Otter Limits

I think it has been a little over 6 months since I have updated my favorite stuff. 

Going back to movies on this one.

I have tackled this subject a few times myself. Here is Moviefone’s take on it.

• Superman II
• Incredibles
• Batman (1989)
• Superman
• X-Men
• Spider-Man
• X2
• Iron Man
• Batman Begins
• Spider-Man II

Here is my list on the same subject (although I only have the Top 9 – darn Top 10ers! LoL!)

Interestingly enough, Moviefone and I share many of the same movies in our Top 10 list. X2 was okay, but not good enough for my list and Spider-Man 2 being at the top of their list I will never understand. The folks at Moviefone of course list theirs in order of preference which I rarely do. I do not like to show favoritism in my comic book movies (with the exception of Batman Begins that is). But how Spider-Man 2 is a better movie than its prequel is bad enough but saying that it is a better movie than Batman Begins?!? They have got to be kidding!

Speaking of which, if I were to update my list, I would probably end up taking one off my list and replacing with with The Dark Knight. I am not sure which of my current list I would replace though. Perhaps Superman Returns.

Interesting post script here (well sort of a post script). Moviefone also listed the Top 10 Worst Superhero Movies:

• Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Yeah, that was a pretty horrible movie.
• The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen I was not really aware that this was a super-hero movie per se but it wasn’t all that great a movie. Probably not deserving of the title worst.
• The Punisher (2004) Absolutely disagree with them! The Dolph Lundgren version was way worse and did not make this list. In fact in this article, the writer actually says that the Dolph Lundgren version is “Superman compared to the 2004 version.” Whoever wrote this one was obviously drunk!
• Daredevil Yeah, this was pretty awful too.
• Supergirl Once again, I will have to agree
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer Yup
• Ghost Rider Uh-huh
• Elektra Never seen it but if it is a spin-off of Daredevil, probably isn’t Oscar potential.
• Batman & Robin Pretty crummy movie. Shameful for the franchise.
• Catwoman Never seen this one either but heard terrible things about it.

I received a total of 6 responses on this one.

2 voted for Batman Begins. 2 voted for Spider-Man.
1 for The Dark Knight and 1 for Other.

So we have a 2-way tie between Batman Begins and Spider-Man.

Here is my ranking of these movies for those that are interested:

1. Batman Begins
2. The Incredible Hulk
3. Iron Man
4. The Dark Knight (although I would have to say that this along with Iron Man are a very close tie for 3rd).
5. Spider-Man
6. Sin City
7. Howard the Duck
8. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
9. Hell Boy

In order of appearance:

What is the best “comic book” movie ever?

If your response to the poll is “Other” please comment here with the movie that you chose.

Thanks!

So I am going to close the Batman poll a little earlier than I had intended.

This is a report card (of sorts) for the Batman movies.

BATMAN (B+)
Kind of dark but not too dark. Keaton did not really do it for me as Bruce Wayne but as Batman he was tolerable. Jack Nicholson did a good job as the Joker with the script he was given. For me, the Joker character in this movie was less like the comic book Joker and more like the Cesar Romero TV series Joker. The guy playing Commissioner Gordon definitely did not work for me. However, the story was good so that is why it got a B+.

Against my better judgment, last night I popped in a DVD of the movie Daredevil.

Yes, I have watched it before.

Yes, I actually own the DVD.

No, I don’t know why I own it.

No, I don’t really like it.

No, I don’t know why I was watching it again.

The point being, as I was watching it last night (did not finish it, got more interested in watching the Daily Show when it came on instead) and realized another problem with the movie.

Yes another. This movie had many problems.

First and foremost, the casting was terrible!

Ben Affleck. I like some stuff he has been in. Dogma. Good Will Hunting. Jersey Girl. Chasing Amy, etc… He is NOT the comic book hero type.

Michael Clark Duncan did not make a good Kingpin.

Jennifer Garner was not a great choice for Elektra, nor was Colin Farrell for Bullseye.

So all around, the casting job was awful.

Anyway, back to my point. As I was watching it last night, I realized another big mistake in the story. Daredevil does NOT kill people.

Does he? I have to admit in the area of Daredevil my comic book geekness is not as strong but what I have read about him is that he won’t kill someone. Maybe I am wrong.

