Odyssey 2: New Age Marvel

[ratso]

I don't think Torgo had enough time to watch Muppet Treasure island.

[Torgo]

MonsterX said:

Cause if its got monsters, it must be mine!

Ah! I see. Makes sense. Methinks you'll love the Reapers, they kick ass.

Ratso said:

I don't think Torgo had enough time to watch Muppet Treasure island.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight...

[Torgo]

I believe it was professional hypocrite...............I mean movie critic Roger Ebert (wait, I was right the first time) who once said "a superhero movie is only as good as it's villian." This is one of the few things I've ever agreed with him on (Of course, this rule doesn't apply all the time. I liked Blade II better than the original but thought the original's villian was better than the one in II. But since I enjoyed both villians to an infinate degree, the statement still holds up). This is the reason why I don't regard the original Superman (RIP Christopher Reeve) as one of the best superhero movies of all time. Lex Luthor seemed more like a stooge than an evil genius. I kept getting this feeling that he should be taking orders instead of giving them out (which is exactly what happened in the infinatly better Superman II). X2, another movie that has taken the name of best superhero movie of all time and I also happen to disagree with, has the same problem. The only difference is that X2 had a villian we could take seriously, only nothing was really done with him.

Brian Singer, the director of X-Men and X2, was the one who said that "the best villians are always the ones who think they're doing the right thing" or something to that effect. This is true. Magneto was an excelent villian in the first movie, and he thought he was benifiting all of the man and mutantkind. Now Magneto's plan has failed he's turned into someone just like William Stryker, the human villian of X2, both willing to be reduced to complete genocide of the other race in order to win a war that hasn't even started yet. While this is great making for great villians and Magneto is still as awsome as he was in the original, Stryker just falls flat. Why? I don't know, everything that we need for an excelent villian is there, he just never catches my interest whenever I watch this movie. Maybe it's not Stryker himself, but his son, whom he leaves in charge at the end of the movie. His son is a mutant. Interesting plot twist, but flat execution. His son goes into Xavier's mind and turns himself into an annoying 8 year old girl that you just want to slap. While I see they they were trying to do a "things are not what they seem" turn, I find it hard to fear something that irritating.

In fact, I found myself ignoring both Magneto and Stryker in this movie. My attention was caught by a lesser villian who's hardly in the movie at all. I'm of course talking about John, or his "real name" as Magnito puts it, Pyro. The more this kid was onscreen, the more I wanted to hear his story. Why he hates humans and how he got so hot-headed (no pun intended). He was an interesting character hopelessly lost in a movie that has too many characters.

This brings me to my next point of there being too many characters. Once again, the primary character of the story is Wolverine. Now, I love Wolverine, he was always my favorite X-Man, and I fully realize that his story is complicated and mysterious, but he isn't the only X-Men. I would have liked to hear more about the other characters. And while we hear bits and peices of the other characters are known in this movie, it's just not enough. We will probably never hear anything else about Storm now that Halle Berry's on her "I'm too good for X-Men but Catwoman is just right" high horse (that is unless she does a complete 180 and shocks us all by signing on for X3, or even more likely a recast of the character ala Batman). And then there's poor Cyclops, who's hardly in the movie at all. And last but not least is the newbie lacky Lady Deathstrike. It would have been awsome to hear more about her, but she's less characterized than Toad or Sabertooth in the original. At least Toad and Sabertooth showed personalities, which I guess is why I found their fight scenes in the original more entertaining than Deathstrike's fight in this movie.

But does that make this a bad movie? No, not really. These are all minor gripes (but major to write out, holy crap that was long winded) on what is a pretty entertaining movie. Brian Singer's direction is once again superb. He gives the film a dark setting, even more based in reality than the original. It's very cool.

The cast is just as good as it was the last time around. Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellen, and Patrick Stewart all stick around to give performances just as good, if not better, than what they gave in the first movie. The are backed up by a great supporting cast as well. Shawn Ashmore is given more time to shine as Iceman, Alan Cumming is having a blast as Nightcrawler, Aaron Stanford draws some interest as Pyro, and some of the small cameo mutants I just wanted to see more of (a certain badass metal mutant named Colossus comes to mind).

