And Then There's Crap Like This

[filkertom]

You may remember awhile back, when I linked to a promo poster for a live-action Underdog movie.

rmjwell warns us that there is now a teaser trailer.

Mother of God.

Y'know, I don't expect upper-ups in either the movie or comic businesses to have the slightest clue anymore, really I don't -- witness the bullshit they pulled with Superman Returns, with V For Vendetta and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and Elektra, with Infinite Crisis and Civil War and Avengers: Disassembled and Ultimate Whatever and All-Star Batman and Robin and on and on and on. I don't expect them to understand that their lame-ass fanfic "reimagining" of characters just may not be the way to appeal to the fans of those characters, who might possibly expect to see those characters resemble themselves at least a little.

But I really hate that they do all that shit, and then make it look stupid. So stupid that you're embarassed to admit you're a fan of the original.

Comments

[mouser.livejournal.com]

Dear Hollywood,

Please stop raping my childhood because you can't come up with a decent idea on your own to save you lives.

Thank you.

[allandaros.livejournal.com]

Um...what was wrong with Avengers Disassembled?

I read through it, and didn't twig on to anything horribly blatantly wrong...but I'm not much of a comics geek at all.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Ah. I am. I thought it was a ham-handed mishmash of Good Ideas At The Time. Hey, let's kill off Ant-Man, Hawkeye and the Vision! (Don't worry, we'll bring 'em back.) Let's have the mysterious all-powerful villain be... an insane Scarlet Witch! (Aftermath from one of the most ludicrous, best-forgotten storylines ever.) Let's lead into the House of M! (Where we bogusly attempt to fix the "too many mutants" problem, until the next miniseries where we need more mutants.) Best of all, let's have everybody basically be out of character for a whole year!

To my mind, things like Avengers Disassembled come about because the writers don't have any good story ideas. So they start pulling the Horrors! A Character Death! and Betrayal From Within! cards. And then they just keep going and going and going. Avengers Disassembled led to House of M led to Civil War and I don't buy Marvel comics anymore because I don't like any of the characters these days.

[old-fortissimo.livejournal.com]

I actually enjoyed The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, although Peta Wilson was almost wasted in the part as Mina Murray, and they lost a marvelous opportunity to use U.S. Agent (Tom) Sawyer as a confidence man.

However...Underdog without Wally Cox? Close to blasphemous. Apparently there is need to fear....

[kosaginolegion.livejournal.com]

I think "League..." stands on its own as a movie pulp. And, yeah, Tom as a con man would have been awesome. I could also see it being part of the history of the same world Sky Captain came from.

It may be a sad admission on my part but I could never get into the comic.

[ldwheeler.livejournal.com]

When I first saw the movie, expecting it to bear even some minor resemblance to the comic, I was appalled.

Years later, viewing it on TV and making a conscious effort to view it as a standalone film (suspending my knowledge that Alan Moore even existed) ... it was a perfectly acceptable movie, as far as somewhat two-dimensional action thrillers with mild pretensions go.

(This was after talking with a colleague who highly enjoyed the movie and had never heard of the comic book. Since the colleague was a fairly easily offended and often contentious hard-core fundamentalist, I elected not to loan him the comics ...

[darkwolf69.livejournal.com]

I guess that I am fortunate, in that I never actually collected and read comics, so much as I enjoyed reading *about* the characters and (when they stopped sucking so badly) watching the movies and such. In general, that leaves me in a position to (for example) not shriek in horror at what they did to The Phoenix (apparently)-- though I did find it mildly amusing that the big bad for X3 spent most of the movie standing in a corner looking menacing. ;-)

Anyway.

I don't recall Underdog so well, which may leave me in a position to enjoy the movie... but I think I'll wait for this one to hit video. Unless it's at the drive-in some weekend when we have nothing better to do... ;-)

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I actually liked X3. I was not expecting a great version of Phoenix by any stretch, but at least we got a not-too-bad version. I was disappointed by the lack of Nightcrawler; I thought the take on him in X2 was interesting and a valid interp of the character based on his upbringing. Granted, I prefer the swashbuckler Kurt....

