On comic-book movies

With the release of “Daredevil” on Valentine’s Day, I’ve gotten into many a discussion about comic-book movies. It seems we are in a comic-book movie phase in Hollywood.

“X-men” was a summer blockbuster a couple of years ago and this past summer was the season of “Spiderman.” With “Daredevil” out in theaters now, comic fans will also get to feast on “The Hulk” and “X2” this summer.

But, something is beginning to distress me about these movies. They have a bad habit of not getting things right. I really don’t mind superficial changes to accommodate the casual fan or the movie format, but I really have a problem with Marvel licensing its rights out to films who change their characters around.

The biggest offender was “X-men.” Being a really big “X-men” fan, I was really excited to see this movie when it came out. I was a little disappointed at the character selection (Toad?), but I was still jazzed. I was willing to make some concessions, since the back load of “X-men” material is overwhelming to any non-fan.

While the movie was done nicely, the liberties taken with the characters made me want to hurl. For one, Sabertooth is an intelligent, cruel, malicious villain who has the battle skill and wits to be Wolverine’s nemesis. It is also speculated that he is Wolverine’s father.

Never in the comics is he portrayed as the half-wit lackey of Magneto that he was in the movie. If he were to work with Magneto, it would be on a mutual gain basis, not as a master-servant. Not to mention Sabretooth just looked stupid.

The second problem was Rogue. Rogue has never been, and never will be, a pathetic damsel in distress. When first introduced, Rogue was a villain, participating in terrorist acts and under the care of Mystique and The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. She then sought solace with Professor X and joined the X-men. While the movie had her inherent power, Rogue very early on permanently gained the powers of Ms. Marvel, which were invulnerability, super strength and the ability to fly. While maybe not being able to get the best of him, Rogue should certainly be able to fight Magneto, not being his helpless prisoner. Rogue has rescued her male teammates, not the other way around. Why bother having the character in the movie if it’s not the one from the comic book?

“Spiderman” took some liberties as well, but the general characters stayed the same. A younger Mary Jane (and three dead girlfriends too soon), organic web shooters, and the origins of his costume were the extent of the differences.

I can understand Mary Jane (everyone knows Mary Jane, and killing people isn’t liked in movies), but the web shooters and the costume weren’t THAT hard to get right were they? They even had the wrestling scene where he would have gotten the suit. But we’re supposed to believe he had the skills/materials/money to make the costume himself. That’s nitpicky. But it was a good movie. Good enough to make a king’s ransom in dough.

The latest Marvel movie, “Daredevil,” wasn’t as bad as I feared it could be. I’m not a huge “Daredevil” fan, so I’m not too into the back story. It’s the first comic movie that had bona fide superstars as actors (sorry Patrick and Ian… people will call you Picard and Gandalf till you die), and Ben Affleck’s sexiest man alive bed head didn’t annoy me too much.

Jennifer Garner was a good choice, being in martial arts shape and training already. I do find it funny that some people nit pick that she isn’t Greek.

Last time I checked, Michael Clarke Duncan wasn’t white. You pick the actors that best fill the roles, and I think that job was done nicely. This is an example of taking liberties in a good way. Bullseye was a little too hokey for my taste (as well as my friends), but I guess it suits the comic-book feel.

The action scenes didn’t quite compare to the other two Marvel movies, being half in “blind-o-vision” and half in the dark. But not a bad flick.

Seeing trailers for this summer’s flicks… I’m hoping for the best. The Hulk looks really good (but making his powers genetically acquired and not gamma rays??), and hopefully “X2” will improve upon the previous travesty.

The lesson here, it’s OK to change minor details and plot to get a better movie. But don’t change the characters. Just like you wouldn’t make FDR running around perfectly healthy in a World War II movie, you don’t make Rogue a pathetic wuss. Enjoy your comic movies, folks.