Reboots. This seems to be the trend in Hollywood these days, and not just with CBM’s. From Planet of the Apes to Alice in Wonderland to The Crow, it often seems there are no original ideas for flicks anymore. Although sometimes, just sometimes… a reboot or remake is needed to right the wrongs of previously done films that could have been so much better. But this leaves me with questions. What if the reboots are done wrong?? What if they only leave us disappointed again? What if, instead of correcting errors, they just create a new list of wrongs?
Case in point: Punisher. We’ve now had 3 attempts to make a good movie based on Frank Castle, the anti-hero known as the Punisher, none of which have been successful. Why is this? They’ve had some pretty big-name stars involved (John Travolta, Thomas Jane, Dolph Lundgren) with powerful Hollywood backing, but still they’ve failed. Could it involve the simple fact of not featuring the famous skull logo we all know and love? Is Punisher not a big enough name to draw the masses to the theaters? Could it be the lack of an anywhere-near accurate costume? Bad writing? Poor acting? All of the above??? Any way you slice it, they still never got it right.
From the looks of it, we may be in for the same issues with some of our other beloved comic book characters that are undergoing the reboot treatment as we speak. Below are some of the reasons I believe we may be underwhelmed by the reboots to come.
Lack of respect for the source material – Successful comic books are successful for a reason, or many reasons as it were. Readers fall in love with certain writers or certain artists because they portray the characters in a way that they can identify with, whether it's Wolverine’s gruff demeanor, Superman’s boy scout-like attitude, or Spidey’s wisecracks. Remove those character traits and, is Wolverine the same character? Is Spidey as entertaining? Give Thor a beard drawn by a sub-par inker, or have Mjolnir looking like some crappy stone mallet, would you still want a poster of that Thor on your wall? Understanding that some changes need to be made to appeal to larger audiences, change too much and you just simply have an altogether different product. 2nd Case in point: X-Men First Class. This story should feature the original 5, plus Prof. X and Magneto. Period. Why are characters being thrown in that were not a part of that stage of the team’s development? Emma Frost was not around the X-Men then, and she definitely was not a hero. She was the frikin White Queen of the Hellfire Club! (Now granted that while I am aware that the X-titles were retconned changing Emma into a good guy, please forgive me if any of the characters or story lines I mention have also been retconned and I am not aware. It’s been a long time since I have been able to buy and read my many titles religiously.) Why throw characters like her in the mix? Why Banshee? Why make Spiderman’s web shooting ability biological? Why put the X-Men in matching black leather uniforms like a boy band from the 70’s? These sort of changes show no respect for the source material, and it turns me off from the product as I’m sure it does for many of you.
Poor Casting – I’ll be honest, I don’t know what it’s like for a director to evaluate actors when they audition for roles, but sometimes their selections leave me scratching my head asking "WTF??" Some roles are cast spot on: Kelsey Grammer as Beast –pure brilliance, both Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson as the Joker – grade A+ performances, Patrick Steward as Prof. X – perfect. But then there’s the other side of the spectrum: Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane Watson – WTF?? The Governator as Mr. Freeze – WTF? Halle Berry as Storm?? Sure she’s gorgeous, but a mutant thief-turned-superhero from Africa? Not so much. Her performance was flat, and she didn’t even try to have an African accent!
So I worry about some of the casting choices being made for the reboots. Most of these actors I’m not even familiar with, but still I worry. Like James McAvoy as Professor X. Even with a bald head he doesn’t seem to have the look for the character, and I just don’t see him fitting the role of the wise, intelligent, most powerful mutant mind on the earth. But I will give these casting choices the benefit of the doubt until they prove that my fears had grounds.
Villain Choices – The perfect CBM needs the perfect villain as the antagonist. Who would Supes be without Luthor? Who would Spidey be without Electro, the Lizard, and Kingpin? Thor would be just another powerful god without Loki there to be a constant thorn in his side to help develop the character. We comment day and night on this site about villains we would love to see on the silver screen, and many times it seems that our pleas fall on deaf ears of the powers-that-be in Hollywood. Yet we go the see the movies anyway. How much more would we love and support these movies if our voices were heard and answered? Some studios may never know. I believe that the makers of the reboots have a moral responsibility to listen to the fans that pay our hard-earned coin to see these movies over and over again, and throw us a bone on issues like this. Let us see Electro project bolts of lightning as Spidey leaps and flips all over the place. Let us see the Sentinels in their full glory battle the X-Men all-out (even if it is only in the Danger Room). Give the fans the villains we want and I guarantee it would be a windfall at the box office.
Pandering to the Hollywood “suits” – Show of hands… who would love to see an R-rated Wolverine 2? What was that… all of us? Correct! But we’ve got about a snowballs chance in Muspelheim of that happening. Why? Less people to fill the seats due to the restricted rating. But come on!! I so geeked out to finally see Wolvie draw blood, and plunge his claws in the Hulk’s back on the animated Hulk vs. ! Kick Ass was a perfect example of how an R-rated CBM can work. Can you imagine a big budget gore-fest starring our favorite Canuck? But like I said, snowballs chance…
Sony/FOX – Last, but far from least, we have the perpetrators of our frustrations. After seeing the mighty Galactus reduced to the base form of a cloud (WTF???), all I can say is:
Marvel called, and they want their frikin rights back!!
Do you share my fears, or am I just over-analyzing? Discuss amongst yourselves.
Nemesys - There can be only one!