Having watched all the Superman films, I decided to follow that up with a review of the “90s” Batman films. * This encapsulates Batman, Batman Returns, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin.
To kick things off, here’s my famous quick and dirty guide to the Batman films:
Batman: directed by the artsy Tim Burton, produced by […]
Having watched the previous Superman cinematic outings one at a time, I decided to watch the entirety of Christopher Reeve’s output in the character in one go. Including both versions of the second film, this runs to five: Superman, Superman II, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, Superman III and Superman IV: The Quest […]
Okay, here’s where I may be bending the rules a bit. While I intended to only include theatrical films, I am willing to stretch the point for films that were intended for theatrical release only, for one reason or another, didn’t get one. One such case is the infamous 1994 film The Fantastic […]
I get a lot of flack from certain quarters for my fandom of the Fantastic Four film series (on display in my review of the first film). Perhaps I’m more forgiving because I love the original comics so much. But whatever the reason, I also really enjoyed the sequel, Fantastic Four: Rise of […]
Brenda Starr carries a 1989 release date, but it was really produced a couple of years earlier. Legal troubles kept it from release, otherwise it might have been seen as a precursor to the “comic book” revival begun in ‘89 by Batman, instead of as just another attempt to cash in on a fad. […]
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century is the theatrically-released pilot for the similarly named television show starring Gil Gerard as Buck and Erin Gray as Col. Wilma Deering. As I mentioned in my review, Flash Gordon (made around the same time) tried to recreate the comic strip on the big screen. Buck, on […]
Batman (1966) is my favorite Batman movie. There, I’ve said it and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I know a lot of Batman fans hate the 1960s Adam West TV show and (by extension) this movie, but I simply cannot agree with them.
“But it debases all that defines the character” the […]
Superman and the Mole Men is the first Superman feature film (though it runs under an hour). It features the debut of George Reeves as the Man of Steel and Phyllis Coates as Lois Lane, both of whom would reprise their roles in the Adventures of Superman TV series. In fact, Mole Men […]
The serial Batman and Robin is a mixed bag as far as improvements over its predecessor are concerned. While it sticks closer to the source material (no need for war propoganda in 1949), its plot and characterizations aren’t nearly as strong.
First of all, Batman and Robin shows the dynamic duo (Robert Lowery and Johnny […]
Flash Gordon adapts the classic Alex Raymond character with a style that is taken right out of the original comic strip. It was started as an answer to the successful Buck Rogers strip that had jump-started the sci-fi comic scene and their fates had always been entwined. Their respective movie serials had even […]
Atom Man vs. Superman is the second Superman movie serial, the last appearance of Kirk Alyn in the role and a vast improvement over the original Superman.
The main reason this one is an improvement is the appearance of a much better villain (and Superman’s main nemesis at that): Lex Luthor. Played here by the […]
Dick Tracy is Warren Beatty’s big-screen adaptation of Chester Gould’s famous comic strip character. Coming only a year after Batman, it is easy to see why it was kind of overshadowed by that much higher profile film. But despite some similarities (composer Danny Elfman, for instance), they are very different projects with very […]
Mystery Men is one of the most underappreciated comic book movies of all time. Really, I don’t understand why people don’t like this film more.
First, it has a brilliant, sublime performance by William H. Macy as The Shoveller. He brings such pathos and resonance to what could have been an extremely silly role. […]
Quoting my over five-year-old review from amazon.com:
The thing about this adaptation of Li’l Abner is that it manages to capture the light-hearted feel of the strip at the time. Unencumbered by any political or social leanings (in either direction) it gives a sense of Al Capp at his finest. When Li’l Abner and the citizens […]
Modesty Blaise as high-camp musical comedy? If you’ve ever read a Modety Blaise novel*, you’ll understand why fans of the comic and novel series thoroughly dislike this film. It flies in the face of the generally serious tone of Peter O’Donnell’s creation. And, yes, I usually back the side of purity when […]
Although the character had previously appeared on radio, the 1937 serial Dick Tracy marked his live-action debut. It was produced by the kings of the form at Republic and their mastery of the genre shows, even if it is lacking in accuracy in the details.
First of all, they moved Tracy from being a local […]
I previously reviewed Fantastic Four for thelogbook.com (the review can be read here), so I won’t go into great detail, but I will say that I still really like this movie. It’s certainly not among the greats of the comic-book-to-big-screen field, but I think it’s a fun, entertaining movie.
