Why We Love Comic Book MoviesSure, the special effects are great, but there's something more drawing us to these fantastic stories.by Frank Smith |
posted 6/29/2004
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Spider-Man 2, which opens this week, is just the latest comic book story to hit your local cineplex.
Comic book movies seem to be the hot ticket these days. In the last couple of years we've seen X-Men and The Hulk, Daredevil and Spider-Man, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Hellboy and The Punisher, to name a few. It's Spidey 2 this week, and Catwoman later this summer. On the drawing board—no pun intended—are The Fantastic Four, The Green Hornet, Green Lantern, The Flash, Superman, Supergirl, Wonder Woman and a handful of sequels—Spidey 3, Daredevil 2, X-Men 3. And the list keeps growing.
Why this sudden passion for comic book movies? Why are films about mutants, giant green behemoths and dark avengers suddenly as hot as the Human Torch?
The easy answer would be to say it's because now—with the advancement of computer graphic imaging (CGI) technology—we can finally do them right. And there's a lot to that argument. Remember all the hype surrounding 1978's Superman: The Motion Picture? "You will believe a man can fly." That movie broke box office records partly because after years of watching pudgy George Reeves pretend to whoosh over a grainy Metropolis, people couldn't wait to see Christopher Reeve accomplishing the real thing. And he did.
Now, a quarter of a century later, Hollywood's mantra is that all things are possible with CGI … and a lot of money. And the results can be jaw-dropping. Who could have predicted that the most fascinating figure in the Lord of the Rings trilogy would be a character that didn't even exist, except on a computer? And who wouldn't want to see those same special effects employed to bring their own childhood favorites to life?
But as a comic book collector from way back, I think there's more to these movies' popularity than effects (or nostalgia) alone. As exciting as CGI can be, the bloom has definitely begun to leave the rose. We're not as easily wowed anymore; we expect moviemaking miracles. People will no longer pay just to see special effects. They want story—tales peopled with flesh-and-blood characters, weathering real emotions and embroiled in genuine conflict—to go along with their orcs and Doc Ocks.
For proof, look no further than 1999's The Phantom Menace and 2002's Attack of the Clones. Amazing special effects, but lame storytelling. The resumption of the Star Wars saga had been anticipated literally for decades, giving those two films one of the greatest built-in audiences of all time. But while they made a ton of money—Star Wars fanatics are nothing if not loyal—they were critical and audience disappointments. Wooden acting, plodding direction and a lack of the heart so present in the first trilogy trumped the most expensive CGI effects money could buy.
So, there's something more behind this passion for comic book movies. And I think it's the lowly comic books themselves.
While not belittled as much as they once were (hey, money talks!), comic books are still scoffed at in many circles. The image of the basement-dwelling, glasses-wearing geek surrounded by stacks of X-Men issues dies hard, maybe because we've met (or been) him ourselves.
But there's more to the genre than X-ray vision and billowing capes. Comic book heroes are flesh and blood, not the plastic, pun-spouting caricatures one might expect. Since the mid-1960s, they've explored deep emotions and even deeper issues on their adventures. While still action-oriented, they present insights into the human condition—and the fallen human heart—as compelling as those offered in many other forums. In fact, the comic book's blending of both verbal and visual communication often brings a visceral understanding that other mediums lack, and when well-written, their stories connect with people and leave them thinking, and talking, for some time. They make for a good read and a good movie.
People want to see gripping adventures on the screen, peopled with flesh-and-blood protagonists embroiled in genuine conflict. Comic books have been delivering on those fronts for years. Their characters, as memorable in their own way as those of Homer or Milton, battle great opponents both without and within—wrestling with the same joys and pains, the same temporary triumphs and the same tragic results of the Fall as do we ourselves.
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