Can a cbm be "too comic booky?"

[Silvermoth]

Can a comic book movie be too comic booky? I would say yes.

I mean, I love comic books. I have for about a decade and a bit now. But lets face it, not every story is gold. It's not that it's bad it's just that sometimes comic books can be a bit crazy.

An example for me is when X-men 3 came out, someone mentioned that they kinda wished they had left in the space battles, sun eating and bird races that are so prevalent in "The Dark Phoenix Saga".

Now, I love "The Dark Phoenix Saga" but to me it wasn't about spacebattles and eating suns. It was about sacrifice and grief and how superheroes would cope with that.

Captain America for example is a movie that's relying alot on comic booky settings and technology and storytypes but I think it would be better in a more grounded world so that the effect of the Avengers is more dramatic.

So what do you think? Is a comic book better when it's grounded or completely crazy? Can it be both?

 

[Elayis]

This question is kinda vague, so I'll do my best to answer it.

If by "comic booky" you mean, campy, than yes. I absolutely cannot stand camp. It's the main reason why I could never get into the Reeve Superman films (although I do believe he was the absolute perfect choice for the role), and why I now do not enjoy Raimi's Spider-Man films as much.

If by "comic booky" you mean epic, than no. Just look at something like Doctor Who or Battlestar Galactica or Harry Potter, even (starting from Half-Blood Prince and onwards). Big space battles and FX are definitely awesome, and yes, I am part of the group that prefers the celestial Phoenix to the schizophrenic Jean from The Last Stand (although I will concede that in the world established by Bryan Singer, it wouldn't have made sense, tonally).

I think what is so fun about comics isthe massive battles and the superpowers, and that larger-than-life feel. If it didn't have that, then it would be no different than any other drama or action film. Which is another reason why I don't consider Nolan's Batman films to be comic book films, necessarily (although they still are very good films).

Now, Captain America doesn't seem to be a victim of epic (more like a triumphant example of it), but it doesn't seem to suffer from having technology that doesn't fit with the period. They still could've had advanced tech, but I think they made a mistake by not adapting it to the materials of the 40s (mainly all of the tech of the villains, like the plane and the Cosmic Cube-powered guns).

Comic books, like science fiction, allow for those epic or intelligent stories that normally wouldn't be possible with a studio-driven, big-budget summer blockbuster. Just look a Transformers & Pirates of the Caribbean. Fun, maybe, but that's it; it's doesn't challenge your mind or offer anything new to the genre.

 

[El Payaso]

Movies are movies.

 

[C. Lee]

It all depends on what is being made. Warren Beatty's version of DICK TRACY was like it was lifted directly from the pages of the Sunday funnies...and worked fine.

 

[The Morningstar]

No i don't think so. A good movie is a good movie. Campy or no.

But, the only thing that should remain in comics and shouldn't get into film is heavy handed over the top expositionary dialogue. The comics aren't that bad for it now, but back in the day the spoon feeding use to really annoy me. Chris Claremont i'm looking at you!

The Dark Knight for example, is very guilty of this. Tis why I don't really like it. Too much telling, not enough showing.

 

[JAK®]

A good story is one that makes you believe that anything that happens within it makes perfect sense.

It baffles me that even though franchises like Star Wars and Lord Of The Rings were heavily successful, comic book movies have to tone themselves down.

 

[Elayis]

A good story is one that makes you believe that anything that happens within it makes perfect sense.

It baffles me that even though franchises like Star Wars and Lord Of The Rings were heavily successful, comic book movies have to tone themselves down.

I know. I never quite understood the mindset of the Marvel Studio execs, who were worried that audiences wouldn't accept a Norse God, even though they flocked in droves to LOTR and Harry Potter.

 

[kedrell]

It's all about making the mythos fit the world they're creating on screen. As long as they do that(which can simply be said that they are abiding by their own made up rules for their movie world) then they can get away with anything. But it's kind of a subtle concept that many film makers are just too dense to get and so they end up getting the mix wrong and you'll either have a fairly realistic world that can't support the ridiculous happening w/o it seeming laughable or they'll have a fairly silly world but they want us to take it too seriously and we end up having our intelligences insulted and/or getting bored.