The script, despite character problems, is pretty first rate. It has a solid story that also sets up for what could be a solid X-Men 3 involving the Pheonix storyline. The script also has a lot more humor than the original, and it's successful 99% of the time. I don't need to say anymore than "Professor Logan; Teacher of Art" to prove my point. However, the script does fault in several places. In one scene, Xavier is talking to Magneto they're talking about Wolverine, then all of a sudden Xavier says "Erik, what have you done?" This line could not have been placed more poorly. Not only does it have nothing to do with the conversation, we are forced to believe that Xavier was sneaking around Magneto's mind which wasn't even implied until that moment. Another is a scene where Mystique is trying to get it on with Wolverine and starts changing forms into Jean, Storm, and Rogue. When he rejects her, she changes to Stryker and says "What do you really want?" What is that supposed to mean? Is she trying to get under Wolverine's skin or is she so deperate for sex that she's willing to do intimate homosexual relations? I'm leaning toward the former but the line she says in that case doesn't make any sense at all. That scene is just creepy. I'm not trying to sound homophobic, but sex with Stryker? Matt Damon, maybe, but not Brian Cox. But that's just me.

Then we come to yet another gripe I have about this movie, John Ottman's score, which is nothing on the score to the original movie. Ottman's score is so generic and uninteresting that it just seems to get in the way. I hope they get someone else for X3.

All it comes down to for me, is that X2 just didn't grip me like X-Men did. I'm not entirely clear on why people call it the best superhero movie ever made. I'll still stick with the franchise, I just hope that they get more focused than this in the future.

Final Score (as of yet):

1. Spider-Man
2. Daredevil
3. X-Men
4. X2
5. Blade II
6. Blade

[Torgo]

Small delay in Hulk review. I was all over the place today, and didn't have the DVD with me. Might do it tonight, might tomarrow. Stay on your toes.

[Torgo]

Delayed on both Hulk (again) and Punisher because my mother just got back in town and was visiting her all day.

Going to try and do Hulk at least tomarrow, but no promises.

[Torgo]

Hulk was always one of my favorite comic book characters. The isolation, the anger, I could relate to him a lot. So it really pained me to see this movie handled with the best intentions but fail like it did. There are only so many things you can do in a superhero movie without taking it too far. Hulk tries to push the limit and ends up wandering around as confused and aimlessly as it's title character.

While I haven't seen his other films, judging from Hulk alone I can tell that Ang Lee is actually a very good director, but a terrible choice for this type of movie. It's obvious that his motto was "It's too easy to do 'HULK SMASH,' let's do something different," which isn't a bad thing, but what he does in it's place is try to blend the line between art film and comic book movie, which is just not possible. The biggest problem with this is the piss poor way it was advertised, trying to make it come off as an action blockbuster, which it is not. Those bastards at Universal promised "HULK SMASH," and there just isn't enough of it to pull the film out of the hole that it dug itself into.

One of the most annoying things that Lee did with the moive was contradicting the mythic feel he was going for with a silly comic book feel. SPOILER WARNING! This movie might have turned out fine had three things been dropped: 1. The constant multipal screens. 2. The Hulk Dogs. 3. Absorbing Dad.

I can see what Lee was trying to do with his splitscreens, but the problem is that he overuses it to an extreme. If he wanted to make his movie feel like a comic book, he should have done the dynamic angles that Daredevil pulled off so beautifully. And if he wanted to do his comic book panel thing, do it once or twice, but what he did is absolutly rediculous. It's impossible to keep an eye on any of the action because you don't know where to look.

The Hulk Dogs are without a doubt the dumbest idea this movie presented. The fight is just so unneeded. Not to mention poorly light. You can't tell when the fight begins or ends. It's the biggest mess in the film and Lee was too lazy to clean it up (made even more obvious by the green explosions every time one of the dogs die, god that was hillarious).

