Source Material: Does it Matter or Not?

As with all adaptations, the question of whether or not source material matters is a big one, hit the jump to find out my answer.

Editorial Opinion
By FanWriter97 - Sep 06, 2014 04:09 PM EST
Filed Under: Fan Fic
I know whenever there is a movie being made that is an adaptation, the source material is the first thing that fans looks at. There are some people, though, who believe the source material does not matter, but I think it does. Without the source material, the movie wouldn't even be made, so lack of respect for the source material usually means a bad movie. Two examples of this are The Last Airbender and Dragonball: Evolution

As a child I loved watching Avatar: The Last Airbender, it was one of my favorite shows of all time. I was seriously in love with the show, and when I first found out that there was a film, I was so happy. I never got a chance to see it in theater, thought I heard rumors of it being a crappy movie, I never believed them. Then Nickelodeon aired the film. Again, I didn't have a chance to watch it, but my best friend who loved the cartoon more then I did watched it. She said it sucked, she said it wasn't the same as the show. The film currently has a 4.4/10 on IMDb and a 6% on Rotten Tomatoes. Normally RT and IMDb do not matter to me, but when fans of the series are saying that a film is pretty much crap, then it really is crap.


Dragonball: Evolution is another example of a movie butchering its source material. I was never a fan of the Dragonball series, but when CinemaSins brings in the source material for the sins, it must really be such a hated film that CinemaSins is willing to but sins to what the fans found different. The "extra" sins were not just looks changes, it took out characters such as Krillin (as shown in CinemaSins for Dragonball: Evolution) and completely changing characters. This film was a flop because it didn't respect the source material, the same reason The Last Airbender was a flop (besides M. Night Shyamalan).

Films need to respect the source material, filmmakers need to understand that the source material is there for a reason. Look at X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine compared to X2: X-Men United and X-Men: Days of Future Past.


I have listed the two best and the two worst X-Men films. What makes the good films good and the bad films bad is quite obvious, and that is respect to the source material. The only big change DOFP made with the storyline was who they sent back, and with a good reason. As stated in multiple interviews, there was no way that they could sent Kitty Pryde back in time since she wasn't even born in the 70s. X2 was such a great film because they took the main storyline from God Loves, Man Kills, changed a few things, and made themselves a damn good film. The Last Stand was a bad film because they butchered the Dark Phoenix storyline, especially by killing off Cyclops. I understand the actor had another movie to film, but why didn't Fox just push back The Last Stand? As for Origins, I have one thing to say: Deadpool.
This
 

is not Deadpool. Not even close.
This

is Deadpool. Not some naked, mouthless, Deadpool knockoff. Literally, X-Men Origins: Wolverine would've been a hell of a lot better if they got Deadpool right.

Now I'm not saying that films need to follow the source material perfectly, not at all. I'm just saying they need to respect the material, for book adaptations that means following the storyline for the film. The Harry Potter films were so successful because they followed the books. Sure, Goblet of Fire was a bit rushed, and all the movies could've had more Quidditch, but they were still good films, because they respected the books. Even though they followed the books, they had their own good scenes. One of my favorite scenes was the Death Eaters Attack The Burrow from Half-Blood Prince. That scene was not in the book, but it was a damn good scene, and one of my alltime favorites. Another example of a film respecting the source material and being immensely successful is the first Iron Man film. The only thing that was changed about Iron Man's background was really where he made his suit, and it made sense to change it. The film takes place in the  2000s, assembly 2008, and he was captured in Afghanistan instead of Vietnam. But why would Iron Man be captured in Vietnam in 2008? America wasn't at war with Vietnam like they were Afghanistan. It made sense to change it. Another example is changing Peter Parker's parents from working with SHIELD to working with Oscorp because Sony can't use SHIELD.

So all in all, I think that if a film, especially a comic book or novel adaptation, they need to respect the source material.
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Dingbat
Dingbat - 9/6/2014, 5:10 PM
In my opinion, Source material doesn't need to be followed but it should be respected. Example: The Mandarin doesn't need to be exactly like he is in the comics (the way Ben Kingsley played it for the first half of the movie was good) but the twist was disrespectful to the character. It would be like if in the dark knight, the Joker was just an actor the whole time and Mr. Reese was the villain behind the scenes.
Dingbat
Dingbat - 9/6/2014, 5:11 PM
^^^^I say that as a fan of the source material, not a hater.
WinterSoldier33
WinterSoldier33 - 9/6/2014, 6:08 PM
for some it matters and others it does not

DeusExSponge
DeusExSponge - 9/6/2014, 9:43 PM
Movies don't have to follow the source to a "T", but I think paying homage or respecting source would be enough. Some things from the comics just wouldn't work out on the big or small screen.
kinghulk
kinghulk - 9/7/2014, 1:05 AM
the x men films dont really follow the source material that closely. you dont have to follow the source material to a T to make a good film look at nolan's dark knight trilogy which was a more realistic approach.
ADParker
ADParker - 9/7/2014, 4:24 AM
Simply put: Respect (but not slavery to) the source material is important if you want to keep the fans of that source material on board. And why would you not, given that those fans the the most likely to be interested in seeing it, and most eager to promote it through word of mouth to others if liked?

Not slavery to it because that is often unfeasible when translating something to a different medium, such as translating a serialized storyline (with much history contained in previous issues, not the storyline itself) such as a comic into a single film.

Twists in a 'translated' film are often liked or disliked based on whether it appears to show signs of respect for the source material even while diverging from it or not. The infamous Mandarin twist so annoyed many because it came as a slap in the face of the source material, not as an interesting twist on it. (By the way I really disliked Iron Man 3 when I saw it in the cinema, but think it plays fairly well on subsequent viewing - despite certain notable flaws).
MightyZeus
MightyZeus - 9/7/2014, 5:37 AM
Source material does not need to be followed entirely but to a degree it must be respected. There are ways of re-inventing the mythos but not disregarding the source material entirely that your fan-base feels alienated.
huckfinnisher
huckfinnisher - 9/7/2014, 10:01 PM
Great article I loved Avatar TLA and that movie was the worst :-(. Respect source material guys.
giannis
giannis - 9/8/2014, 9:31 AM
Those who are making movies based on comics, games, and anime need to understand what made them so popular first. Next, they can see what works and adapt it on the big screen, otherwise you get shit like Dragonball Evolution, Green Lantern, Daredevil, Iron Man 2, Thor 2, the change to Mandarin because they didn't know how to adapt him properly and they called that an update as an excuse.
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