As this strange collision of nostalgia, marketing and some fine film making continues to vault Spider-Man 2 (Look! I remembered the hyphen! Happy?) into the box office stratosphere an awful lot of reviewers and commentators have been throwing around the phrase ‘best comic adaptation ever’. Now, I don’t want to downplay the Spider-Man films because I think they are very well made but are the the best adaptations ever? I’m not sure. Definitely top five, but there are a lot of others that deserve to be on that list. Here are my candidates, in no particular order.
The Crow
Oh, yes, the sequels are horrible. Absolutely disgustingly bad films. But there’s a reason they keep getting made – there’s another one coming – and that reason is that the first Crow film is absolutely brilliant. Brandon Lee is perfectly cast as the lead character, the villains are suitably corrupt, and Alex Proyas’ production design is simply staggering. If there is anyone in this world who can out-gothic Tim Burton it’s Alex Proyas and he did it here. Throw into a mix a script that obviously knows and respects its source and you’ve got a classic film. Why does this film keep getting passed over in all these comic discussions? Too dark and too violent maybe …
Road To Perdition
It doesn’t seem to be really common knowledge that Sam Mendes’ Road to Perdition was based on a comic novel – one itself based on the 1970’s Lone Wolf and Cub films from Japan – but there you have it. Mendes is a master story teller, the cinematography is dazzling, the cast is brilliant. What more do you want in a film?
Superman
Are the effects dated? Absolutely, but the original Christopher Reeves Superman is a fantastic film, one that stays close to the heart of what makes the books great while also providing some fine cinema. This is another franchise that fell on hard times with every subsequent film slipping a little farther into camp but the original stands proud today.
Hellboy
Hellboy was the first film in which director Guillermo Del Toro had both a decent budget and total freedom to do what he wanted. So what did he do? He enlisted Hellboy creator Mike Mignola to help him make sure he nailed the visual style and the creative heart of the character. Good choice. This is a film that could have easily slipped into special effect flavor of the week territory but the script and a perfect performance from Ron Perlman make it a lasting classic. I’m very eagerly awaiting the extended cut.
Mystery Men
Why, oh why, isn’t this film a raging cult classic? Whoever thought to dedicate an entire film to these minor characters from a tiny little independent comic book – The Flaming Carrot – is a genius. Hysterically funny and once again driven not by action or effects but by carefully crafted character work from William H. Macy and Ben Stiller.
Tank Girl
Yeah, this is here more as a nostalgia kick than anything but that this utterly bizarre little film ever managed to get made at all makes me a happy man. It’s got Ice-T as a radiation mutated super-kangaroo. What more can you ask for, really?
Batman
The law of dimished returns is in full effect with the Batman franchise as well, with every subsequent sequel marking a drop in quality, but there’s an awful lot to like about the first one. A dark gothic tone, fantastic direction, an excellent villain and supporting cast. The only things that keep this from jumping to the top of my list are that still-grating soundtrack from Prince and the fact that I still believe Michael Keaton was badly miscast. Yeah, he did a servicable job but he just doesn’t have the physical size and presence for the Bat and I mean, come on, he was Mr. Mom.
The Tick
I’m talking the short lived live action television show here. I was introduced to the original Ben Edlund written Tick comics back in high school, back when they were still in their first run, and have been a raging fan ever since. As I’ve said many, many times Ben Edlund is quite likely the funniest writer in America. I liked the cartoon a good bit but the format automatically lifted some of the inherent absurdity out of the characters and forced them to tone down some things here and there so as not to offend the kiddy audience that was paying the bills. The live action show, though, approached perfection. It could be a bit uneven from episode to episode and Fox killed it before giving the writers time to find their footing, or the show time to find an audience, but the best episodes were sheer brilliance – so much so that Barry Sonnenfeld has gone on record saying that the pilot he directed is the best thing he has ever been a part of. Some read Edlund’s creation as a parody of the super hero world, but I think it’s more a loving nod to the spandex clad lot and that basic affection comes through loud and clear. What makes this work? Tight writing and absolutely perfect casting. Patrick Warburton was born for this role. Nobody else could have done it and he will never be this good again. The only thing thing that could have made it better would have been a long enough run to work in a solid anti-ninja rant or two and appearances by Paul The Samurai and The Cahinsaw Vigilante. Hey, Sonnenfeld! You listening? Find someone to give you the money for a feature!
X Men and X2
The first one wins in terms of script and subtext – the underlying parallels to the civil rights movement with Charles as Martin Luther King and Magneto as Malcolm X are brilliant – the second one wins in terms of pacing, scope, Nightcrawler (my favorite X character ever) and the fact that they finally let Logan off his leash.
I’m sure there are more that I’m missing – if I’d ever gotten around to seeing American Splendour I’m pretty confident it would be one here, for instance – so feel free to throw in your own suggestions …