ONCE AGAIN, I MUST WARN ABOUT SPOILERS! As bad as the split screens were, they were a minor annoyance compared to what ended up being the ultimate villian of the film, David Banner (which I admit still isn't as bad as the Hulk Dogs). The movie was doing OK until David smashed the security guard with whatever the hell that thing was. When that happened, I just leaned forward and shook my head. It's about an hour and twenty minutes into the movie and you're introducing the villian now? What moron screenwriter thought that up? I was just begging the screen "Please movie, don't ruin what little you have with this foolishness. Count your dead and move on." And then we don't hear from this supposed plot point again in the movie for another forty, so it just seems like it was added in to provide an ending when they couldn't think of one.

This movie would have been so much better if the army alone was the villian.

So, if we ignore the foolishness, does the art aspect of the film work? No. Absolutly not. Lee tries a lot of things in the film, giving us shots that are supposed to signify something but say absolutly nothing (most notably is the shot of Bruce's dying mother running out of the house and reacing for the sky as a nuclear explosion goes off and the "Puny human" dream sequence).

So are there any good points to this movie? You bet. The CGI is spectacular. OK, not all the time. The transformation scenes look pretty damn cartoony, but the Hulk himself is wonderous to behold. The desert scene is also wonderful, showing us what this Hulk movie could have been like had it not tried too hard.

The cast is pretty good too. While Eric Bana probably could have tried a little harder as Bruce, the rest are just fine. Jennifer Connelly, while a bit useless, does great with what she has. Sam Elliott is even better as her father. Josh Lucas pulls a Colin Farrell and steals the show with his wonderful performance. Everytime he was onscreen was easily the best moments of the movie. Nick Nolte has some great lines as David Banner, but by the end, the character's a waste. But it's not his fault.

Now we get to a part of the movie that I truly hated, Danny Elfman's score. I critisized his score for Spider-Man because it was half assed and unoriginal, this time he tries to be original but drops dead instantly. He plays the same damn tune throughout pretty much the entire movie, and it wasn't that good to begin with. Music usually adds to the excitment of the story (like Alan Silvestri's Back to the Future score), but Elfman's is so boring and lifeless, and then he just uses it over and over again makes the movie seem more boring than it has any right to be. While it's great for something as exciting and intense as his score for Batman, it's terrible for a bunch of flutes that just goes "BUM BUM bum bum bum bum" I think as Elfman gets older, his judgement gets poorer and poorer. He should have known better than this. Either that or his score is reflecting what he's turned into lately. Yes Elfman, you're a bum. You need to listen to some Silvestri, John Williams, or Don Davis to try to put the spark back into your work. Here's a thought, if Hulk 2 happens to be made and by some act of god you're hired again, listen to Graeme Revell's fantastic and overlooked scores to Pitch Black and the Chronicles of Riddick in order to get a feel for what a Hulk score should sound like.

Hulk tries to concentrate on the human drama, but the 70s show pulled it off far better than this. I'll take Lou Ferrigno anyday. While it has it's moments of interest, I can't help but feel that as simple as "HULK SMASH" is, that alone would have resulted in a movie far more interesting than this. I think some guy on IMDB said it best, "Hulk was overcooked."

Final score (as of yet):

1. Spider-Man
2. Daredevil
3. X-Men
4. X2
5. Blade II
6. Blade
7. Hulk

[Torgo]

In April 2004, two revenge movies ironicly opened the same day: Kill Bill Volume 2 and the Punisher. Both didn't have just that in common, they both had incredibly lame originals to overcome: Kill Bill Volume 1 and the Punisher (from 1989 staring Dolph Lungren). So what was the difference between these two movies? Well, Kill Bill had campy over the top action, uninteresting characters, and a tired, overlong story that wore out it's welcome in Volume 1 alone. The Punisher had old school action (which we've been lacking lately, the closest we ever got this year was this and Walking Tall), cornball diologue, and gritty reality. So I guess the major difference is that Kill Bill sucked, the Punisher didn't (although Kill Bill obviously won out the box office since it was Tarantino and that man can do no wrong. *yawn* Even though he did plenty of wrong, thy name was Jackie Brown).

