Wanted (2008)
Mark Millar's Superman Movie
lukeslens 154 days ago
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So I read today that Mark Millar has announced that he's writing a "Superman" movie revamp and already has a producer and major action director (though he won't give up their names till the deal's inked) attached. Was wondering what people thought about that.
I'm personally torn by it a bit. I love the idea that an actual comic book writer who really really loves the character is so enthused by it (He said he'd even write it for free if that's what it took), but a couple things worry me. First, I can't help but wonder if Millar is counting his chickens before they hatch. "Wanted" did pretty good last weekend opening with over 50 million, especially against a Pixar film, but everybody I've talked to that has seen it has been very disappointed by it, and "Wanted" the graphic novel is not exactly my favorite. He keeps talking about the movie as "revamped", "21st century", "heavy action". While I'll be the first to admit that Singer's "Superman Returns" dragged a bit in a few too many places, the thing that I did love about it was that it was so faithful and didn't try to appeal to some Ritalin-addicted audience who need an explosion every 5 minutes. Superman is a character that is much more about heavy personal and spiritual themes and a Superman movie without those just makes me nervous.
My other fear is that, while I mentioned "Superman Returns" wasn't the most action-packed movie of the year, I really honestly did like it a lot. Especially Brandon Routh. Even people I know who hated the movie really loved Routh as Superman. I also notice a lot of bloggers giving Singer hell for the movie, but they seem to forget how "X-Men 2" was close to perfect. Watching "Returns" really just made me realize that Singer had this extremely incredibly hard job. He had to appeal to so many baby-boomers who revere the original '78 "Superman" with Christopher Reeve and still appease the new generation. "Returns" was plagued from the get-go to be an imperfect movie, but he's already said that his sequel would totally deliver on the goods. Shorter, faster, stronger. He mentioned it would be the "Wrath of Khan" of superhero movies. Considering "X2" I have to believe him.
So all in all, that's my take on it. Let's hear yours.
I'm personally torn by it a bit. I love the idea that an actual comic book writer who really really loves the character is so enthused by it (He said he'd even write it for free if that's what it took), but a couple things worry me. First, I can't help but wonder if Millar is counting his chickens before they hatch. "Wanted" did pretty good last weekend opening with over 50 million, especially against a Pixar film, but everybody I've talked to that has seen it has been very disappointed by it, and "Wanted" the graphic novel is not exactly my favorite. He keeps talking about the movie as "revamped", "21st century", "heavy action". While I'll be the first to admit that Singer's "Superman Returns" dragged a bit in a few too many places, the thing that I did love about it was that it was so faithful and didn't try to appeal to some Ritalin-addicted audience who need an explosion every 5 minutes. Superman is a character that is much more about heavy personal and spiritual themes and a Superman movie without those just makes me nervous.
My other fear is that, while I mentioned "Superman Returns" wasn't the most action-packed movie of the year, I really honestly did like it a lot. Especially Brandon Routh. Even people I know who hated the movie really loved Routh as Superman. I also notice a lot of bloggers giving Singer hell for the movie, but they seem to forget how "X-Men 2" was close to perfect. Watching "Returns" really just made me realize that Singer had this extremely incredibly hard job. He had to appeal to so many baby-boomers who revere the original '78 "Superman" with Christopher Reeve and still appease the new generation. "Returns" was plagued from the get-go to be an imperfect movie, but he's already said that his sequel would totally deliver on the goods. Shorter, faster, stronger. He mentioned it would be the "Wrath of Khan" of superhero movies. Considering "X2" I have to believe him.
So all in all, that's my take on it. Let's hear yours.
I haven't seen Wanted yet, but I am more interested in having Singer return to direct the next Superman movie. I really enjoyed Superman Returns.