The Future is Bright

Well comic book fans, I went to see Iron Man and I'm pleased to report that it lived up to expectation -- funny stuff, good action, vital critique of the military-industrial complex, only one or two plot points that made no sense, etc. Among other things, Iron Man stands out from many other comic book characters in having a costume that doesn't look ridiculous in a live-action context -- no spandex, etc. In particular, Jeff Bridges, in particular, stands out for an excellent performance in probably the role that demands the most in terms of silly comic book dialogue.

But beyond that, I saw new previews for The Dark Knight and The Hulk, both of which looked, if anything, better than the previously seen previews. All in all it seems to me that we can look forward to a summer of excellent comic book adaptations to make up for last year when we had to put up with clunkers like Fantastic Four: The Rise of the Silver Surfer. I am, however, still a little upset that the Hulk preview doesn't feature anyone saying "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Doesn't that seem like a no-brainer?

Comments

HAhaha this is almost as funny as Jeff Goldberg's nonexistent blog.

Posted by King Pin | May 2, 2008 5:11 PM

I am, however, still a little upset that the Hulk preview doesn't feature anyone saying "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Doesn't that seem like a no-brainer?

Yes, it seems like a no-brainer. But not in a good way.

Posted by Brad L | May 2, 2008 5:19 PM

I can't wait to see this after I get back from deployment... big comic nerd. (I play HeroClix.)

Now they need to make an Ultimates movie...

Posted by LnGrrrR | May 2, 2008 5:25 PM

I am, however, still a little upset that the Hulk preview doesn't feature anyone saying "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Especially when you consider the sardonic menace that Ed Norton is capable of putting into the delivery of that line.

Posted by Brautigan | May 2, 2008 5:37 PM

Well, let's hope you and Spencer don't have bad dreams. You two have Cub Scouts in the morning.

Posted by Bored adult | May 2, 2008 6:11 PM

Iron Man stands out from many other comic book characters in having a costume that doesn't look ridiculous in a live-action context -- no spandex, etc.

This reminds me of that Chabon essay a while back. It's worth noting that Iron Man doesn't really have a costume so much as he's driving a vehicle.

Posted by Clark | May 2, 2008 7:10 PM

I am, however, still a little upset that the Hulk preview doesn't feature anyone saying "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry." Doesn't that seem like a no-brainer?

Yes!!! How many superheroes have such a solid-gold catchphrase?

I know someone who worked on the Iron Man movie. Does that increase my nerd cred?

Posted by Notorious P.A.T. | May 2, 2008 7:19 PM

I always loved the look of Iron Man, but never found the actual stories all that interesting. In spite of the soap opera around Tony Stark, he was never that compelling a character for me. So Robert Downey, Jr. struck me as good casting, since he'd have nowhere to go but up. Throw in Jon Favreau, and I'm really looking forward to this one. (A friend of mine with uber-nerd cred -- he produced the animated X-Men series -- tells me he feels the same way.)

I was never a big Hulk fan either, but the new movie looks pretty cool.

Batman -- mixed feelings. When I saw the first photos of the Joker my reaction was, "Hey, Batman's gonna fight the Crow!"

Posted by Roddy McCorley | May 2, 2008 7:34 PM

I just hope to god they remember that when they do the Captain America movie, they remember that he's wearing armor (Chain-mail by description, scale armor by artistic rendering) and not spandex.

Spandex really does look stupid in live-action movies. Even Spider-man looked kind of lame when compared to some of his villians.

Posted by Soullite | May 2, 2008 7:47 PM

Do you remember the crap version of Captain America the made 15-18 years ago? They put him in latex for god's sake.

The missus is out of town so I'm seeing this at 10:00 tonight. Agree with Roddy about Iron Man, I was never a big fan . . . but I still have the "Demon In A Bottle" issue that I bought at a flea market as a kid. Robert Downey Jr. as Stark is perhaps the most credible casting decision ever made.

Posted by Gary | May 2, 2008 8:05 PM

I was always a major Hulk fan. It was probably my favorite comic but I hated that television show. In fact, its always been difficult for me to imagine liking both the comic and the television show since the show was really such a dramatically different story and character. But it looks like this movie, more than the first one, wants to try and mix in some of the elements of the television show. It makes me a little skeptical of it but, of course, there is no chance that I won't see it.

