75. Garfield (Peter Hewitt, 2004)
Who doesnt love Garfield? Jim Davis big, fat, orange cat with a love of all things lasagna is brought to life in this 2004 live action movie with the dulcet tones of the one and only Bill Murray - an inspired choice, Im sure youll agree, considering the original animated character was voiced by Lorenzo Music, the man behind Peter Venkman in The Real Ghostbusters tv series. In his first live action movie - which features a CGI cat - Garfield is charged with rescuing his best friend/worst enemy Odie from an evil, dog napping tv producer who wants to use him to increase ratings on his failing variety show. Several changes have been made to a few of the characters but this is generally a fun and faithful adaptation of one of the greatest comic strips ever. OK, so the plot line is hardly original, and Nermal the Kitten is the wrong breed of cat, and the sequel is basically a rip off of the classic trading places narrative but nobody seems to mind.
74. Constantine (Francis Lawrence, 2005)
Think this adaptation is rubbish? Youre wrong. Sure, this is worlds apart from the excellent Hellblazer comics but its a nice, US based interpretation of Alan Moores work. Think the role of John Constantine was hideously miscast? Sure, James Marsters would have been a better choice, playing the role as close to his Spike character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer as possible, but I defy you to say Keanu Reeves doesnt do a good enough job. The film is funny, original and dark enough to keep most fans happy and with Tilda Swinton and Peter Stormore in supporting roles the films shortcomings are nicely covered. Gavin Rossdale on the other hand is garbage and should stick to what he does best - or at least did best for one album back in the 1990s. Dont believe the detractors. Constantine is great.
73. GI Joe: Rise of the Cobra (Stephen Sommers, 2009)
Let's get one thing straight first off - I still think of this as Action Force as that's what I grew up reading, even as far back as the early eighties when ol' Snake Eyes and co shared pages with the Transformers. It was a damned good read for a kid. That's what GI Joe is, a damned good movie. For a kid. Even if you're a thirty something kid, it's bloody good fun. As comic book movies go this is pretty faithful to the feel of the original, yeah there may be some straying from the original material but it's all good. Plot? Utterly ridiculous. Acting? Kind of... Fun? Too right!! There are wonderful action sequences with huge explosions and great FX, fantastic martial arts sequences between the brothers Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow (the former another unseen role for the 'bloody nails if a little short' Ray Park) and some delightful views of ladies in spandex.
72. AVP: Alien vs Predator (Paul W S Anderson, 2004)
Originally published by Dark Horse comics, AVP was always a sci-fi/fantasy fanboys wet dream. Bringing together two of the coolest alien killers in the history of cinema in an ultimate showdown that spanned several volumes and left many readers salivating for the two to duke it out on the big screen. Sadly the film failed to live up to the hype or the brilliance of the original source material, despite utilising several key elements of the comic. Certain aspects that were so cool on paper failed to translate well to film which left many fans feeling let down. That being said AVP contains some quite brilliant fight sequences involving men dressed as Xenomorphs and Predators, it is really the human element that spoils it. Had the film been set on the same alien planet as in the comic books it may have worked much better. Bringing it to Earth lessens the impact, much like bringing the T-Rex to the mainland in Jurassic Park 2. If youre expecting a sci-fi Citizen Kane then youll be disappointed. Instantly forgettable but go into this with an open mind and youll love every second of it.
71. Tank Girl (Rachel Tallalay, 1995)
Tank Girl was one of the most amazing and far out comic books of its generation and should still appear near the top of any credible list of the greatest comics/comic book characters etc of all time. Unfortunately the same cannot be said of the film. Personally I loved it. Lots of you did not. The original creators (Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin) agree with you. I was once fortunate enough to interview Alan Martin about his time working on Tank Girl and he stated that the film was bastardised by Hollywood and was completely against the use of Lori Prety in the titular role. Personally I cannot think of another actress off the top of my head that would have done it any better. Shes suitably out of her mind in her performance and portrays the insane sexuality of the character perfectly. TGs kangaroo boyfriend is perhaps one of the weakest elements of the film, as is Ice-T, which is a shame as Booga is a highlight of the comics. If you like dystopian futures with hot girls with big (ahem) weapons then you cant get much better than this.