New Nerd Talk!!! Where some of the Nerds here at SWN answer questions from you, the fans, about Nerd culture … this week we answer the question “What was our favorite comic book movie?” Also check out our last Nerd Talk HERE where we talk about “What was the one change in a comic movie that really pissed us off.” Make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel HERE, we have some video Nerd Talks up live right now and we will continue to do our video toy reviews. Thanks for reading and if you got a question to ask the Nerds you can email us at Snarfkris@somewhatnerdy.com.
Raz
Favourite Superhero Film? Well for me this is an easy question to answer, it’s “Batman Returns”. First of all just look at the cast – Michael Keaton, Michael Gough, Danny DeVito, Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken and the eagle eyed amongst you can even spot Sean Whalen and Doug Jones. Director Tim Burton fully grasps the dark yet comical aspects of the film and I felt he was the perfect choice for the early “Batman” films, his style was just a perfect match for this character at the time. In my opinion Michael Keaton is the best actor to play our ‘Caped Crusader’ and it’ll be hard to knock him from that top spot, well unless Bruce Campbell ever gets the chance. This is not only my all time favourite “Batman” movie, it’s my all time favourite Superhero movie, a film I’ve watched countless times and have never bored of and never will, in comic films this is a timeless classic.
Derf
Hmmm, favorite Super Hero film is the topic for this session of Nerd Talk and immediately Superman II comes to mind. Not the Superman II most of you know from watching it on TV, but the Richard Donner cut, the way it was meant to be seen. What is so special about the Richard Donner cut, well to put it simply, more scenes that tie in the story better.
I was always a fan of Superman II to begin with because of Superman’s struggle to be normal and the arrival of Zod and his followers. But back in the days of hanging out at the School of Comics and being introduced to the Richard Donner cut, I developed a deeper appreciation of the film.
The movie still kicks ass no matter what version you watch, I mean come on, it has Zod. If you are a true Superman fan, you need to stick to the Donner cut because it tells a more detailed story of Superman’s origin and exactly how Zod tied in to his father and why that hatred was there. The filming was done beautifully and it really pulls you into the story.
Critter
This is a tough thing to do. Pick my favorite comic book movie. That’s like making a parent pick who their favorite kid is or pick what’s better, crispy bacon or that fattier chewy bacon. It’s damn near impossible to pick one.
I think the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy was amazing. I know some of my fellow Somewhatnerdians…(that’s what it would be right?) may disagree with me on that, seeing how they disliked Bane’s voice so much, but I think it’s a one of the stronger triologies this past decade. But I’m not going to pick any of those.
X-Men First Class was really successful at character development, so much so that I was all sympathetic towards Magneto’s murder people with metal vendetta. I was totally on board with him. Now that is a sign of a good movie, a character who has villianous intentions has your sympathy. But I’m not going to pick this one either.
If I’m being really honest, a comic book movie I find myself re-watching over and over is the moderately successful adaption of Hellblazer. Of course I’m referring to Constantine starring Keanu Reeves.
With his hand over his heart like he is saying the Pledge of Allegiance, I can only imagine he is really exclaiming, “Hell sucks! Go ‘Merica!”
I was raised in a pretty Catholic family so all the occult stuff that’s in it like demon possession, exorcisms, fallen angels and what not, have always interested me. Throw in a chain smoking anti-hero with a “screw it all” attitude that’s literally been to hell and back and you’ve got a movie! Now I can’t say Keanu Reeves was the best casting for this role, or for any role for that matter, but he has never ruined a movie for me. I mean re-watch Bill and Ted and tell me he wasn’t great…Go ahead. Do it…You can’t. Point is, he was adequate in the role and it turned out to be a really cool movie loaded with cool supernatural aspects. Plus Constantine flips off the devil! That’s just good story telling right there. You have to admit that would take balls.
Not to mention the weapons he uses are absurd and cool. Seriously. Look at that ridiculous thing. Nothing says “Go back to hell you demon bastard!” like a gold cross shotgun.
“Say your prayers! No. No wait. That was a little too on the nose. Time to meet your maker! Dang! That’s no good either…Just come back to me later. I can do better.”
-John Constantine
I guess I like it when more underground comic books get adapted into movies. My expectations are a little lower which generally leads to a more enjoyable experience for me. Let’s hope that the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman currently in development will have that sort of success.
Billiam
I was glad we got this topic for the next nerd talk. Then I sat down to think about it. Favorite super hero movie, wow. It might be easier to pick the one I hated the most. That’d be easy. Spider-Man 3. But favorite is a little harder. I had to get up, grab a beer, and consult my movie collection and after doing so, I came to the following decision.
Man of Steel
I know, I know, it’s not the most popular choice and that a lot of people had problems with it. I bet my fellow nerds will have awesome answers that may even technically better movies. But Man of Steel was able to recapture the magic that I haven’t seen since the Superman from 1978.
