If I had a title, it would go here.
“One good film with comic-book roots” (warning: annoying animated ad)
It’s a positive review for A History of Violence, but the reviewer discusses several comics-to-film translations…though his definition of “superhero” is a little different from mine*:
“Sure there have been many, many bad comic-book adaptations. After all, just because a movie isn’t about superheroes doesn’t mean it’s going to be any better than, say, ‘Catwoman’ or ‘Superman 4: The Quest for Peace.’
“Take ‘Tank Girl,’ for example. Or ‘Barb Wire’ with Pam Anderson. How about ‘Timecop’ with Jean-Claude Van Damme? There was the kung-fu dud ‘Elektra,’ which spun off from the costumed ‘Daredevil’ film and comic, and the even bigger kung-fu dud ‘Bullet Proof Monk.'”
However, the reviewer does reveal himself to be a man of taste:
“But on the other hand, there have been just as many comic adaptations that have been good, or even great.
“In 1982, horror guru Wes Craven directed ‘Swamp Thing’ about a plant-man living in the bayou….”
But then he goes on to praise the From Hell movie, but nobody’s perfect.
From Popcorn Panel’s discussion of V for Vendetta:
“Unlike most reviewers, I wasn’t crazy about Hugo Weaving’s turn as V. Does the fact that the movie was based on a comic book negate the criticism that he seemed like a caricature? Probably.”
As an aside, I’ve come across a handful of V for Vendetta reviews getting on Alan Moore’s case for not wanting to have anything to do with the film adaptations of his work. Um, as I recall, he has pretty good reasons for that.
