This is a movie based on a comic that will appeal more to the non-comic book reading audience. It's kind of insulting to readers of comics at times (Much like the original comic of Kick-Ass and Wanted were), but it's not a bad film at all. It's excessively violent, got some memorable dialogue and has good acting.
Nicolas Cage was this film's star. Not Chloe Mortez (Is that how you spell her name?), or Mintz-Plasse or the kid who played Kick-Ass. Nicolas Cage doing an Adam West impression every time he was in costume was the best part of this film. He stole every scene he was there in my opinion. Except that last part where you couldn't understand what he was saying.
Now, the film does change some things from the graphic novel. Big Daddy's backstory, Dave's relationship with his love interest and the final fight scene. But aside from Big Daddy not being an obsessed nerd like Kick-Ass, all the changes work better for the film.
Now, I'm not gonna say this was the best movie based on a comic. Or even my favorite. But it was really freaking good. Surprisingly so. Certainly better than Wanted. Not quite as awesome as Superman II or Iron Man though.
I'm giving it a B+.
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Next up is Spider-Man: The Short Halloween. A humorous stroy by SNL members Seth Myers and Bill Hader with art by Kevin Maguire. It's hilarious. Maguire's art and unique facial expressions made me think I was reading JLI again.
For those who don't know of it, it's about a case of mistaken identity. A drunk partygoer dressed as Spider-Man on Halloween is mistaken for the real Wall-Crawler by a team of D-List supervillains called "The Furious Five". The members are Mr. Think, think poor man's Leader. Gossip Girl, a girl covered in mouths that constantly bitch and whine and bite. The Haymaker, a man who controls hay. Fumes, a guy who controls gases or something. And then there's Badger Teeth. Hader described him as a "dime-store Wolverine". That's about as apt as any description gets.
Meanwhile, Spidey was taken by the drunk dude's friends and assaulted by fellow partygoers that his "impostor" had messed with earlier.
This story was great, but, well, short. If this was two or three issues, it would've rocked. It was just a bit too rushed and the new villains weren't given enough time. Now, I got it in the TPB version and it was just an OK collection. It came with The Short Halloween and some other stories from Spider-Man Family. The Spider-Ham ones aren't so good. Neither are the ones with Aunt may as Spider-Ma'am. The rest are very good though. Especially the one about Peter attempting to be a crime scene photographer and the one where he first learns that Harry's back.
All in all, I give this a A-. No more Spider-Ma'am and Spider-Ham please.
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Bonus review: In Odd We Trust, by Dean Koontz and Queenie Chan.
First off, I love the Odd Thomas books. It's currently my favorite books series. I'm told a movie is being made, but I think a television series would work much better. Anyways....
The art: Chan drew the stuff. It's not bad, it's just got that plain, faux-manga look to it. It ranges from being really detailed to being so bland it's almost not there. It seems to get better as it goes on though. Her drawing of a Mustang looks nothing like a Mustang though.
Story: It's a prequel, so you get to see more of Odd's lost love, Stormy Llewellyn. It's about a child who's killed and Odd must try to prevent more deaths. The humor and style he has in the novels carries over well. The villain isn't nearly as imposing or creepy as Fungus Man (I can't remember his name), Datura, Brother John or the group from Odd Hours. Would've been nice to see some bodachs or maybe one of the adventures that Odd always references.
I give this one a solid B. Decent, but progressively better art, OK story, but good dialogue. This is more of a "check-out from the library" than a "buy".
C'MON KOONTZ GIVE ME A NEW ODD THOMAS BOOK. A REAL ONE.
-Zero
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