Comicbook movie fatigue anyone?

I would if I saw them. But these comic book movie discussions devolve quickly after the first few pages cover what I would say or want to read. "Comic Book Movie Discussion Fatigue" anyone?

 

In a thread about Hollywood's terrible last summer, I said:

That's 24 films at 4 theaters - the AMC Ward Parkway, the Alamo Drafthouse, the Tivoli and the Cinemark Palace at the Plaza. Of those, TWO are superhero films. TWO are horror films. TWO are animated films. Depending on your definition, three or four are "action" films. The rest are as different as films can get. A film about the Dutch tulip bubble? A film about an Orthodox Jew and his family troubles? Bio-pics about Madame Curie AND Bruce Li?

Yep, nothing spoils a rant like actual facts.

 

Are transformers considered a comic book movie? All 14 of them were terrible.

I'm more of a DC guy, and I don't think they've done a great job with their franchise. Wonder Woman was ok... No where near as good as the hype would have had you believe. I guess I find it hard to root for heroes that can't die. And the non-stop action sequences...after the first 5 minutes I've lost interest. Get to the end already. Maybe if there was a little character development I'd feel differently.

For Marvel - the first few Spiderman's were quite good. Maybe the first X-Men. Hellboy was kind of enjoyable.

But most of the comic book stuff I see advertised these days looks formulaic, and I just take a pass.

So to answer the OP's original question, I think I do have some burn out.

 

Stilll love them.

 

To be perfectly honest, the film lover in me feels almost exactly this way. However, I'm a comic book guy, too. And a writer. I really go to see a lot of these movies with the intention of understanding what works and what doesn't with today's audiences because I have a franchise idea that I'm working out and beginning to write and I learn a lot more from popular movies and tv shows than I do from books at present. [Also, my wife really enjoys these movies and 'drags' me with her to see them if I'm at all ambivalent - which I am more and more as time goes by.]

I agree about Wonder Woman - the Steve Trevor flying sequence (avoiding spoiler here) was the best part of the movie because it was the only point with any real stakes. Nevertheless, I have a female writer friend who cried during the action sequences - a reaction she can not rationally explain other than to credit it to NEVER having seen such an inspiring display of female warrior valor so lovingly crafted on the big screen. For her, the identity politic is clearly tangible. Black Panther is having a similar effect on many people as well. These kinds of reactions are extremely interesting to me.

I just watched Hellboy for the first time. It was fun. Still, has there been a heroic film adventure since Raiders of the Lost Ark that actually kept you on the edge of your seat? I can remember clearly seeing that for the first time and actually having huge rushes of adrenaline throughout it. If there has been a comic movie that anyone has had this reaction to, please let me know.

 

Transformers started as a cartoon, as a vehicle (pun intended), to sell toys by Hasbro. Marvel later acquired license from Hasbro to produce comics (1980'-90's).

 

I almost brought up Raiders in my post. Funny you should mention it. I agree, modern movies don't affect me in that way. I wonder how much of it is because I'm in my 40's now and probably more jaded. T2 is another example. Lots of action, but somehow it felt like it was "moving forward" rather then just gratuitous. Romancing the Stone is another one that comes to mind.

 

IMO, "comic book movie" is probably too broad a description for what this thread intends to cover.

After all, "Ghost World" is a comic book movie, but I'm pretty sure it's not what the OP had in mind!

Really, the thread is about "fatigue" related to superhero movies based on characters created/owned by Marvel and DC...

 

As an elderly 50-year-old now, I also don't get that same "charge" from movies as frequently as when I was a kid, but that's inevitable - and more about experience than age.

When I was a kid, I'd change my "all-time favorite" movie every few months. Everything was new and fresh, so it all had a bigger impact.

Now I've seen 1000s of movies and it's harder to find something that stands out as "new and fresh".

I still have the occasional "wow" feeling at movies, though. "Force Awakens" really worked for me, and various Chris Nolan movies, too!

(This doesn't mean I don't really enjoy other movies, BTW - it just means these are the ones that gave me that "feel like a kid again" shot of adrenaline...)

 

Ok. I would have guessed the toys were first, then the cartoon.

I was sort of being tounge-in-cheek, with my comment. To me movies like Transformers, Pacific Rim, any of the Superhero genre, {insert generic action franchise here} all feel the same to me. Sure, some are better then others. And I get why the studios make them. (Capable of producing huge box office receipts world wide - easy to dub and there is minimal cultural nuance to try and convey) And I think a lot of people genuinely enjoy movies like this. But for me personally, they leave me pretty cold.

 

No revelation here but for those who are out of the loop:
Disney, Sony, and Fox do not have faith in original IP. Especially when anything less than a billion dollars in world wide boxoffice is considered a failure. So for the foreseeable future comics, YA novels, and reboots of reboots will unfortunately continue their dominance. Most original content is going straight to VOD or streaming.

