What would you have done to make these so-so movies better
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Savage
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Nnnot in this case. This movie was just filled with tedious...space. It's a fairly simple story that they just complicated the crap out of...This movie would be great if they could just agree on what it was supposed to be. Big summer blockbuster or something you'd see on IFC in the middle of the day.
Chris Wallace
LET'S DO A HEADCOUNT...
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I would've kept Elektra on the path that the first 5 minutes indicated; focus on her fall & not try to redeem her.
roach
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Daredevil.....I would have focused on Matt training and becoming DD and then him taking on crime in NYC. He would have been up against the Kingpin and him only. No Elektra no Bullseye...I would have saved them for the sequels....In fact I probably would have used DD:Man without Fear as the template of the movie.
Hulk.....take out the crazy filmmaking stuff and add a nemesis for the Hulk...maybe the Abomination or the Leader....
Hulk.....take out the crazy filmmaking stuff and add a nemesis for the Hulk...maybe the Abomination or the Leader....
Rez
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The Punisher- I loved everything about it when Jane was on screen. He nailed the charecter, the execution scene was fantastic(GO ROY!), and the him vs. several assassins were my favourite parts of the film.
What lowers it, and it pains me to say this, is John Travolta as Howard Saint. The villian and the storyline surrounding him just sucked. I understood the film makers wanting Frank to hurt him first and then kill him, but all the parking lot **** and him tricking Saint into killing his wife was long and not necessary. More punishing, less plotting. More Jane, less Travolta. Didn't mind the apartment folks.
What lowers it, and it pains me to say this, is John Travolta as Howard Saint. The villian and the storyline surrounding him just sucked. I understood the film makers wanting Frank to hurt him first and then kill him, but all the parking lot **** and him tricking Saint into killing his wife was long and not necessary. More punishing, less plotting. More Jane, less Travolta. Didn't mind the apartment folks.
jrpstarwars
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One glaring alteration that could be made to 95% of these films is to slow down the pace and make the movies longer. Many times I have seen one of these type of movies and walked away saying to myself 'damn, that was a little bit too short and sweet.'
Do not misunderstand me. I still like a lot of these films but I think they could have been better.
Take 'Lord of the Rings' for an example. That should be where 'the bar' is set for comic book based movies.
They rush these movies along and rely solely on special effects, costumes, and names. In a way they are exploiting the comic book industry. These movies lack deep characters, storylines, and relationships. Those are the things that make a movie good.
Sadly, good movies do not always make money and flashy, over hyped, bastardized movies do.
Corporate Hollywood has made most of these movies. I'd like to see the real filmmakers give it a try.
Do not misunderstand me. I still like a lot of these films but I think they could have been better.
Take 'Lord of the Rings' for an example. That should be where 'the bar' is set for comic book based movies.
They rush these movies along and rely solely on special effects, costumes, and names. In a way they are exploiting the comic book industry. These movies lack deep characters, storylines, and relationships. Those are the things that make a movie good.
Sadly, good movies do not always make money and flashy, over hyped, bastardized movies do.
Corporate Hollywood has made most of these movies. I'd like to see the real filmmakers give it a try.
GL1
It's pronounced "glee"
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Daredevil
Better lighting and fightscenes. A much improved climax with the Kingpin. More gritty crime and include an ongoing trial in the storyline. Give Bullseye a costume, just like he asked for. Elektra more of a mystery, and less of an empathetic victim. Use darkness for suspense, not for atmosphere.
The Hulk
Another Hulk sequence, early on. More military. More supporting cast for Banner's psychosis to be anchored to. I liked the psychology of the movie, but it was drawn out and too abstract for most. Get ferocious dogs that are not poodles. I agree about the angrier Hulk, which would have required him having something to be very angry about. Someone should have gotten killed to make that happen... y'know, other than Betty.
Punisher
As has been said, better villainy. This movie would have been amazingly more memorable had the villainy been concrete.
Fantastic Four
Doom as Doom. Again, villainy falls short. Doom should have gotten his god-complex much earlier in the film... heck, a flashback to Reed and Victor working together as youth would have been a much wiser way to go. Doom getting powers with the FF was not the problem, the problem lay in Doom trying to be funny, and that was Ben and Johnny's job. Also, give Mr. Fan and IW some REAL plot and writing instead of hackneyed foolishness...
X-Men Franchise
Wolverine is not the X-Men. He's just not. Without them, he simply cannot carry all of the X-Men's storylines and still be Wolverine. #3 realized that the Wolverine story had ended and they chose to try and focus on him more/again/anyway and came out with a very muddled film where Wolverine tries to be Cyclops and Xavier and Wolverine and fails. Giving each of the four X-Men a trilogy arcing storyline would have been much wiser and more representative of what the X-Men are all about rather than giving the coolest guy a blank check.
Better lighting and fightscenes. A much improved climax with the Kingpin. More gritty crime and include an ongoing trial in the storyline. Give Bullseye a costume, just like he asked for. Elektra more of a mystery, and less of an empathetic victim. Use darkness for suspense, not for atmosphere.
