cinescape has an interesting article today on how comics have been translated for the movie screen. with movies like x-men, from hell, hellboy, and the initial focus of the article…constantine (aka: hellblazer), it looks into the factors that determine how a comic is altered in order to make it a feasible two-hour movie. with past failures like lxg and the latter half of the batman series…as well as the successes like x-men and (im predicting) hellboy, theres alot that goes towards making the movie a success…and being a faithful adaption is only one aspect. the article points out the varying factors, such as the director, the actors, the studio, the plot, and the um…fiddly-bits (aka, other shit). the director, first and foremost, determines the direction of the translation to begin with. they can choose a faithful adaption (hellboy, daredevil to an extent), or spin it in a different direction (batman and codpiece, x-men). both directions are capable of good and bad, as the examples point out…it just depends on what aspects of the original they choose to stay faithful with. while none of the x-men plots have been direct translations of any of the comics storylines, bryan singer still retained the over-arcing x-men ideology with his movies, and retained enough recognizable themes to place himself comfortably in the x-men mythos. batman jus sucked.
the article goes on to elaborate on the other factors…such as the actors themselves. they succinctly pointed out allan quartermain of lxg. allan moores quartermain was an opium addict past his prime with serious doubts about his abilities. with sean connery in the role, quartermain just became a fearless and headstrong big game hunter…there was no way connery wouldve played the part of a self-doubting former legend. depth was tossed in favor of star power. and with the forthcoming constantine, they have keanu reeves playing what was supposed to be a chain-smoking blonde brit with a thick accent. because the studio execs gave them reeves, the brit became a dark-haired californian who looks like neo…kind of suspect. anyhoo, this summation is awful and incoherent. take a look at the article instead…quite an interesting read.
> comics to movies (via cinescape)
is there an x-3 in the works?
x-3 was in the works alongside x-2 when the first x-men made lots of money. it was like a 2-for-1 sale.
sweet. hopefully it will be good and famke can make a death-defying comeback.
I wonder if Famke will be as hot playing Phoenix. hahaha – get it? hot? hahahaha!
shit greg…dont make me feel embarassed when i tell people u were my college roomie.
it’s like an arctic dominatrix convention up in that picture.