Writer Jonathan Hensleigh makes his directorial debut and does a pretty good job (remind me to compliment him when I'm done killing him for co-writing Armageddon). He gives the film a dark depressing tone throughout that just has "the Punisher" written all over it. He also uses practical effects in favor of CGI which is great to see. I don't recall a single CG shot in this film. And if there was, they looked damn real to me.

His script, which he co-wrote with Michael France, is actually pretty good with moments of power spread throughout. One of my favorite things about the script is the way Frank screws with the heads of the bad guys, and by the end force them to turn on each other. Despite all the evil things they've done, you almost feel sorry for them. The most powerful moment in the movie is without a doubt the Family Reunion Massacre, which is filled with so much emotion that it can get hard to watch. Can you imagin if it was your family getting gunned down in front of you and you can't do a damn thing about it? Mother, father, aunts, uncles, cousins, men, women, children, ect...the good script, great acting, and nice direction really give off the terror these people must have been going through. It reminded me of Uncle Ben's death in Spider-Man, I knew it was coming but the way it was executed was so perfect that it really gets to you. Well done.

The cast is a very well played card here. Thomas Jane is perfect as Frank Castle, and when he snaps and turns into the Punisher, you believe it (unlike Lungren from the original Punisher who just seemed to sleep thorugh the whole thing). John Travolta even tones down his usual over-the-top villian in order to put in a believable performance. He can get a bit dry at times, but that's what the character asks for. The great Roy Scheider isn't given much time, but he does well with what he has as Frank's father. The same with Samantha Mathis (If you don't know who she is, you may remember played the unlikely Princess Daisy in Super Mario Bros. If you still don't know, I can't help you) who plays Frank's wife. Rebecca Romijn-Stamos makes her third Marval Movie appearance (the first two as the body painted and very nude Mystique in X-Men and X2) as Joan, and this supermodel actually does a good job playing a mousy character (whodathunkit?). TORGO'S TRIVIA: One of Thomas Jane's more popular roles was the male lead in Deep Blue Sea, a killer shark movie. His father in this movie is played by Roy Schieder who played Cheif Martin Brody in Jaws, the mother of all killer shark movies (and one of my personal favorites).

Now I take some time out to praise something that I truly believe deserves praising, the Punisher outfit. It's just a t-shirt and a trenchcoat, but it looks great. Proof that not everything has to be flashy and Hollywoodesque like Spider-Man's supposedly "selfmade" costume (like Peter really made that) or Batman's head to toe in rubber costume (if Bruce isn't getting claustrophobic in there, he should be sweating his glands out) . Simplicity at it's finest.

Carlos Siliotto's score gets the job done. He doesn't provide a very memorable one, but he doesn't need too. The Punisher is a character, like Blade, is isn't heroic enough to get something dynamic and exciting. What kind of theme can you give someone who basicly just shoots people, what kind of theme can you give him? He tries, but it's never burns into your memory like Danny Elfman's Batman or John William's Superman.

The Punisher is pretty much a modern day western. You know, "You shot my dog, now I shoot you." (only there wasn't a dog there, but I think I got my point across). It's fun old school action in a time that we're deprived of them and filled with CGI and wirework kung fu (as much as I love the Matrix trilogy, I'm sick of this). I look upon this film fondly as it makes me recall what is so great about "Big gun, hard fist" action.

Final score (as of yet):

1. Spider-Man
2. Daredevil
3. X-Men
4. The Punisher
5. X2
6. Blade II
7. Blade
8. Hulk

[Torgo]

How do you mak a supereor sequel to what is unquestionably the greatest superhero movie ever made? Simple, bring back Sam Raimi. If he knows one thing, it's how to make a sequel that's better than the original. Look at the Evil Dead trilogy. Both Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness were better than the original Evil Dead.

For Spider-Man 2 he dumps David Koepp, who wrote the first one (and one of my favorite screenwriters, not just because he wrote Spider-Man, but great movies like Mission: Impossible, Jurrasic Park, and the Lost World as well) and hires Alvin Sargent. Is this the smart thing to do? I don't know. I'm not working behind the scenes. But I can't argue the quality of the final product. The story of "Spider-Man No More" was always such a powerful story, that it was brilliant to choose it for part two. And you gotta love the outcome of the movie, in the end it's not Harry or Doctor Octopus that is the villian, but Peter himself.