 

I guess I wasn't too clear. Transformers did begin as a toy line in Japan. Hasbro bought the North American rights.

From wiki:

The Transformers is a half-hour American[3] animated robot superhero television series which originally aired from September 17, 1984 to November 11, 1987. The first of many series in the Transformers franchise, it was based upon Hasbro's Transformers toy line (itself based upon the Diaclone and Microman toy lines originally created by Japanese toy manufacturer Takara[4]) and depicts a war among giant robots that can transform into vehicles and other objects.[5]

Co-produced between Marvel Productions and Sunbow Productions for first-run syndication, animation for the series was done by Toei Animation in Japan,[6] and later by AKOM in South Korea.[citation needed] The series was supplemented by a feature film,

 

Darkman was a film I saw in my 30's that gave me a real thrill. I'm not sure it isn't better than the any of the super hero films that have come along since. Sam Raimi has a very cartoonish visual style from being a huge comic book lover in his youth. I wish other directors were more committed to developing unique visuals instead of trying to convince me that what I'm watching could really happen. That to me is why these films are bore-fests and reliant on heavily recycled formulas. There's very little 'comic book' actually in the movie. Style is most of the fun in fantasy, IMO.

As much as I liked the film version of Ghost World, it turned a truly unique storytelling style (Clowes is true innovator) into a basic drama. So what?

 

Yes.

Let me start with I'm not a big comic book fan to begin with.

I was okay with the 2000 X-Men movie, the 2005 Batman Begins movie, and the 2002 Spider-Man movie. But after that, it gets garbled to me. I mean, how many actors have played Spider-Man since 2002? How many X-Men sequels have there been now? And how many other comic book movies have been released since then? I get that they are big money makers, but I just don't like them. It seems at this point Hollywood is starting to grasp at lesser-known comic books/characters just to keep the momentum going.

And that's just a personal opinion. I know people who LOVE this genre (my brother, for example), and I have no problem with that lol. It's something they enjoy, and who am I to take away from that?

 

I, for one, am interested in how all these characters interact...
I'm hoping for a "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World"-type situation....
or, should I say...
"It's A MARV, MARV, MARV, MARV..el World"!

 

Well, in comic books, real, lasting consequences happen to supporting characters or guest characters. Plus, real, lasting consequences happen to superheroes that don’t involve their deaths.

 

The upcoming Avengers: Infinity War should answer that question.

 

3 if you count 2002 - 2 if you don't!

Been 3 Hulks from 2003 to date, which I think is a bigger issue because those movies didn't do as well as expected. The Raimi Spidey flicks sold really well, and the Garfield ones did decently. The Holland Spidey was a big hit.

The 2 Hulk movies underperformed - which is probably why they've not allowed Ruffalo to star in one!

 

The comics these are based on were created as serials. By design, a film based on it would lend itself to a sequel or two.

 

I don't know where you live; I live in the St. Petersburg, Florida area--not exactly an area I thought was "backwater" when I moved here, but for some reason, is apparently on the list of cities designated for "wide release" only. "Inside Llweyn Davis" is a good example of a film that was in theaters for over a month before it was finally showed up at a theater in this area code, and to the best of my knoweldge, last summer's "The Little Hours" never played anywhere in Pinellas County until I received a copy of the Blu-ray last month. I guess somebody figured us rubes weren't ready for such highbrow fare as a movie about foul-mouthed nuns.

As far as why there might be an incorrect perception that theaters are top-heavy with comic-book flicks, I would theorize that these are the films that receive the biggest marketing pushes. Seems like every time I go to a theater, I sit though 10-15 minutes of superhero/CGI trailers for films which quickly seem indistinguishable from one another. The trailers for films I actually am interested in seeing, I generally watch online--provided I'm somehow tipped off to their existence in the first place.

 

My list was from Kansas City, Missouri - not exactly the capital of world cinema - on a perfectly average day. Right now I'm out working on my brothers house in a perfectly average suburb, and I'm about a mile from a Cinemark 20-plex. And in addition to all the big heavily advertised films, there is Steven Soderbergh's film shot with an iPhone, a comedy drama about a gay teenager, one of Kirk Cameron's Christian films, a historical drama about the raid on Entebbe and not one but two Bollywood films.

 

I love comic book movies! Unfortunately they've all gone to hell ever since Hollywood started trying to copy Nolan's laughably prententious garbage. These stories are for children afterall. As far as I can tell these movies are now marketed towards 40 year old men who never left home. I'm fine with Adam West reruns.

 

Except for Hulk.

 

Im personally boycotting all Marvel or similar movie releases. Simply not interesting to me and I want something else.

 

Does it count as a boycott if it's something you never wanted in the first place? Are vegetarians boycotting meat?