The problem that I have with the X-Men movies is they highlight a big problem, similar to what DC has with Donna Troy: Everybody loves Jean Grey. Problem is, in the movies there's no particular discernable reason to do so. Her character is fairly tepic, actually, and it makes perfect sense that a plank like James Marsden's Cyclops would be involved with her -- they're cut of the same bland cloth. And the scene between Wolverine and Mystique in X2 highlighted another unfortunate circumstance of the films: All of the other female characters were more interesting and attractive than Jean by a country mile.

Ultimate Whatever

[popefelix.livejournal.com]

What's wrong with the Ultimate line? It's not as if it were in the regular continuity for any of those titles. Personally, I think it's a neat idea.

Re: Ultimate Whatever

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Neat idea, certainly. At least originally. I find the execution, especially of the Avengers and the FF, to be simplistic at best and obnoxious at worst -- as if written by people whose only exposure to the original characters was the information on trading cards.

And Ultimate Spider-Man is the biggest disappointment of all. The kid's been fifteen for ten years now; if it's so ultra-realistic, let him grow up a little. The death of Gwen Stacy was completely gratuitous. Most of the stuff with Aunt May -- heck, most of the stuff in the past few years -- has been just badly handled. And I am sick to the teeth of everything being either Norman Osborn's or Nick Fury's fault.

[cktraveler.livejournal.com]

My initial reaction was that it was yet another example of Hollywood filming a title instead of adapting material. Someone heard the phrase "superhero dog," mentally added "wisecracking" because they always do, and didn't bother looking at the rest of the material. It's old stuff, right? Old people will come in if they recognize a name, so you name the film for them and then you pitch it to the kids.

Honestly, though ... Underdog was not a dog in a human world, he was a furry. Either drop that and film the movie with all humans, or film the movie as a cartoon or Pixar-style with all animals. Those are the two choices. This is just stupid.

And "One Nation Under Dog"? I hope they get roasted by the fundies for that one.

[cktraveler.livejournal.com]

(And yes, I know there were humans in the original Underdog world, but they were just one more race of animals among the others. I didn't see other random talking dogs in the crowd scenes for this movie, and Underdog should be walking on his hind legs and using opposable thumbs.)

[kengr]

The folks making stuff like this should be required to actually *watch* the original. Obviously they missed the fact that Underdog wasn't a dog in a world of humans. He was a dog in a world of humans *and* anthropomorphic animals.

[daundelyon.livejournal.com]

Amen.

[twfarlan.livejournal.com]

The budding relationship between UD and Polly Pureheart will be fairly disturbing here, won't it? Eww.

Yeah, I'm thinking I'll pass on this one. This isn't Underdog. It's a fuzzy Superman. If they wanted to make Krypto the Super-Dog, they should have teamed up with DC and have just done it.

[alwosm.livejournal.com]

wasn't it 'Purebread'?

enquiring minds....

[thewalkingman.livejournal.com]

you do realize that Underdog (both the cartoon and the new movie) is geared towards small children, right?

[ladysmith.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but the small children who watched the originals are now the adults who aren't taking their own small children to see this piece of tripe...

At least, that's where this former small child is coming from.

[ericcoleman]

I really liked V ... I thought that the changes worked and still kept it in ths spirit of the original.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

I actually think the movie of V more-or-less works. But some of the changes, I found simply gratuitous, because they weren't "cinematic" enough or something. The biggest and most annoying change was that Evey had a life. One of the big points of the original to me was that, except for the time V let her get away, and she was living with Gordon, she really didn't have anywhere to go, and V could do his Master Po number on her without worrying about her trying to escape.

I also want to know what costume shop came up with all those custom Guy Fawkes masks and capes and hats at the end without the government knowing.

And the big fight scene was cool looking... but didn't make any sense apart from that.

[underpope.livejournal.com]

I've contended for a long time that Hollywood doesn't just not understand their audiences, they actively HATE their audiences. That's the only explanation I can come up with for movies like this.

[hanabishirecca.livejournal.com]

I promise I won't get into another DC defense mode. I promise. But I will try to make a quick point.

I was a Marvel fan and agree with everything said. Marvel's got more problems than Enron every could imagine on its worst day. And while I cannot fathom why Identity Crisis and Infinite Crisis did what they did in them, I do understand what DC is trying to pull off. Unlike Marvel, DC's now slowly changing the world to a lighter version. And yes, I expect people to say "by raping Sue Dibny and shooting Ted Kord?!?". But... DC was setting the stage for why the world needs Heroes to be heroes. The transition is slow and the character development I'm reading in my comics is believable. I'm enjoying the transition and enjoy where it is going.