But the movie wouldn't work without a great cast to back it up, and Spider-Man 2 has that in the bag. Maguire, Franco, Dunst, Harris, Simmons, and even Dafoe and Robertson (in small cameos) all return they played so brilliantly two years ago. I'm more open to Dunst as Mary Jane now because she proved that she worked in the role in the first one and goes all the way in the second (even though I feel she might have made a better Gwen Stacy or even Felicia Hardy). And Franco's new turn as a more mature Harry Osborn is well done on his part. The newbie this time around is Alfred Molina as Doctor Otto Octavius AKA Doctor Octopus. He's not quite as thrilling as the Green Goblin, but I never thought Doc Ock was in the past and I'm not about to start now. Doc Ock always seemed generic to me in the comics and cartoons, I never found him particularly interesting because he's basicly your average evil mastermind. I find the insanity of the Green Goblin much more interesting. However, and this is a major however, the role of Doc Ock was made much more interesting in the film by making Ock a much more sympathetic man who lost everything and is just trying to finish his work blinded by what may happen. And Molina's performance helps make Doc Ock more interesting than he ever was before.

Raimi's direction is, once again, superb. This time he's alot more at ease and does a lot more of his cheap tricks which he held back on in the first movie. Most notably is the scene in the operating room where the tenticles are attacking the doctors. That was Sam Raimi doing was Sam Raimi does best, screwing around and torturing fellow humans in humorous, over-the-top ways.

The CGI this time around is much more solid. The train sequence is unbelievable and easily one of the best fights in the history of film, and without the CGI they couldn't have done much with it at all. Equally impressive are the clock tower and the final fight. There are a few moments where it blatantly sticks out however. The one that sticks out the most is near the end where Doc Ock kidnaps Mary Jane, the look of his face is a little weird. Weird in a kinda blank way. You know the constant shots of an all CGI Neo during the Burly Brawl in the Matrix Reloaded? That's what it looks like.

Danny Elfman is back for the score, and while I still don't care for his main theme, it runs a lot smoother this time around. I don't know if it's because I'm used to this lazy score from the first movie or not, but I got less to bitch about because they're pretty much the same. You can read what I feel about it in my review of the first movie.

One of the things I need to comment on are the opening credits, which are fantastic. The credits of the first movie are OK, but pretty cheesy. I couldn't help but wonder if this was the best they could come up with. I'm glad they changed it up with a comic recaping the first movie, it looks amazing. I hope they continue this with all the sequels.

So after all of this, what's next? Why Spider-Man 3 of course! But who will be the villian the next time around is the question to ask. It's obvious that Harry will become a villian some time in the future. Whether or not he becomes the new Green Goblin like in the comics will be up to Sam Raimi to decide. But doing another solo Goblin movie may be a little boring to the audience. Might I suggest adding the Hobgoblin to the mix and spice things up with a Goblin War? I'd personally would love to see Venom, even if his backstory is complicated. Or Eddie Brock at least. C'mon Sam, if not Venom, just give us Eddie! You could even cast Bruce Campbell in the roll, if you'd like (that would rule, come to think of it. I can see it now! Eddie getting the symbiote and when he first sees his new look, we hear Venom in his mosterous voice say "Groovy..."). Or maybe Black Cat. Sure she's a Catwoman knock off, but considering Catwoman's last two adventures on the big screen (Batman Returns and Catwoman) both sucked, you can't do much worse. And since you already introduced Kurt Connors, the Lizard would be awsome to see.

Spider-Man 2 is a sequel that surprisingly surpassed the original in almost every way. I was expecting a good movie, but damn. This was damn near perfect. Let's hope the tradition continues.

Final score:

1. Spider-Man 2
2. Spider-Man
3. Daredevil
4. X-Men
5. The Punisher
6. X2
7. Blade II
8. Blade
9. Hulk

[Torgo]

The mere fact that you consider Batman Returns "creepy" shows how different some people like their superhero movies. I didn't find that POS creepy at all, just over the top and rediculous.

