Author: Brett Fujioka
With the financial success of DC Comics’ recent blockbuster hit, The Dark Knight, other producers for comic book movies are likely to emulate its grim style. The upcoming trailer for the upcoming Watchmen film adaptation stylistically matches The Dark Knight‘s gloom-and rightfully so, given the nature of the graphic novel. Suddenly, every comic related production company is waiting to jump on the bandwagon.
There’s a time and place for a dark mood in comic book movies, but the issue at hand is compatibility. Take Superman Returns, for example. We all know Superman as this godlike being that can settle anything with fists. “It’s not easy for me to live my life being who I am . . . keeping secrets,” actor Brandon Routh said in the movie’s trailer, in a feeble attempt to look like Spider-Man‘s Peter Parker. It was irritating to hear a guy who can punch planets out of orbit and crush coals into diamonds complain about how lonely it is on the world’s tallest summit.
Some of the leaked concept designs for director Tim Burton’s Superman were even worse. He looked like Edward Scissorhands dressed in a discolored Superman costume. With the exception of the adolescent actor Tom Welling in Smallville, every incarnation of Superman wasn’t meant to have angst.
At the same time, dark superhero flicks require a great director whose skills are compatible with the source material. Both the “X-Men” and “Batman” comics were characteristically dark and dealt with rather mature themes. Everyone wants to forget what happened when director Joel Schumacher took the helm of the Batman franchise. The audience wanted a decent film, but ended up getting a nearly two-hour long earful of cheesy one-liners and campy dialogue. Marvel repeated the same mistake when director Brett Ratner had authority over the third X-Men movie. Ratner shoehorned most of the characters into the script for the sake of trivial fan service without so much as lending them any substance.
Even more importantly, the director also has to be passionate about and familiar with the characters in the text. Christopher Nolan was well versed in the “Batman” comics and executed his knowledge well in the Batman Begins reboot. Director Tim Burton said in the wake of his own installment, “I was never a huge comic book fan . . . [but] I loved the ‘Killing Joke’ (A comic about the Batman villain, The Joker). As a result, he brought the Batman franchise to a positive, but shaky start, while making the film more about the villain, rather than the hero.
Director Sam Raimi originally had no desire to include Venom in the third Spider-Man film and the inclusion of the character was practically forced upon him. Peter Parker’s dark side had a lot of potential. It would’ve been nice to see a movie about Peter Parker lash out against a world that hates and fears him, but instead we got a fifteen minute dance montage of actor Tobey Maguire dressed like a Hawthorne Heights fan.
Likewise, director Ang Lee had no idea what the Hulk was supposed to be or what he looked like when he first introduced the character to Hollywood in the The Hulk. As a result, the Hulk appeared as a slightly obese, lime colored cartoon. Director Louis Letterier understood that a character who is notorious for his temper is supposed to look dark and frightening and endowed him with a more fearsome appearance in the reboot, The Incredible Hulk.
I can see the new dark movement in superhero films destroying the genre. Hollywood has a tendency to pounce upon certain trends, but barely ever delivers in its results. Take Gladiator as an example. Since it’s success, Hollywood has desperately tried to replicate the movie by producing other ancient war dramas. It wasn’t until 300 that these attempts actually hit it big, and that was nearly a decade after Gladiator‘s conception. Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Captain Marvel, and The Submariner are other heroes slated to appear in film adaptations. Can you imagine these otherwise bright and happy comic book characters done in the same style of The Dark Knight? It’s as ridiculous as seeing a punk rock or Goth Care Bear without any humor intended. On a related note, I even read on www.cracked.com that the upcoming Green Lantern movie is intended to be a comedy. Comic book writer turned director Frank Miller is releasing an upcoming comic book movie, The Spirit, that I feel is incompatible with the newer, grittier brand of superhero. This is mostly because the character is an old school superhero, but it’s also because Frank Miller seems to have lost his mind lately. His most recent take on Bruce Wayne in the comic “All Star’s Batman and Robin,” features the character killing cops with the Batmobile while laughing maniacally to say the least. He’s also penning a comic strip entitled, “Holy Terror Batman!” featuring the caped crusader in a one man war against Al Qaeda. This comic is guaranteed to be a racist regression back to the 1940’s. If Frank Miller’s recent performance bears any consistency, then this film is going to be over the top and nonsensical.
If Hollywood continues to match incompatible superheroes with a dark and gritty take, then this “dark movement” is in for a short lived demise.
Brett Fujioka is a senior ECLS major. He can be reached at bfujioka@oxy.edu.
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