Monday, February 12, 2007

Giving up the Ghost

Ghost Rider, the latest in an apparently now-trendy line of superhero movies, is due to open Feb 16 and I have to tell you ... I'm pretty excited.

Ha! I kid! Actually, I can't stay far enough away from what already looks like a terrible movie that somehow manages to completely miss the core mechanics of what makes the character work (mostly) in comics.

Truthfully, it makes me a little sad. I remember watching a Spider-Man TV series that was awful - the webbing looked like clothesline and the eye-lenses could have been made from a colander - and I loved it. I own the Roger Corman version of The Fantastic Four, for the love of Aunt Petunia!

I'm an enormous fan of the Spider-Man movies, too, and I thought Superman Returns was everything it should have been.

But I've only seen the first X-Men movie. I haven't seen Hulk (though I loved the show). I haven't seen Fantastic Four (and I'm not really convinced I need to see Rise of the Silver Surfer). I haven't seen Daredevil. I haven't seen Elektra.

And I'm not going to see Ghost Rider.

Which brings me to a question: Why not? What is it that makes some movies - even the "bad" ones - so much fun to watch?

What makes a superhero movie good?

4 comments:

Eric said...

I think it is based on the Ennis Ghost Rider, so that should explain a lot. I KNOW he wrote the video game script. I THINK he may have worked on the movie script too. I think I'm still gonna see it just for jollies tho, knowing well in advance that it is going to suck raw eggs.

Big T said...

Sweet baby Jesus, wherever did you get a copy of the original orange-foam covered Fantastic Four flick..?

Maxo said...

E: The reviews are out now, and they mostly confirm what I was afraid of - a metric-ton of crappiness. The puns are apparently at Schwarzeneggerian levels; I just don't think I could take it. If you see it, you'll have to tell me about The Pain.

Tom: I wonder ...

Anonymous said...

You should see the second X-Men movie but not the third. Hulk I also still haven't seen and I'd say skip FF but I know some liked it. Oh and Daredevil was pretty darn mediocre, I assume Elektra was as well.