Spider-Man and X-Men are far superior IMO.

[Torgo]

By the way, to all who have bothered to read these, if the roads are clear, I'll be seeing Blade: Trinity wednesday.

[Torgo]

Walking out of the theater, I could use six simple words to describe my feelings toward this film: "Now that's what I'm talking about."

Did I ever mention how I'm a sucker for an action film with horror elements? I have no clue why. I guess it's when I go to a horror movie and see all these horror "icons" and I keep rolling my eyes. Especially vampires. I've never been impressed with those prissy little wimps that suck in more ways than one in my entire life. In fact, the only real vampire movies I ever thought anything highly of are the Blade films and Underworld, all of which are action movies with horror elements. I guess I just love seeing these creations that are supposed to be scary getting their asses kicked. Does my love for this type of movie go beyond vampires getting the living snot beaten out of them? Sure. I'll take Aliens as well. And then there were the incredibly stupid Resident Evil movies, which I admit I can't stop watching. That's brain killing at its finest. As fanatical as I sound about movies like this, even I can have problems with them. I'll be the first to say that Van Helsing wasn't that good at all. But now here we are in December, facing the supposed final chapter in the Blade franchise, and I can honestly say that this is the way Blade should have been portrayed since day one.

To put it simply, Blade: Trinity is the best of this genre since the original Predator.

David Goyer's direction completly knocked my socks off. It was fast, furious, and edgy. Not to mention nearly every problem I had with the first two Blades is corrected here. The script itself forms rather well as the movie goes on. Not only is this the best plot of the entire trilogy, it fills in some of the gaps I had with the first two as well. Only problem I had was Blade didn't get to play with his toys enough. Hell, After this offering from Goyer, all I can say is bring on Batman Begins. I can't wait to see his take on the Dark Knight.

The cast has its ups and downs, but for the most part, it's splendid. Wesley Snipes and Kris Kristofferson are both back, of course, but they seem to be doing something different. Blade seems a lot grimmer and angrier than before and Whistler is a little stricter. Jennifer "Couldn't Be Any Hotter" Beil is backing them up this time as Whistler's daughter, Abigail. Along for the ride is also Ryan Reynolds as Hannibal King, providing some comic relief as well.. His character kind of gets in the way at times, but his humor works quite often. Dominic Purcell is the villian this go-around as Drake/Dracula, and he puts both Frost and Nomak to shame. His fight at the end with Blade is easily one of the best of all three movies. On the downer side of the cast, we have Parker Posey's overacting (or underacting, I can't tell. It's one or the other) and Paul Michael Levesque AKA Triple H egging her on. H, please, don't encourage her.

The fight sequences are thrilling and, along with the Chronicles of Riddick, easily take the cake for best action scenes of the year. Blade gets to showcase a lot of cool moves in the opening credit sequence.

You know sometimes you just have to find your flow and ride it. Blade: Trinity is my flow. Sure, my praising this movie could be considered a slap in the face to good movies everywhere, but if it clicks with you it clicks with you. To this I say "Meh, what're ya gonna do?"

Final score:

1. Spider-Man 2
2. Spider-Man
3. Daredevil
4. X-Men
5. Blade: Trinity
6. The Punisher
7. X2
8. Blade II
9. Blade
10. Hulk

[Torgo]

A little bump since Elektra is coming out tomarrow and I'll be right there in the theater.

[Torgo]

Swing and a miss.

Daredevil is easily one of the best superhero movies ever made, despite it's reputation. The Director's Cut was even better. Because I loved DD so much, I couldn't help but look forward to Elektra. It was obvious from the trailers that it would be a different kind of film, but I was at least hoping it would maintain some of the things that made Daredevil so excelent. However now that I've seen the finished film, I can honestly say that Elektra is best enjoyed if you completly forget that it's a spin-off from Daredevil.

Elektra has some wonderful talent behind it. They've got a good director, Rob Bowman. I'm a fan of his other two films, the solid sci-fi thriller the X-Files and the original and wildly entertaining Reign of Fire. His direction in Elektra is very stylish and reminds me of Mark Steven Johnson's direction of Daredevil. The only major problem I have with it would actually revolve around the script, which is penned by Raven Metzner and Stu Zicherman.

