Director: The Russo Brothers
Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson
Release: April 4th, 2014
I will never understand comic books. I read novels so I can picture a story. I watch movies so I can see a story. I don’t like comics because I don’t want to see still images of the story I’m imagining. All or nothing, I don’t want some crappy in-between version. And so, of course, I don’t like comic book movies. But even if I was more open to them they almost always suck, combining bad actors with bad action and bad dialogue. Why would I watch this movie? And more importantly, why would you?
Those kids and their damn comic-y books! They’ve got nothing on ‘Bad Grandpa’!
I’m not sure why not liking comic books makes me old. I don’t like bad acting and this movie will have some very bad acting. I liked Man of Steel despite it’s comic book plot because it actually had believable acting.
Are you trying to make my brain explode with this Man of Steel being good nonsense? I still don’t understand your dislike for the Dark Knight. You want great acting, Christian Bale and Heath Ledger were excellent, and it had an interesting plot.
Christian Bale was good in Batman Begins and I enjoyed that movie. Heath Ledger was great in Dark Knight, but I thought every other actor was awful including Bale. His voice, Eckhart’s character, all the action; I felt like it turned into the bad movie that the first one had avoided being. It’s not that I can’t like a comic book movie, it’s that they’re 98% bad, where other genre’s are just 80% bad.
Olie also hates Reese’s because when he eats chocolate he wants to taste chocolate, and when he tastes peanut butter he wants to taste peanut butter damnit!
Hey! You know my favorite sundae is vanilla ice cream with peanut butter sauce & hot fudge!
Glad you asked! I love all things super hero-comic book-action movies. I never read comics as a kid, but I did buy them so I could try to draw the cool pictures they offered, since I was low on personal creativity (which might be foreshadowing of the rest of this post). So, I cannot attribute my love to nostalgia. But I’ve come to terms with the fact that most of the time when I watch a movie I just want the commonly used portion of my brain to be turned off. I don’t want realistic, logical, or emotionally driven. I want things to go boom and have bright CGI filled colors. I’m not paying attention to acting or plots, I’m paying attention to how many things explode and get their jaws broke. I’m looking for an escape from my head – I’m looking for entertainment. And it seems that our versions of entertainment are fairly different. But then again I’ve rarely been complemented on my choices of entertainment.
I think it’s rare that our versions of entertainment are tied together in a movie – mine are big booms, and yours are good acting and a solid plot, but that’s probably why there are multiple view rooms in most movie theaters.
It’s ironic because I think, compared to other critics, I tend to look at entertainment value & an enjoyable movie experience. But then, compared to Joe Moviegoer, I’m into acting, depth, symbolism, etc. So I’m right there in between the fun & the cerebral, which I find a nice place to be. I think action movies have the ability to be entertained & well-made, it’s just that not many are. Man of Steel was a good movie & one I liked despite the comic book element. Daredevil was bad, as I hope everyone agrees. So there’s no reason someone couldn’t take a comic book & make a movie that both you & I would enjoy, but that seems like it’s hard to accomplish.
It’s not, in my opinion, ironic, because by the label of what you are doing (critic), you are approaching this type of movie differently than I am. The main appeal for me is to not think the way I’m use to thinking, which I’m referring to as “turning my brain off”, which should not be taken literally. Going into a movie you know that you need or want to say something about it when it’s done; for me I want to be able to say, “that was a nice break, I saw some stuff blow up”. I really like movies that make me think, or feel, or learn, but I go into those kind of movie in a totally different mood.
I think that we can all agree that if Philip Seymuor Hoffman were sexier he would definitely make a better Captain America, but at this point putting him in taut spandexy armor would require more suspension of belief, than Buffy McSexy delivering some bad lines. I really think this boils down to us petitioning Hoffman to get sexy. “Do it for the Comics!”
I do love PSH. If he were in a comic book movie called “Pale Man” I would watch it.