Ok so I've been hearing the buzz around the campfire and the buzz is that Frank Miller's amazing 'The Dark Knight Returns' could be next in the line of DC Animated films. But after the underwhelming treatment
All-Star Superman was given this year, I have to ask. Is it worth it? The problem with DC Animation that tries to bring existing stories into another format, is that they try to change so many things around! Look at 'Under the Hood'! And now there's also talk of
Batman: Year One getting done? That I would like to see, but if they seriously try and screw things around, they might as well not even bother. The DC Showcase shorts are even better than these, and that's saying something, because they took characters that have been around forever, built plots that tie into those characters and what they are/do. And I'm also hearing that we can expect a film that is a "loose adaptation" of the Justice League "Tower of Babel" storyline. It's getting to the point where I really am not going to bother watching anymore DC Animated films, if they are just going to be shoddy adapatations of things. Thoughts anyone? Lets hear them.
You'd think with the visuals and story largely in place from graphic novels and comics that an adaptation would be a simple process. My guess is that appearances are deceiving, in this case.
ReplyDeleteI think one of two things is going on: either the people adapting the stories are creative vampires, who want to really see their own take on Batman, Superman, etc. get done at the expense of the story they are supposedly adapting, or they really struggle to make something work in a different medium.
I think dialogue written for graphic novels and comics might not sound quite as good when actually spoken, so I can see some tweaks there. Also, certain narrative techniques are harder to pull off in a film, even an animated film. For example, in the Lord of the Rings, sometimes different heroes' stories were not told in chronological order, if memory serves. So, in the films, these stories were ordered more chronologically to serve the medium of film.
A third concern may be the drive to make comic books more "accessible" to the general consumer. Which is the equivalent of casual video games (think the Wii). When done right, you can get something like Iron Man,Batman Begins, or The Dark Knight.
When done wrongly, you get Superman Returns in all its horror.
Anyway, I guess to keep things short, I agree that you might as well do things right if you are going to bother doing them at all.
Well said David, well said. I mean at least with some Marvel Animated films we get some decent stuff. I'd like your opinion on those as well.
ReplyDeleteNow if they are going to try and do "The Dark Knight Returns" animated, just get those guys who did that sequence from the TNBA (The New Batman Adventures) episode "Legends of the Dark Knight". I mean that was amazing, they got the voices just right in my opinion, and aside from some dialogue changes, it was a great sequence.
Josh, I do think though that All-Star Superman WAS better than the comic. I enjoyed the story, the character interaction, and the ending MUCH better than the comic. Also, I enjoyed JL: New Frontier and JL: Crisis on Two Earths a lot. Superman: Doomsday has been the ONLY one so far that I've had problems with.
ReplyDeleteMaybe its just me. And I left those other two out because those did do a great job. But again for me All-Star Superman was great, but at the same time I was also a bit meh about it. But they do manage to put out some good direct to dvd films. It's just with something like Superman: Doomsday they dropped the ball.
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