Particularly, I like the interaction […]
The 1943 movie serial Batman not only marked the first appearance of the iconic comic book character, it marks the first appearance of any DC character. (Superman would not appear for another five years.) As such, it had more of an influence on its subject matter than most adaptations.
One big influence it had […]
I’m not going to lie to you. The main thing that drew me to Barbarella as a youth was the copious amounts of nudity. I mean, I had never seen a film that had so much casual nudity in it. There are women who are just naked for no particular reason from […]
The serial Superman marked the debut of the Man of Steel in live action and would help define the character for many years. Even the portrayals by George Reeves and Christopher Reeve, both of whom far outshone Alyn, owe something to his version.
The first thing that impressed me about Superman when I originally watched […]
I decided that the one type of film I didn’t watch last year that I should have was the movie serial. A mainstay for decades, their influence is still felt today in things like the Star Wars Saga and many television adventure series. I figure that if I watch the whole thing, that […]
After delving deeply into the Superman mythos last year, I was in the mood to revisit one of the lesser known corners with 1984’s Supergirl. First of all, it has a lot of problems. The story is a bit nonsensical and the character of Lara/Linda/Supergirl isn’t properly fleshed out. (Is she an […]
Viewed December 29, 2006
Hellboy is a film adaptation of Mike Mignola’s cult comic book series. It tells of a demon brought forth by Nazis to be the key to a worldwide apocalypse, but is instead captured by American military forces and raised as a force for good.
When we meet up again with Hellboy (Ron […]
Viewed November 28, 2006
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut is a project I feel like I’ve waited for my whole life. (In reality, I only learned about it five or six years ago.) I could go on and on about why I loved this movie and why it’s so much better than the […]
Viewed November 14, 2006
Even if my pig-headed need to see every movie based on a comic book didn’t require it, I still would have watched Man-Thing because of the character’s connection to one of my favorite comic book characters, Howard the Duck. Now, Howard was the star of his own, highly celebrated film back […]
Viewed November 13, 2006
Darna: Ang pagbabalik aka Darna: The Return is an adventure story centering around Philippine super hero Darna and her struggle with her arch-nemesis Valentina.
For those of you unaware of Darna, she was created by Marz Ravelo (under the earlier name of Varga) in 1947 as an answer to the many American […]
Viewed October 28, 2006
Superman: Brainiac Attacks is a straight-to-video animated movie that carries on stylistically from Superman: The Animated Series while reworking the basic characterizations. In fact, these changes to the characters has caused quite a stir amongst fans of the series, who feel that this movie doesn’t properly follow the precedents set.
Okay, I […]
Viewed October 3, 2006
Faust: Love of the Damned has got to be the worst comic book based film I have ever seen. Of course, the original Faust comic book was one of the worst comics I ever read, so I really shouldn’t be surprised.
The story, such as it is, involves an artist named John […]
Viewed September 24, 2006
What dooms Catwoman is straying from the source material. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times (and will say it a thousand times more): stick to the source mateial and you’ll be fine. There’s a reason that characters like Catwoman have stood the test of time. […]
Viewed August 30, 2006
Garfield attempts to bring the classic comic strip character to the big screen in live action form. And that’s where the troubles start. The biggest problem with Garfield is the visualization of the animals. Now, Garfield’s world is filled with talking animals, but the only one in Garfield that […]
Viewed August 15, 2006
Now, I’m not a big fan of the X-Men films. But, then again, I’ve never been a big fan of the X-Men. I’ve never been able to buy the central conceit that mutants can be compared to other oppressed groups (take your pick). The problem with the comparison for […]
Viewed August 6, 2006
The number of things that go wrong with V for Vendetta are almost too many to count. It is wrong-headed from the get-go. Now, to be fair, I was never a fan of the original comic book on which this film is based. It seemed to me to be […]
Viewed July 17, 2006
Batman: New Times often gets tagged as a “LEGO” film. I want to point out right off the bat (get it?) that it, in fact, uses the C3 figures and blocks from Art Asylum (they’re compatible with LEGO). This computer animated short film was created by students at The Digital […]
Viewed July 11, 2006
I don’t care that it’s comedy. I don’t care that he’s a cartoon walking around in the real world. I don’t even care that the material is basically advertising for American Express. The two short films that make up The Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman portray a viable, legitimate […]
Viewed June 30, 2006
I honestly didn’t expect to enjoy Constantine as much as I did. Of course, that’s not saying much, as I’m no fan of Hellblazer, the comic on which Constantine is based. Maybe if I was I would like it less. I’ve certainly seen my share of scathing comments on […]
Viewed June 29, 2006
Poor, maligned Josie and the Pussycats. A parody of mega-merchandising knocked by critics for being too commercial, Josie (based on the Archie comics and Hanna-Barbera cartoon show of the same name) may be the most mis-understood comic book movie ever.