I think too many people couldn’t help but compare Man of Steel to Christopher Reeve’s Superman. I think more people needed to keep in mind that the old movie was a golden age Superman. He came from a time when everything was nicer and people said things like “golly gee.” The Superman from Man of Steel was a modern age Superman who dealt with darker topics.
Man of Steel shows a Clark Kent as a trouble soul who struggles to find the balance between his human and Kryptonian sides as he finds himself as a hero. This is why Zod was the perfect villain. Lex Luthor may be his arch nemesis and a fantastic bad guy, but Zod challenged him in ways that Luthor, Darkseid, Doomsday, Bizarro, and even Ultraman couldn’t. Zod made Clark choose between one the only other Kryptonian he’s ever met and the people for the planet he grew up on. We all know that other survivors from Krypton have shown up, like Kara Zor-El, but at this time, in this movie, Zod was the only other one he’d ever met.
Man of Steel was more than just a mindless action movie. It had a character driven story that coupled well with stunning visuals and planet shaking battles. The cast played their parts well and Henry Cavill proved why he was the best choice for both Kent and Superman. Amy Adams brought a lot of the same spunk that Margot Kidder had in the 78 version. Kevin Costner and Diane Lane shone as John and Martha Kent even though I wanted to see John Schneider reprise his role from Smallville (Even though I knew it was never going to happen).
All the pieces came together to form a great comic book movie that I loved every minute of. Was it perfect? No. But it was still fun. I’d give Man of Steel and 11 any day.
Ben
Most of these Nerd talk posts we do really push me to make some tough decisions. This time is a little different. As soon as I read the question “What’s your favorite comic book movie?” my Nerdy little mind instantly responded “there is no justice in this Nerd talk, there is only punishment”. So to answer the question directly; My favorite comic book movie, hands down, is Tom Jane’s Punisher. The Punisher has always been my favorite comic character but the 1980s Dolph Lundgren film was so awful I never expected Frank Castle to ever again grace the silver screen. Never have I been happier to be wrong. I’ve heard all the complaints with Jane as the Punisher; “He’s too calculated” or “He comes off as too human or caring”. I will agree it is a bit off from how our favorite gun toting lunatic behaves in print but that really had no negative impact on me whatsoever. Since that film released I’ve seen Samuel L Jackson play Nick Fury and Superman snap a man’s neck so the complaints that Frank’s personality disorder wasn’t accurately represented in this film just don’t phase me. We got to see the Popsicle psych out from Warzone #1 in live action. How can anyone complain about that? The fight with the Russian was also amazing and possibly the best fight scene ever on film.
This film had guns, explosions, humor and one hell of a plot twist. All of that being said I was more than disappointed with The Punisher Warzone movie that followed it. Yes Frank may have been more comic book accurate in that film but it was just an all around bad and cheesy movie in my opinion. All action with no substance. I was very surprised they decided to got that direction with my favorite anti-hero. Especially after the previous movie was so well received. Jane himself also seemed more than interested in reprising the role. He even went as far as writing, directing and starring in his own “fan-made” (I use that term loosely in this instance) Punisher short titled “Dirty Laundry” (if you haven’t seen you can check it out below). It is an absolute must watch and shows that Jane really understands the character probably than more than Jonathan Hensleigh who directed the 2004 Punisher masterpiece. In a perfect world Marvel would allow Thomas Jane another go wearing the skull but allowing him the director’s chair as well this time. That, my fellow nerds, is probably less likely than Michael Bay making a decent movie but we can always dream can’t we?
Snarfkris
There are quite a few good comic book movies out there … the original Reeve Superman movies, the Burton and Nolan Batman movies, first two X-Men Movies, The Avengers movies, Blade , Dredd … just to name a few. Howard the Duck to this day is one of my favorite movies, not just comic movies but movies. “But Snarfkris that movie sucks!! Have you ever even seen it? You must have terrible taste in movies! I bet you love Micheal Bay movies too!” Trust me I know its a bad movie, I really do … I just love it. It (as it mostly is with me) brings me back to my, childhood I watched this movie over and over again as a little Snarf and couldn’t get enough of it. It had to be a few years after it came out and I saw the cover in a movie store (for you kids it was a store … that you got movies at) and I had to have it.
Then I searched toy stores for Howard the Duck action figures, which had none. I talked to friends at school about it, which none of them even heard of the movie. I watched it over and over again until the VHS worn out. It wasn’t until I got older that I found out it was a comic book movie based on a Marvel comic. So yes Howard the Duck is my favorite comic book movie. It doesn’t matter to me that the movie sucks, I love the memories of the movie and I still watch it sometimes … plus now I can appreciate how hot Lea Thompson was back then.