 

[Tacit Ronin]

Semantics.

 

[Chris Wallace]

Too much "realism", a la Kick-Ass, is really not good for a comic book movie. Superheroes are an element of fantasy & I feel that filmmakers & fans alike are developing a sense of fear or shame at the concept. Too much silliness, a la "Batman & Robin", or too much outlandishness, a la "Scott Pilgrim", is just off-putting.

 

[Vichy]

I voted the wrong way, but no. If I go to see X-Men I want it to be about X-Men - not some high-budget version of Heroes.

 

[Chris Wallace]

But what does that mean? People in Mardi Gras outfits fighting aliens?

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

It's all about your own suspension of disbelief. When a person is 8 the mindset is yes! More G.I. JOE! That movie was awesome!

When that person is 30, they think. What the hell was I thinking this movie is ridiculous.

So yes comic book movies can go overboard, it all depends on how far they ask their audience to suspend their disbelief and if the audience can or is willing to go that far.

 

[JAK®]

Realism is about making the world you have created work within the story. It has nothing to do with taking comic book character's costumes and replacing them with black rubber. That's just watering it down.

 

[El Payaso]

Realism is about making the world you have created work within the story. It has nothing to do with taking comic book character's costumes and replacing them with black rubber. That's just watering it down.

Or avoid that they'd look ridiculous in some cases.

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

Or avoid that they'd look ridiculous in some cases.

 

[JAK®]

The problem is everybody just goes "change the costume!' instead of trying to make it work.

I mean, for the past decade people have responded to the X-Men purists with "What? You think blue and yellow will work on film? No way!" and now First Class is out and it turns out it looks great.

 

[BAH HUMBBUG!]

For me it's more about how the story is told/movie it made and if it allows me to buy into the suspension of disbelief. The costumes can play partly into that. Not that it makes or breaks, but usually if I don't buy it, or they don't blend well, that usually doesn't bode well for the movie as a whole.

 

[El Payaso]

The problem is everybody just goes "change the costume!' instead of trying to make it work.

I mean, for the past decade people have responded to the X-Men purists with "What? You think blue and yellow will work on film? No way!" and now First Class is out and it turns out it looks great.

I have yet to see that.

But did black leather look bad? No.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Can a comedy be too funny?
Can a tragedy be too tragic?
Can a horror film be too scary?
Can a romance be too romantic?
Can a science fiction movie have too much science in it?

 

[SuperFerret]

But did black leather look bad? No.

Unless you're a dominatrix, Hell's Angel, or the Fonz, black leather always looks bad. Especially head to toe unitards made of black leather.

 

[E-Man]

A good story is one that makes you believe that anything that happens within it makes perfect sense.

It baffles me that even though franchises like Star Wars and Lord Of The Rings were heavily successful, comic book movies have to tone themselves down.

This x a million!

It really boggles my mind how there is this inferiority complex that a lot of people have with comic movies. "OMG this won't work! The audience wouldn't accept this! Don't be a nerd and like this gritty ass black suit!"

No one gave a damn about that with Star Wars, LOTR, the Harry Potter movies, etc. People just want to see action from their sci-fi/comics/whatever movies. There is far too much anxiety about being accepted with comic fans.

 

[Franklin Richards]

Unless you're a dominatrix, Hell's Angel, or the Fonz, black leather always looks bad. Especially head to toe unitards made of black leather.

 

[TheAviator]

An example for me is when X-men 3 came out, someone mentioned that they kinda wished they had left in the space battles, sun eating and bird races that are so prevalent in "The Dark Phoenix Saga".

I agree with this. I didn't see the point of Ratner trying to emulate that storyline when he just ended up butchering it in the end.

Can a comic film be too comic-booky? I say yes. Just imagine if every other film had a major character getting killed off and resurrected in the next film. Audiences would tire of it fast.

 

[El Payaso]

Unless you're a dominatrix, Hell's Angel, or the Fonz, black leather always looks bad. Especially head to toe unitards made of black leather.

Those examples are possibly the only ones that'd look bad in black leather. X-Men looked great, unlike if they were in duck-yellow spandex.