Comics!

10:26 a.m.

I've decided I'm just going to wait on X-Men 2. It's not that big a deal. And I still don't get what this fascination is with having to see a movie the very first night it comes out, anyway. Is it just not going to be there the very next week? Is it that cool to spend $8.00 just to revel in the knowledge that you saw it first?

It probably is, but I'm a cheapskate.

I love X-Men very much, as I've stated before. Thinking about how good the first movie was got me thinking about how good this second movie is going to be, and then thinking about why other comic books movies - and I'm not going to drop any names here, but wow, did Daredevil ever suck ass - can't be just as good. Even Spider-Man, one of the biggest-grossing comic book movies to date, was sort of silly when you think about it - hell, that's the only reason I can't watch it again. I just don't want to ruin my image of it.

I've given this some thought overall , and here's what I think makes a decent comic book movie:

1. Trying to get past the fact that you have superheroes with ridiculous powers in your movie and instead focusing on the people behind them. The reason the first X-Men succeeded was because the director treated the characters as they should be - ordinary people with extraordinary talents.

2. Stop being so damned over-the-top. Just because it's based on a comic book does not mean you have to make it strictly for kids. I'm not so naive as to believe that kids aren't going to be a core part of the audience, but it is possible to make movies that appeal to a wider range of ages. Daredevil annoyed the crap out of me from beginning to finish because every character found it necessary to act like a caricature, shouting at the top of their lungs and spouting dialogue so cheese-laden that it stretched the limits of my lactose tolerance.

3. Be careful who you hire to play these roles. As much as I thought Tobey Maguire was a decent Spider-Man, even I have to admit that he seemed pretty stiff in the role, like he couldn't figure out what to do with it. Every word that came out of his mouth just seemed sort of forced. I'm hoping he's grown into this character sort of and will be prepared to kick ass with it in Spider-Man 2. Also under this section I'd like to state something obvious: every guy that played Batman after Michael Keaton sucked so much ass at the role that I'm surprised they don't have permanently shit-stained teeth.

Obviously only three rules aren't that many, but I can't really think of much else except maybe to say that if you're going to use special effects, make sure they at least look decent (bad Daredevil...no biscuit).

Anyway, I'm about to go see Identity and then I have tons of studying to do before finals kick in, so I'm going to sign off. Until next time...I know where you live!

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