The Hulk
Another Hulk sequence, early on. More military. More supporting cast for Banner's psychosis to be anchored to. I liked the psychology of the movie, but it was drawn out and too abstract for most. Get ferocious dogs that are not poodles. I agree about the angrier Hulk, which would have required him having something to be very angry about. Someone should have gotten killed to make that happen... y'know, other than Betty.
Punisher
As has been said, better villainy. This movie would have been amazingly more memorable had the villainy been concrete.
Fantastic Four
Doom as Doom. Again, villainy falls short. Doom should have gotten his god-complex much earlier in the film... heck, a flashback to Reed and Victor working together as youth would have been a much wiser way to go. Doom getting powers with the FF was not the problem, the problem lay in Doom trying to be funny, and that was Ben and Johnny's job. Also, give Mr. Fan and IW some REAL plot and writing instead of hackneyed foolishness...
X-Men Franchise
Wolverine is not the X-Men. He's just not. Without them, he simply cannot carry all of the X-Men's storylines and still be Wolverine. #3 realized that the Wolverine story had ended and they chose to try and focus on him more/again/anyway and came out with a very muddled film where Wolverine tries to be Cyclops and Xavier and Wolverine and fails. Giving each of the four X-Men a trilogy arcing storyline would have been much wiser and more representative of what the X-Men are all about rather than giving the coolest guy a blank check.
1. Have faith in the source material.
The things that make the comicbooks so popular bring it to the big screen. The characters, the drama, the action, etc. There is a reason people read the comics. It's a no brainer. In Marvel's case most of the characters all have very identifiable flaws, foibles or situations that many can either identify with or find interesting. The best adaptations stick as close as can be to the source material and it shows.
2. Don't run from the source material.
When you try and distance the film from the source material it usually leads to complications. Don't try and reinvent the wheel. Yes there must be changes, but not changes for the sake of change.
3. Spend the money.
Stop trying to do comicbook movies on the cheap. It shows. We all can see the cheapness. You can try and mask it behind the "realistic" angle to save on sfx, but it hurst the overall end product. Comicbooks are artistic, stylish, fantasy. The movies should reflect that. Fantasy films and sfx go hand in hand. Expensive sfx are an automatic given for comicbook movies.
4. Find a director that understands the source material.
The odds of finding a director that is a fan a any particular comicbook probably isn't that great. Therefore the hired director must understand the source material and it's dynamic. What makes it so popular? Why is it so popular? How does one bring the dynamic of the source material to the big screen intact? Does the director have the flair for such a film?
The things that make the comicbooks so popular bring it to the big screen. The characters, the drama, the action, etc. There is a reason people read the comics. It's a no brainer. In Marvel's case most of the characters all have very identifiable flaws, foibles or situations that many can either identify with or find interesting. The best adaptations stick as close as can be to the source material and it shows.
2. Don't run from the source material.
When you try and distance the film from the source material it usually leads to complications. Don't try and reinvent the wheel. Yes there must be changes, but not changes for the sake of change.
3. Spend the money.
Stop trying to do comicbook movies on the cheap. It shows. We all can see the cheapness. You can try and mask it behind the "realistic" angle to save on sfx, but it hurst the overall end product. Comicbooks are artistic, stylish, fantasy. The movies should reflect that. Fantasy films and sfx go hand in hand. Expensive sfx are an automatic given for comicbook movies.
4. Find a director that understands the source material.
The odds of finding a director that is a fan a any particular comicbook probably isn't that great. Therefore the hired director must understand the source material and it's dynamic. What makes it so popular? Why is it so popular? How does one bring the dynamic of the source material to the big screen intact? Does the director have the flair for such a film?
The_Mystery
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Fantastic Four: If they didn't want to make Dr. Doom king of Latveria, I would just alter a few things in the movie they made. Like for instance, in the beginning, when Reed is talking to Victor about his experiment, I would have Victor show Reed an experiment suit of armor that he's trying to sell to the government. Then they go into space, all 5 like in the original movie, and instead of Victor gaining powers, his "safe position" would protect him from the cosmic waves, but an exploding console would destroy his face. Then when they get back down to earth I would keep most of the FF's part the same, but simultaneously show Doom slipping into a darker and darker state due to him losing his "looks" and his company slowly losing money. Eventually, Doom, face bandaged, tells Ben he can help him return to normal and Doom, does what he originally does in the movie and turns him normal in the machine. When normal Ben comes out, he sees Doom fully armored up in costume and is thrown aside. The movie continues on like it did (without Jessica Alba's horrible Doom confrontation lines), but instead of Ben changing himself back, he finds out his transformation was only temporary and return back to the thing. Then the movie continues like it originally did with the FF fighting Doom and just when they have him on the ropes like in the movie with Johnny's Nova Blast,S.H.E.I.L.D. comes in telling the FF that Victor is has diplomatic immunity and they ship him back to Latveria. The movie ends with the party and instead of Ben telling Reed he's comfortable the way he is, Reed promises to do everything he can to return Ben to normal. That's the way the movie should have went.
