Comics and Books

Batman, X-Men, Transformers, Watchmen, Iron Man, Punisher, Spider-Man, Hellboy, Dragon Ball . . . what do these have in common? You bet. They are all comic book titles which have made it into worldwide theatres. This is such an easy guessing game, especially if your a comic book fanatic. While some fans find it unacceptable that film makers create far out or poor big screen adaptations of their favourite titles, there is really no stopping to this phenomenon. Comic book movies are here to stay. Regardless of what film critics or fans say, there will always be film goers looking forward to the next comic book-based motion picture. Ever since comic characters came alive from their original 2D world, film makers seemed to find it promising to recreate them in other media such as films and tie-in merchandise. Global audience may not believe recent implication about four superhero franchises, but it is kind of worthwhile to discuss them briefly here. It appears that we can all expect the films “The Green Lantern” and “Justice League” and the film sequels “Iron Man” and “Fantastic Four” to hit the big screens sometime in the future.

The Popular Justice League

If this were true, then the coming of motion pictures based on other secondary sources is also for certain. Japan’s popular animé series and manga have invaded the entire world, almost in the same manner as a tsunami flushes out an entire archipelago. It was not astonishing when the film “Dragonball Evolution” eventually came out in April 2009, after seven long years of development. The animé-based motion picture is nothing less than a good entertainment and a profitable one at that, too. According to online sources, the film cost 68 million British pounds but has already reaped more than 15 million pounds during the first few days of release in Asia. As of the time, the film has yet to be released in the U.S. The film will definitely be a financial hit and sequels are certainly on their way. When it comes secondary sources, there are two distinct approaches to film adaptation. One is to make a motion picture that closely resembles its sources, and film makers attempt to recreate them into cinematic form. This approach proved successful with “Sin City” and “300,” but not so much with “Watchmen.” The other approach is to create a film with plots that are merely inspired by the sources but the characters are allowed to operate in a more realistic world.

The Dark Night Movie

This method made “The Dark Night” and “Iron Man” a success. That said, it could be that in order to ensure the success of based on a book movies, comic book-, or animé-based films, there must be a distinction between the sources and the motion picture. Perhaps, it is less risky if film makers were to mine for raw essence and build a film based on that. Still, there really is no best way of translating a comic book, animé, or novel into film. A film’s aftermath is largely the making of the audience. The adaptation approach is just one of the many elements that cause a film to fare well or flop. Have we all overlooked other factors such as the existing economic condition and the changes in lifestyle and preference of the general public that also influence film patronage? Nobody in the film industry wants their film to fail. There is no precise way to measure when an adapted film’s characters become too fantastic, the plot too outlandish, and the dialogue too cheesy for it to deserve a rotten tomato.