- The Losers is being directed by Peter Berg, whose had some hits-and-misses-but-really-mostly-misses, and is going to be a take on Andy Diggle's revamp of the silver age war story. Personally I can already see Berg's super-stylized nonsense sort of fitting in with Diggle's shoot-em-up CIA world. Does that mean it's going to be good? Well, I mean, in a "Smokin' Aces, watch when you're drunk with your frat bros, eating pizza" kinda way, maybe. But Tarantino he is not.
- Jonah Hex is going to be just awful, and I actually like the character. Why Josh Brolin would choose to take part in this, what is sure to be a goofy take on Westerns written by the guys who wrote Crank, is just beyond me. Hey, Jason Statham movies are what they are, and I can appreciate that. I dunno if that style's going to fly in the old West.
- The Green Lantern... jeez, I mean Ryan Reynolds, huh? That's who you're comfortable with? Hey, you do you, Warner Bros. You do you.
- I've never read Human Target, nor am I interested in seeing a TV show based on that property starring Generic White Guy #236.
- Apparantly this one was announced about a year ago and I didn't hear about it until today: Warren Ellis' three-issue miniseries Red is being adapted into a film, and while it's a book I haven't read it's written by the guys who wrote the Whiteout script (a comic I have read), and frankly I'm pre-disposed to loving everything Bruce Willis is in so this one's a slam dunk for me. Oscar material. Break out the bubbly, Warren, you've earned it.
I mean I could care less. As a rule I think it's best to assume all comics adaptations suck because those involved end up missing the point by either trying to just recapture whatever was on the page and put it directly on screen, or bringing it back to the hyped-up, super-ironic Pulp Fiction nineties. There's no level of artistry to it. No thoughtfulness. No tact. It's just a bunch of suits trying to repackage an old idea.
Like most of what I say this is not intended to be fanboy criticism. If they can make a great Jonah Hex or Green Lantern movie by changing a few details then go for it. I actually insist that be the case. Comics as a medium are meant to do things film and prose can't, and vice versa; make a film that's new and interesting, that's befitting of the medium, even if it is an adaptation.
And bring back Superman.
3 comments:
Jay B here. Far as I know the Crank guys were shitcanned, including script off Jonah Hex like a year ago. Also I dislike the comic argument of "why Jonah Hex over a super-hero comic, or any non super-hero comic over a super hero one" because........ Who cares? Making Jonah Hex isn't stopping Shazam or whatever from getting made. It'll just be another western to 99 percent of the planet that has no idea it originates from a comic, and doesn't care. Just like they don't care or know about actual superhero movies. So again if people get pissy people are making non super hero comics into movies. Fuck em' we need look no further than " A History of Violence" to show why we should. Plus most super hero movies are done terribly wrong. I actually wish they would stop making them.
I don't think I ever made the argument that there should only be superhero comic movies, but rather well thought out stories that are based on comics. A History of Violence is definitely an example of that. Dark Knight and Iron Man are examples of capes movies that did it, and American Splendor to me is the best comics movie ever. That being said, is Megan Fox just suddenly going to become a great actress? Is DC's track record really good enough to think this is going to be "another Western"? No, I suspect it's going to be less Outlaw Josey Wales and more Back to the Future 3.
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