Now, I’m a big fan of Josie and the Pussycats. Or, […]
Viewed June 28, 2006
I don’t know what I was expecting from SkyHigh, but I’m certain it’s not what I got. The box notes seemed to indicate an intense look at the possibilities of vengeance and the nature of the afterlife. What SkyHigh ends up being about is just another attempt to storm the […]
Viewed June 27, 2006
I put Superman Returns at a big disadvantage before I saw it. I watched Richard Donner’s 1978 film Superman right before going to the theater. Now, normally I wouldn’t place that kind of pressure on a film. I didn’t watch any of the 90s ‘Batman’ movies before seeing Batman […]
Viewed June 26, 2006
The Punisher is the second attempt to bring the hard-edged Marvel Comics character to life. The previous version of The Punisher from 1989 starred Dolph Lundgren in the title role and was a decent, if not exactly original, effort. This new version had a much larger budget and, after the […]
Viewed June 25, 2006
My Name Is Modesty is the second attempt to bring Modesty Blaise to the big screen following 1996’s Modesty Blaise. The earlier film takes a very stylist look at the character, sending up the spy films of the day and really going towards a “camp” feel (must to the annoyance of […]
Viewed May 23, 2006
I certainly had high hopes for Road to Perdition. It’s based upon a hraphic novel written by Max Allan Collins, a writer I’ve admired for some time. I first became aware of him around the release of Dick Tracy (1990). Collins was writing the strip (he took over from […]
Viewed May 15, 2006
3 Dev Adam is an earlier Turkish film from some of the people responsible for the “Turkish Star Wars”. It’s title’s literal translation is “3 Mighty Men”, but it’s alternate English title is more descriptive because it accurately describes the film: “Captain America and Santo vs. Spider-Man”.
These Turkish films are […]
Viewed May 3, 2006
In 1927, Charles Lindbergh made his historic solo flight across the Atlantic. It touched off an aviation frnzy, as the public became insatiable for the latest and greatest flyers. Naturally, this infatuation spilled over into the popular culture, with movies, books and comics devoted to the activity. One of […]
Viewed February 23, 2006
Ghost World is a strange film to categorize. It is considered a comedy and the review blurbs on the DVD attest to the fact that the studio certainly considers it one. But, although there are plenty of funny moments, it is much more dramatic in its overall tone than most […]
Viewed February 16, 2006
Private Snuffy Smith is based on the long running comic strip Barney Google and Snuffy Smith and mines some of the same hillbilly territory covered by the more famous Li’l Abner, which had made it’s own leap to the big screen two years earlier.
It’s a fun little movie, from a time when […]
Viewed February 7, 2006
Okay, David Hasselhoff as Marvel Comics’ hard-bitten World War II veteran Nick Fury. There. The worst conceptual aspect of Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD is out in the open and it’s not as bad as you think. It’s not very good, but given Marvel’s track record circa 1998, there […]
Viewed February 3, 2006
Your ability to enjoy Lone Wolf and Cub: Baby Cart to Hades (1972)* is probably directly linked to your tolerance for violence. The “Lone Wolf and Cub” movies are exceptionally violent affairs. Based on the comics by Kazuo Koike and Goseki Kojima, they tell the story of Ogami Itto, a […]
Viewed January 24, 2006
(sung to the tune of “Maria” from The Sound of Music)
She kills a guy, then starts to cry.
Her costume is all red.
She’s got some kind of ninja skills
And came back from the dead.
But in the end all she wants
Is to play mommy for some kid.
What kind of tough assassin is Elektra?
She’s got […]
Viewed January 2, 2006
In many ways, The Princess Blade is a typical Japanese action film. It’s got swords, acts of vengeance, betrayal, an old guy with secrets to tell, unrequited love, the death of innocents and lots and lots of blood.
Still, it’s a very stylish film. Based on the classic Japanese comic “Lady […]