So that thinking was a catalyst for other reflections about comic book movies.

I have noticed that if a comic book movie comes out, I HAVE to watch it! In fact, it does not even matter if I actually read, or have ever read the comic book that it is based on or not.

For example. Hell Boy. Never read the comic book. Never wanted to read the comic book. Watched the movie. Did not like it.

Another example. Ghost Rider. Never really read the book. Knew who he was. He showed up in some of the other books I have read but never bothered reading his own. Anyway, saw the movie. Was not that impressed.

Yes another example. Fantastic Four. Was never a big fan of the book. Read it a couple of times maybe. However, I was a big fan of Doctor Doom. Read a lot of other stuff he showed up in. Anyway, saw the first one. Hated it. Did not like the way they wrote Doom’s character. Watched the 2nd one against better judgment because I wanted to see the Silver Surfer. Surfer was cool. Rest of the movie sucked.

On the other side of this equation there is Batman. I love Batman. I have always been a huge fan of his stuff. I could not imagine how many Batman comics I have read. I watched the TV show when I was little. I have seen all of the Tim Burton/Joel whats his face movies. I have seen both the Chris Nolan movies. I have seen Mask of the Phantasm and on occasion used to watch the animated series. I have not, however, got around to watching any of the Batman Beyond shows.

Anyway, I really liked those movies. The first franchise was good for what it was. I am, however, excluding the last two. Val Kilmer was not a good casting choice for the lead role. He is a great acting but a bad choice for this one. And I don’t care what anyone else says. I liked George Clooney in the Bruce Wayne/Batman role. I did not, however, like the movie he was in. It has a terrible script and I thought they tried to make it too campy. I really like the Nolan series better though. In fact, Batman Begins to this day still remains my all-time favorite movie.

Another example is Spider-Man. I was always a big fan of the comics. Used to watch the cartoons AND the television show as a kid. I have seen all of the Raimi movies. I even watch the new cartoon with the kids on Saturday mornings. The third movie was not good. Topher Grace as Eddie Brock/Venom? Terrible idea.

Yet another example is The Hulk. Again, big fan of the Hulk growing up. Loved the comic books, especially the Peter David stuff. Loved the cartoons growing up. Loved the television show with Bill Bixby. I even liked the Ang Lee movie even though it had its issues. The new Hulk with Edward Norton is an awesome movie!

Another example is The Punisher. He along with Batman is probably my favorite comic book character. I have read more Punisher comics than I care to admit…course, I guess I am admitting it now. LOL! I have seen the Dolph Lundgren movie. Okay that one was crap. I have seen (and own on DVD) the Thomas Jane one that came out in 2004. I liked it although it had a couple of issues. I am looking forward to seeing this new Ray Stevenson one although I am sure that I will not see it until it comes on DVD.

As for the Superman movies, I liked these too. With the exception, however, of the 4th one. The one with the nuclear guy. That one was stupid. I even liked the 3rd one with Richard Pryor. I was never a huge reader of the Superman comics although I did read them quite frequently. I really liked the newest on with Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. I thought he did an amazing job in that role. The only beef I really had with that movie is the casting choice for Lois Lane. I did not like her one bit.

The X-Men movies. They were good. I used to read a lot of X-Men. My favorite storyline has always been the Age of Apocalypse. I don’t ever see them doing a movie based on that one. Not commercial enough.

Iron Man. Great movie! Downey in the lead role did a really good job. Terrence Howard did an great job! Bridges….eh, not so impressed. Iron Man was one of those comics that I read every so often but never really got too involved in it. The “Ultimate” version of Iron Man is really lame.

So what else?

Captain America movie? It sucked!

There was even a movie about Nick Fury with David Hasselhoff in that role. It was really lame.

Anyway, that is all I really have to say on the subject right now. I will probably continue this discussion in another post at a later time.

See the poll at the right of my blog.

Who do you think portrayed Batman the best?

Was it Adam West from the TV show?
Was it Michael Keaton from Batman and Batman Returns?
Was it Val Kilmer from Batman Forever?
Was it George Clooney from Batman & Robin?
Was it Christian Bale from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight
Or Was it Kevin Conroy who did the voice of Batman from Batman: Mask of the Phantasm, Batman Beyond and the Batman Animated Series?

Time to Sound Off!