The Joker could be a very real villain in this world. Batman could be a
very real hero in this world. Two-Face could be a very real “victim”?
Anyway, with Joel Shumakers adaptation we saw a circus (opinion), and the
cheese camp factor with those films drove me crazzzzzzy and I did not
appreciate them whatsoever. Let’s talk about how some movies may have come
out if they were made in the same tone as B-man Begins and undoubtedly The
Dark Knight. Let’s start with ohhhh Superman. But don’t worry I’m not
going to just stay in the realm of D.C. Comics, I will also talk marvel.
Superman returns which was directed by Brian Singer had some mixmatched
feedback with it. People loved Brandon Routh as Superman, and people loved
Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor but the story was complete shit. I know that a
lot of people are in agreement with me. Now, imagine superman in a not so
bright costume and the rest of the gang living in a gritty metropolis. One
stricken with violence, mayhem, poverty. Would that work due to the fact
that Superman Returns was sort of a sequel though? Maybe a re-do like
Nolan’s series?. Let’s talk about the first X-men, the movie that paved the
way for all comic book movies (in my opinion). I can’t ignore the fact that
X-men had some grit to it but at the same time the campiness factor was way
up as well (stupid fucking uniforms, again in my opinion). We’ve had our
fair share of shit comic book movies, I’m sure the average fanboy can agree
with me that Fantastic Four was horrible. Could it benefit from a gritty
re-make in the future. I’m almost positive! You add some emotion, get some
gringy looking costumes in there, some better actors (leave Michael
Chiklis), a better story and script and perhaps we could have a “better
movie”. The question I am asking here is, moving forward? We have
Wolverine upon us within the next year and word is it’s a complete disaster,
but we won’t know until we see it. Rumor has it that The Punisher: War Zone
has been stripped away from the director and given to the editing team from
The Incredible Hulk, also a complete disaster apparently. So lets recap for
a second. We just had The Dark Knight that is running shit and is in my
books “THE” best comic book movie ever made. And I’ll defend that opinion
to the death. That’s not to say another comic book movie could come around
the next couple of years and blow it out of the water though. But for now
it has my attention because of the attention given to the movie. Lets
picture upcoming comic book movies in the same sense as TDK. We’ll say
X-Men Origins: Magneto because it’s not talked about yet really. What if
the direction marvel took magneto was a gritty and dark take on one of the
greates villains of all-time? Am I being clear here people dammit? Take
the feel of Dark Knight and put it on every new comic book movie ever
created. Would we get sick of it after a while? Just some food for thought
I suppose. Leave me a comment and let me know what some of your ideas are.