But I suppose, if people want an instant change to goodness, they could have just used the Marvel "Scarlet Witch" approach to just reshape the entire world. *rolleyes*

For the record... I was a Marvel fan for 15 years. I will never collect Marvel comics again. X3, Civil War, House of M, Back in Black, and the upcoming World War Hulk makes me sick.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Scary thing is, DC is a lighter version. There's a great two-page spread in Avengers/JLA, where Superman is appalled at how squalid and disgusting the Marvel universe seems to be, and blames Marvel's heroes for dropping the ball, while the Marvel heroes see evidence that the DC heroes are respected by their world, and Captain America assumes they've oppressed the populace into worshipping them as near-gods. I really liked Busiek's riffing on both universes in that one.

More of the same

[selenesue.livejournal.com]

I've been getting an earfull lately about the live action ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS movie. Ooog, just as bad. The Chipmunks are more like real-world chipmunks and have lost all their charm, according my source.

How about a live action Spongebob movie? Let them rape someone else's childhood for a while. Grumpsnarl.

[ddrussianinja.livejournal.com]

Firstly, I'm really quite enjoying Civil War. I think it's a very interesting development.

Next, I enjoyed Superman Returns (while I can understand why some don't) as well as V For Vendetta (while it strayed a good deal from the graphic novel, I still thought it was a very good movie).

Now, that being said, you're right, this movie makes a superpowered dog look even stupider than it sounds. Though, I must say I'm pleased with the choice of making Jason Lee the voice. He makes everything better. He's the only thing that convinces me this movie won't massively suck hardcore. However, this definitely has the potential to be worse than Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.

[lorddragon65.livejournal.com]

The only one I think is missing is Tennessee Tuxedo. With Don Adams gone, could Frank Caliendo pull off the voice duties?

Oh, yeah, Peabody and Sherman, that could be fun too...NOT!

[purpleranger.livejournal.com]

I heard that seismologists were puzzled by a strange series of tremors that suddenly popped up -- until they were traced to the cemetary where Wally Cox is buried.

[sarekofvulcan.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, my brother is an extra in Underdog, so I have to go see it if only to see if he actually makes it on screen. :-)

[fuuberry.livejournal.com]

The way I see it, there's a 50/50 chance that a comic book movie is going to be good. There's about a 1/100 chance that it will be spot-on with the comic. You have to take into consideration the fact that most comic books have had years upon years to build their universe, while a movie has only a span of 1.5-3 hours to fill you in. When I go to a comic book movie, I don't walk away asking myself "Did they get everything right?", because the answer will almost always be no. The only exception I've come across has been Sin City, and that's because it's a collection of short stories, and not a huge series. When you have about 100 pages to work with, instead of 100 comics, the transition becomes a lot easier. What I ask is "Did they get the feel right?" Usually, the answer is yes. Batman Begins is a kickass comic book movie, not because they had every detail correct, but because it captured the grittiness of Gotham and its residents.

On the other hand, I plan to stay as far away from this piece of tripe as humanly possible. I was fooled by George of the Jungle, but I learned my lesson with Rocky and Bullwinkle. Even with Jason Lee, I don't have a shred of hope that Underdog will be anything like it's supposed to be, and will instead be 2 hours of canned jokes to make the kiddies giggle.

[tomreedtoon.livejournal.com]

I've got two comments. First, Underdog was a simple series for a simpler time, and most of that cartoon rode on the inescapable charm of Wally Cox. He was the only reason I watched it as a kid. (And when he starred as a sonar operator in the very serious cold war movie The Bedford Incident and his character had a breakdown, I had a genuine shuddery feeling.) Take away Cox, and that cartoon, like nearly all of Total Television's shows, would be humdrum. There is no use doing this movie, unless you could get an undead Wally Cox, or another voice artist who could be as charming and yet smart - and this is a strange idea, but why does Carla Ulbrich come to mind when I think of this?

