Apparently, fanboys who weren't already up in arms about the casting of Heath Ledger as the Joker in The Dark Knight are now moaning because he said "I actually hate comic book movies, like fucking hate them, they just bore me shitless and they’re just dumb." Ledger goes on to say how brilliant Batman Begins was, and that was the reason he signed on for the sequel.
What these fanboys don't like about Ledger, judging from the message board comments I've seen, is that they think he's gay. He's not. He played a gay character. It's called acting. And if playing a gay character disqualifies you from playing any character in the next Batman film, why don't we also get rid of Christian Bale, Gary Oldman and Michael Caine, who have all played gay men in the past. And didn't Frank Miller portray the Joker as gay in The Dark Knight Returns? (Well, that's the impression I got!)
I think we should give Ledger a chance, as he is a good actor, an interesting choice, and judging by Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan knows what he's doing. There's a similar uproar with Daniel Craig's casting as 007, but apparently he is excellent in Casino Royale. I hope so, because there's nothing better than a unreasonably upset fanboy being shown up.
My second point is, for the most part, I agree with Heath. Most comic book films are fucking dumb. The amount of times I've been genuinely excited about a comic-book film only to be disappointed considerably is ridiculous; I mean, just off the top of my head I can think of:
Howard The Duck, Fantastic Four, Elektra, Batman Forever, Batman and Robin, From Hell, Constantine, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, X Men:The Last Stand, Steel, Hulk, Swamp Thing (and its sequel), Judge Dredd, Superman III & IV, Supergirl, Catwoman, and Nick Fury (Which had David Fucking Hasselhoff as Col. Fury!)
I'm sure there are a myriad more I've forgotten about, or more likely, blanked from my memory, but the best comic-based films are the ones that stay truest to their source material and are good films in their own right as well as being good comic book films: X Men 2, Superman: The Movie, Batman Begins, Spiderman 1&2, and Sin City are amongst the better adaptations. Why does Hollywood need to fuck about so much with the source material?
I've just realised I'm a hypocrite. I go off on one complaining about upset fanboys then I myself rant on about Hollywood adaptations! I know the original comics are still there, and if I need the goods, I can read them, but , generally, the public's perception of these books is based on what they've seen on screen, and, for the most part, they will come away nonplussed. Why can't the major publishers realise that crappy adaptations of their comicbooks will eventually damage sales? Why can't they insist their property is treated with respect?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
4 comments:
You were genuinely excited about Howard the Duck??? What are you?
The question you don't address is would it be ok to reject Heath the actor if he was a gay? You say nothing about whether a gay identified actor could portray the Joker and your silence speaks volumes.
Ok, I'm just picking a fight here. I like Heath plenty and the the Joker's a fool. Maybe I don't want them to be bound up as the same person, it'd mess with my fantasies*.
*not technically fantasies as such, I was being poetic
you didnt like superman IV? the quest for peace! christopher reeves wrote it!
i've not seen half the shit films you mention, simply because you know theyre gonna be shit. hulk was unintelligible, LXG was as cheesy as you could possibly get. i watched about 5 minutes of daredevil which was laughably terrible.
What about Flash Gordon? Does that count?
You? Pick a fight? Never!
You're right, Jemima, I forgot to write that, yes, it's ok to me if a gay actor gets the part. (for the life of me I can't think of any gay actors that would fit the part) I was complaining at the stupidity of the fanboys who didn't want Ledger because of his supposed 'gayness', as this is totally immaterial. I don't hear any moans about Ian McKellen being Magneto.
Steve: I'd put 'Daredevil' in the 'alright' pile, as it wasn't brilliant, nor was it total shit. I thought it was a solid film. Also in this category is 'V for Vendetta' and 'Superman Returns', both, funnily enough, DC properties. Flash Gordon does count, and I know it's crap, but I LOVE that film. Brian Blessed is king!
I heard you the first time, Jonni!
The Casino Royale trailer is ace. Daniel Craig is going to win a lot of people over, I think. I keep meaning to watch Layer Cake (ever since the ad campaign involved a woman in stockings and suspenders!) ,but I've never got round to it. I might do that this weekend.
Post a Comment