Posted by brent | May 2, 2008 8:09 PM

Do you remember the crap version of Captain America the made 15-18 years ago?

I remember that. What I remember most about it was that it was actually decent for the first half hour or so. And then it was like they had spent their entire budget and the whole thing became just another incredibly silly 80s action flick. My favorite part is somewhere in the scond half when "Cap" fakes being sick so that he can steal some totally innocent guy's car. I remember thinking "what a hero."

Posted by brent | May 2, 2008 8:49 PM

The Hulk movie with Ed Norton can't be much worse than Ang Lee's. Mutated dogs? And then the requisite super villain at the end. Prettty lame.

The Hulk is a dynamic figure due to the psychological war going on in his head. That's the MAIN story. The physical battles he goes through are usually merely physical representations of his ego/id struggles.

Posted by LnGrrrR | May 2, 2008 8:50 PM

LnG, Samuel L. Jackson apparently invites Iron Man to join the "Avengers Initiative" at the end of the movie, so Ultimates can't be far behind. RD Jr. as Tony Stark appears in the Hulk movie, too, so all these new Marvel movies (ones produced by Marvel Studios, that is) exist in a shared universe. Now all we need are Cap, Thor, Ant-Man, who else, Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch?

Posted by Ditko Hands | May 2, 2008 9:07 PM

Ditko,

Yeah. Cap could definitely be introduced in the Ultimates movie, as could Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Black Widow, Wasp and Quicksilver.

Actually, the three-way love triangle of Captain American, Wasp and Ant-Man could be subplot for the aliens story. Or they could work up a new story.

They could also go light on Thor, as he only seems to be part of the Ultimates half the time.

Posted by LnGrrrR | May 2, 2008 10:22 PM

Never mind the crappy latex Captain America -- who remembers the Captain America TV movies from the late 70's? He wore a motorcycle helmet, fer godsakes!

Posted by Roddy McCorley | May 2, 2008 10:26 PM

I just saw it based on the glowing reviews of Downey's acting.

Well, Downey's fine, as far as it goes, but the movie is still a great big heap of juvenile crap. It isn't anywhere as much fun as the last Downey vehicle I saw, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang".

Posted by Jeffrey Davis | May 2, 2008 10:28 PM

Yeah that was high caliber dreck; filmed in Yugoslavia as I recall, right before the Civil War irrupted there.(coincidence) Of course, it
shared a similar military industrial complex
subplot. The young army officer that froze Capt. America in the 40s,one of the Red Skull's minions ends up chairman of the JCS nearly 50 years later. The REd Skull, in the worse makeup Scott Paulin has ever been in; was apparently behind the JFK, RFK and King assasination. And President Ronny Cox, seems a nicer Carter, or McGovern type
who the Red Skull is going to use as a vessel when
the mind transplant goes through.

Posted by narciso | May 2, 2008 11:09 PM

Cap is actually getting his own movie from Marvel Studios, directed by Nick Cassavetes. Fury/Jackson will probably show up in that one, too. I think a better Avengers/Ultimates movie would avoid the alien plot and introduce Thor and Loki, who would have to be the villain.

Posted by Ditko Hands | May 3, 2008 12:33 AM

Ditko Hands, have you considered that mentioning the Fury bit is a spoiler? If I hadn't seen it last night, I'd be pretty pissed. A dick move, IMHO.

BTW, Bruce Willis? Dead the whole time. Whoa.

Posted by Gary | May 3, 2008 3:10 PM

Sorry if I, er, didn't spoil the movie for you.

And couldn't everyone tell Willis was dead from the beginning? Especially after Christopher Walken gave him that gold watch.

Posted by Ditko Hands | May 3, 2008 3:55 PM

I want a movie based on "Doom: 2099". If you want critique of the US corporate state, that was it. Doom actually quoted Chomsky in that comic.

Haven't read any of the Ultimates stuff. I tend not to like ret-conned stuff.

Posted by Richard Steven Hack | May 3, 2008 6:55 PM

Matt,

Please go over to Douthat's cube/office/wherever he's brooding and tell him that the sky really isn't falling over Hollywood because of this movie's success. How can he judge the future of a nascent genre based on the failures of it's first offerings? You don't even have to be a big comic book fan to grant that this is an excellently well done movie.

Posted by thomas | May 6, 2008 1:39 PM