8. Forced Genre Destruction
The great irony to comic book movies is the phrase conventional wisdom because it would suggest actual wisdom. However, it has become apparent that when the meeting for making these films start, logic and common sense are immediately shown the door. Comic books are a relatively young form of literature, which means that it often borrows heavily from pre-established genres using comics as a visual medium. The fact that the term comic book is synonymous with super hero is a misnomer in and of itself as one is a medium and the other is a subject, and are mutually exclusive (required reading: Soon I Will Be Invincible, an original novel about super heroes and villains). Filmmakers should know better than to assume that a movie based on a comic should be treated as comic booky when it clearly isnt. Jonah Hex is one hell of a comic book, and character. There are people who wouldnt read a comic book if it meant bringing about world peace, but would devour Jonah Hex. Even his appearance in the Batman Animated Series allowed the animators to play it straight and make a 30 minute western that couldnt be denied. When I heard that Hex was going to be a movie I was interested, when I heard that Josh Brolin was starring as Hex I had to change my shorts. I couldnt believe how lucky I was to be alive when this movie was on its way, and then I saw the first trailer which featured a horse mounted with twin Gatling guns that actually fired. The comic book movie stigma had struck again, the imbecilic desire to make a story that is marginally a straight western into some sort of western themed fantasy because its a comic book. Road to Perdition was a comic book too, but you didnt see Tom Hanks suddenly whip out a space gun at the 40 minute mark. Filmmakers should consider the idea that comic books can be anything, it is a vehicle for telling a story and not a style of storytelling specifically. There was a time when comic books were plentiful and super hero comics werent. I really want to see the mediums mixed while paying attention to the tenants of the genre. How come The Punisher cant be a straight vigilante story like Death Wish? Can we see Superman kicking alien ass Independence Day style? There are so many ways to utilize stories that were born in comics without treating them in such harsh fashion.