Elektra feels kind of like a skipping record. They don't answer how Elektra is still alive until around halfway through the movie, which is a little tedious. What's even more tedious is that it's never explained why Elektra's an assassin in the first place. The closest explaination we get for this is the line "It's what I'm good at" which doesn't answer a damn thing. Another problem with the script is the mystic feel to it, which is a major contrast to the gritty reality of Daredevil (granted, a reality where blind men can gain radar senses and jump thirty feet from one building to another). I'm guessing they were trying to pull a Chronicles of Riddick and not be similar to the previous film and expand the universe. However, what made the Chronicles of Riddick work so well was that Pitch Black was an isolated film, we had no clue what was beyond that planet. Daredevil never felt isolated to me and the jump from dark action film to asian-esque fantasy doesn't really work that well.

The acting is pretty solid, however since the film is Elektra centered, the only one worth noting is Jennifer Garner who is just as good in the role as last time. The others do well with what they have, but are never developed enough for us to give a damn about them.

Christophe Beck's score is neat and mysterious and works well with the material given. And just like the material given, contrasts Daredevil also. But this peice I can live with.

Elektra is decent dollar cinema fare and completly harmless. But I would rather have a Daredevil 2.

Final Score:

1. Spider-Man 2
2. Spider-Man
3. Daredevil
4. X-Men
5. Blade: Trinity
6. The Punisher
7. X2
8. Blade II
9. Blade
10. Elektra
11. Hulk

[Torgo]

Back in the day, both DC and Marvel released two seperate characters at the same time that were so similar that even today it's a subject amung comic book geeks of who ripped off who. One of them was DC's Swamp Thing (which is the more popular of the two), the other was Marvel's Man-Thing.

Swamp Thing already had his movie. It came out in the early eighties. Needless to say, it sucked. OK, I guess it wasn't godawful, but it took itself way too seriously. It also spawned a sequel, which also sucked ironicly because it didn't take itself seriously enough (if you want my opinion of what Swamp Thing you should check out, be on the lookout for an old animated series that only lasted five episodes. That kicked ass).

Now it's 2005, and Man-Thing finally gets his own movie. Does it suck? Yes and no. It sucks in a way one of those shockingly entertaining movies on Mystery Science Theater 3000 sucks. You know what I'm talking about. They're awful but they're fun to watch. I'm talking Prince of Space, the Brute Man, Fugitive Alien, Future War...OK, I take that back. This movie's not nearly as bad as Future War (not by a long shot). But I think you get my point.

Man-Thing is filmed in Hick-Vision. But I kid Brent Leonard. It's competantly directed, I guess. In the normal scenes between the human's, the camera work is often generic, but not over the top, so that's kind of a good thing. The scenes in the swamp are terrific, though. There's this eerie green glow in those scenes that is very cool. And Man-Thing himself looks great. The suit is cool and believable, and the sparse CG work is outstanding. The problem is we don't see enough of it. Man-Thing seems to be tossed into the background, in his own movie even. Most of the time we're watching characters that seem to have come straight from a "Do It Yourself Horror Movie" kit, and Man-Thing is brushed aside as a subplot. As a result, we never truly find out what he is. The closest we get to an explaination is that he's "the guardian of the swamp," which is pretty vague.

As far as movies that premier on the Sci-Fi Channel go, Man-Thing's probably one of the best. Sure that's not saying much, and it's probably a good thing that this never made it to theaters, but it's entertaining enough.

Pure, trashy, monster movie fun. It's a horrible adaptation, and I'd hope something better surfaces someday for the character, but hey, at least it's better than Swamp Thing.

1. Spider-Man 2
2. Spider-Man
3. Daredevil
4. X-Men
5. Blade: Trinity
6. The Punisher
7. X2
8. Blade II
9. Man-Thing
10. Blade
11. Elektra
12. Hulk

[Godo]

Crap. I wanted to catch this tonight.

I'm guessing Sci-Fi will rebroadcast it twenty kajillion times over the next week?