Digital Joe #45

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---

I have a confession to make. I´m looking forward to the upcoming sequel to "Fantastic Four." I know we´ve talked about summer movies quite a bit recently, but every single time I watch the trailer for "Rise of the Silver Surfer," I find myself getting more and more excited, as if this will be the comic book movie the first wasn´t and "Spider-Man 3" certainly wasn´t.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn´t wild about the first film. It was okay, but didn´t live up to the pedigree set by "X2" or "Spider-Man 2." As I´ve watched it more and more over the last two years, I´ve found a certain charm in it. Yes, Sue Storm still looks like a slut to me and Mr. Fantastic has all the personality of, well, a piece of chewed gum. Dr. Doom might have been overplayed just a bit…but it is fun. It was even fun when it debuted; it just lacked the oomph I had expected.

But with this film? I know this isn´t a high brow critique, but "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" looks cool. There, I said it. Now that I know what to expect from the film, I won´t look for Shakespeare-caliber acting or writing. Nifty effects, some chuckle-worthy one-liners between Michael Chiklis and Chris Evans and I´ll be happy.

Know what else I´m looking forward to? The soon to be announced "Catwoman 2."

Okay, I jest. It has to be the worst comic book movie ever made, bar none. Even worse than the listless and muddled "Elektra." It´s probably behind the Roger Corman version of the "FF"-though I can´t confirm that oh-so-scientific analysis.

Let's look forward for just a minute as to the future of comic book films. Right now, they´re completely en vogue, just like the "Law & Order" franchise was a couple years ago. As both DC and Marvel continue bringing all their characters to the silver screen, I can´t help but wonder when they are going to run out of steam. I mean "The Punisher 2" is in development; a second helping of "The Hulk" is coming; I wouldn´t doubt "Ghost Rider 2" will be on the screen in the next couple of years. We have reinventions of both the Superman and Batman characters; Wonder Woman is in development hell; Flash and Green Arrow are in the rumor mill.

When will enough be enough? When we´re reduced to watching "Spider-Man 12: The Son of the Web-Slinger?" That´s a day I truly dread. Comic movies are a genre just like any other with the inevitable highs and lows. New "Batman" is on tap for next year. "Iron Man" is filming for a 2008 debut. A new "Superman" film might be ready for 2009. And probably more I´m forgetting.

Hollywood is relying on comic films. There´s no debate about that. It´s easier to adapt a book than it is to come up with a brand new concept. Built in fan base, name recognition and a nearly-guaranteed $50 million opening weekend. Script and casting really doesn´t matter, at least in that first weekend.

What happens, though, when the inevitable public backlash occurs? When the fifth "Batman" film doesn´t bring in the money Warner Brothers thinks it should? When the audience doesn´t lap up every little thing Sam Raimi or Chris Nolan put on screen? More whining, no doubt, from Hollywood about revenue being down and costs continuing to rise. Why not head off that problem now by slowing down in the genre?

Prolong the audience´s appetite for our colorful heroes by not loading each year with their cinematic exploits. Don´t throw every single hero up there. More time between films. And, for the love of everything geeky, get someone working on a live action "Justice League" film. Sign Brandon Routh and Christian Bale as the leads. Fill out the cast with relatively unknown actors as Wonder Woman, the Martian Manhunter, Flash, Green Lantern, Black Canary, Vixen and anyone else the script will accommodate.

You have a built in franchise plus dozens of potential spin offs. Isn´t it easier to launch a movie series if the audience is familiar with the big screen version of the character? And if the hero (or villain) doesn´t work in the team-up film, the studio will know ahead of time and not invest more money in a bad concept.

Two things are holding the "Justice League" film back: an effects budget and casting. If you´re going to have just the seven core members (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Hawkgirl, Green Lantern, Flash, Martin Manhunter) and a couple villains, the effects budget would break the bank. Four flying characters, Hawkgirl´s wings, Lantern´s power ring constructs, Flash running, the Invisible Jet, the Batmobile…even that is enough to give any production accountant a headache.

And then there´s the matter of the current ongoing franchises. Are Routh and Bale going to give up their starring vehicles to take part in this film? I could be wrong, but I don´t think so. Then there´s the matter of the in-development "Wonder Woman" film, to say nothing of "Flash" and "Green Arrow."

I can´t sort any of that out. What I do know for sure is this: the more adaptations that come to the screen, the quicker the audience is going to rebel by not buying tickets. Simple as that. In order to continue bringing in the money, each film will need to up the ante, so to speak. Bigger battles, more enemies, louder explosions. Soon, we´ll have action balloons with the words "Ka-BoOm!" and "POW!" filling the screen in a theatrical version of Adam West´s "Batman."

Now do any of us really want that?

---

Connect to Facebook/Twitter, recommend via email and much more.

---