Second, about the re-imagining of characters. I may have more sympathy for the writers and editors than you guys. It's hard to come up with ways to make some heroes interesting, and this "re-invention" stuff, although it doesn't often work, is about the only way to do it. At DC, everything has been done with the Big Three - the Boy Scout, the Bat and the Broad - and not even the recent "One Year After" break helped them out. And when it came to the Scarlet Witch...well, the only thing that really worked was in the animated X-Men series, where her teenaged self was an embittered, violent goth. Remember, she was born in an era where most heroines never engaged in physical violence, and their powers were mostly "projected beams" or "sonic blasts" or "hexes" that would never let them get close to touching a man.

Sometimes, all you can do is throw new ideas against the refrigerator door and see if they stick. Not a happy process, and it can backfire, but at least it's something new, which comics have lacked for a long time. And that's coming from a comic fan.

[wildcard9.livejournal.com]

The trailer opening made me think this would be a movie about Krypto, not about our dear, sweet, lovable Shoeshine Boy. I am betting on Overcat to win this fight. I hope when Riffraff shows up, he is at least an animorphic wolf (although I doubt will happen). Heck, I doubt the character will make it into the movie at all, unless as a cameo in a montague scene. I assume the big villain will be Simon Bar Sinister, since all super-heroes ever fight in the movies are mad scientists.

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

In the worst Ultimate Spider-Man Parker/Osborn "tradition", Underdog is in fact an accidental creation of Simon Bar Sinister. (The only good thing about the entire movie is that Patrick Warburton is playing Cad. One of the many, many bad things about the movie is that it's gonna be on the resumés of Patrick Warburton and Jason Lee.

You're right -- if it was a Krypto movie, I'd have a lot less problem with it. Although I still wouldn't want the dog to talk.

[devospice.livejournal.com]

I couldn't help but think of this when I watched that.

Lady: We at the network want a dog with attitude. He's edgy, he's "in your face." You've heard the expression "let's get busy"? Well, this is a dog who gets "biz-zay!" Consistently and thoroughly.

Krusty: So he's proactive, huh?

Lady: Oh, God, yes. We're talking about a totally outrageous paradigm.

MrsGreenlantern

[greenlantern-oa.livejournal.com]

I understand why you are upset with Hollywood. But you know for those of us who are not comic book FANS it gives us a chance to view these characters for what can possibly be the first time. I found V for Vendetta to be amazing and ya it may not be what the original comic was but it made me aware that there is a comic and made me want to go look into it. Just like the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, I know they raped the book but its a fun movie and I would love to read the books. My husband talks about it all the time. Hollywood does not get everything right cause then it would not be HOllywood. Yet, it brings to the masses adventures like these. Ya it may not be what you like or how you like it but it works for those of us who are not extreme fans. Ya gotta not just see the negative side of it.

Re: MrsGreenlantern

[filkertom.livejournal.com]

Hi, Mrs. Lantern! Glad to hear from you. Unfortunately, your husband's history is a perfect example of the kind of "thinking" that goes on in both comics and movie-making.

Without going into a lot of detail, the model for all GLs, Hal Jordan, was driven insane and turned into a murderous god-villain for no good reason. After ten years or so of everyone angsting about him, he was "brought back" as the new Spectre, then brought back for real.

Oa, the world which commissioned and empowered him, has been destroyed and recreated numeous times for no good reason.

Katma Tui, GL and lover of John Stewart, was savagely murdered for no good reason.

Guy Gardner, the Bad Boy GL, has had, shall we say, his ups and downs.

Inconsistent writing, bad plotting, all kindsa Good Ideas At The Time™. More than any other DC character, even Batman, GL has gotten the shaft.

And, through all this, every time he's been seen in a nonanimated format -- Legends of the Superheroes (http://www.badmovieplanet.com/3btheater/l/legendsofsuperheroes.html) and the Justice League of America (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justice_League_of_America_(1997_film)) pilot (which you can download (http://www.themovieblog.com/video/Justice-League.mov) in teeny-tiny Quicktime from The Movie Blog) -- it's been played for laughs. And who wants the live-action GL movie more than anybody? Jack Black (http://www.cinematical.com/2006/06/16/jack-black-still-wants-green-lantern/).

All that said, I do understand that movies are not necessarily made for comics fans. But some of them do work when translated accurately. Heck, until The Incredibles took top spot, my favorite superhero movie was the first Reeve Superman, and that clung to the comic like a barnacle. But it did so with the right balance of camp and respect, and did not make its lead character a fool. Same with Batman Begins, which got a few things wrong but a hell of a lot right.