In the beginning, Marvel’s best characters were relegated to animated series until the mid 1970’s, after word that a Superman movie was in production, CBS got the ball rolling on live-action television productions and took advantage of their rights to the Marvel universe. CBS took its first Marvel property, “The Incredible Hulk” and adapted it into a fugitive-style tv series with David Bruce Banner, after having been exposed to a near lethal dose of Gamma Radiation, hulks out when he becomes angry. Charged with a crime he didn't commit, he hits the road and is pursued by a tabloid reporter. While on the run, he is searching searching for a cure, but helping others along the way. A big hit, star Bill Bixby gave a sympathetic performance with unheard of emotional realism for the time. The creature was played by Lou Ferrigno, the biggest body builder of the time, (big I mean muscle wise) yes, even moreso than Arnold. While DC's “Wonder Woman” camped and crapped things up, producer Kenneth Johnson kept a truth to the series that allowed the absurd to become believable. Joe Harnel created some highly memorable meancholy end music that will be heard in the 2008 movie. Airing for four and half seasons (1978-82) on CBS’s legendary Friday night line-up, (followed by ratings blockbusters, “The Dukes of Hazzard” and “Dallas”) it opened the door for “Spider-Man” and “Captain America,” but both were colossal flops. Three Hulk television reunion movies aired on NBC in the mid to late 80’s. More were in the works until Bixby’s untimely death in 1993. Spidey barely made one full season (1978-79) and the Cap never made it past the TV movie stage. Not a surprise considering he spent most of the two movies running time on a motorcycle with his helmet as part of the costume. A little seen “Dr. Strange” was produced for CBS in 1979, but as the 1980’s dawned, only one character made the big screen leap, "Conan the Barbarian", a huge hit that made a star out of ArnoldSchwarzenegger, but one inept sequel followed ending the series.
Television would continue to sustain them with Spider-man, The Fantastic Four, Iron Man and Hulk among others having their own animated series throughout the 80’s and 90’s. As the independent movie companies bloomed, New Line and Marvel teamed up to get some big screen action going, their first significant release was 1990’s “Captain America.” Led by an impressive cast, Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillion, Darren McGavin and Ned Beaty, but saddled with a boring dolt of lead, Matt Salinger, this low-budget cheapie starts off with great fun, but like any cheap slut it blows its wad too soon. I’m being an apologist as the movie is amusing, but not for the reasons intended- it’s one of the best bad movies ever made. Thanks to its crackbaby lead actor, Salinger, (Son of the famous author and recluse, J.D.) plastic ears were placed on the side of his costumed head. An apparent allergic reaction to the material caused severe irritation of his ears, which had to be covered for protection and yes its looks just as stupid as it sounds. The first time he dons the costume; those ears stick out like a turd in a punchbowl as they bounce around during any type of required activity. If the plastic ears were the films only glitch, then we might have something, but we don’t. One inept decision after another is made; the dumbest is when the Cap gives chase to bad guys while on a bicycle! What do you expect from Director Albert Pyun, hands down, the worst working Director today, he’s Ed Wood with attitude, a hack of the highest order, and his disdain for good taste is barely concealed. The film was intended to be released, but went straight to video. Shredded by the critics it put away any notion of planned sequels for the future coming to the big screen any time soon. 1991 saw the release of “The Punisher” starring Dolph Lungred in the titular role as Frank Castle who declares a hit on the mob when his family is murdered by warring gangsters. It was set to take place in an unknown American city, but was filmed in Australia and despite its many flaws, it became a cult hit. Resembling the comic book in premise only, it takes considerable liberties with the material and tells its own story. Even though it’s saddled with Lungred doing a bad Stallone impersonation, (ironically, Stallone would have been the perfect choice as Frank Castle and was offered the role, but wanted too much money) it’s serviceable, kind of fun, the low budget works for it and is directed with a reasonable amount of style. Lungred has a great line while being tortured, he’s asked, “Who are you?” His reply, “I’m BATMAN!” Packed with tons of violence and some nifty action that works for a crap, one-note character. A 2004 remake with Thomas Jane was slightly better, but is all but ruined due to John Travolta’s campy performance as the main baddie. Some terrible leaps in logic and coherence demands the viewer to accept too much. A sequel is in the works.
The First Family of Marvel originally was set to this cheapie from 1994 that was mistakenly produced by Roger Corman’s studio and sat on the shelf, never to be released. Bootlegs of it made the sci-fi convention circuit, but the studio had no intention of ever releasing it, unbeknownst to the cast, as it was made to merely keep the legal rights to the characters so the studio could later on make a bigger, splashier version...eleven years later! Made for $1.9 million (Cut down from a rumored $40 million!) and despite its cheap budget, its fun and the actors nail their characters down giving heartfelt performances. Thing’s costume is where all the money went it seems. Of course the film is not without its problems; Dr. Doom is a joke as his lines didn’t get re-looped in post production so you often hear strange noises coming from the actor as he strains to enunciate his lines behind the mask. The sad thing is, it’s STILL better than the official FF films in 2005/07. Marvel’s fortune took a change for the better as 1993 saw the release of “Blade,” a second tier character that popped up in other characters storylines, like Spider-Man and Dracula’s Tomb. Born to a woman who was bitten by a Vampire, Blade was a half-breed who was bent on exterminating the creatures of the night. Wesley Snipes starred as one of comic’s first black heroes. A stylish, urban gothic script and a kick ass performance by Snipes gave the film critical and box-office raves. The first Marvel film-ever to score big with movie goers, two successful sequels followed cementing Marvel’s place at the table. Another success came with 2000’s “X-Men,” after a decade and half of production hell, Director Bryan Singer, a late in production addition, was hired on. An impressive cast led by Ian McKellan and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine was a box-office smash. A truncated running time and put together in an obscenely short time, the film gets points for making the best of a bad situation. The actors and screenplay nail their characters perfectly and Director Singer gives the film some much needed respect and seriousness. Two successful sequels followed in 2003 and 2006 with a “Wolverine” solo project soon to be released. Striking while the iron was still hot, Marvel’s most beloved character, it’s most successful, Spider-Man finally hit the big screen in 2002 after years of production starts and stops dating back to the early 1980’s. The most famous story was Director James Cameron being attached and going so far as mentioning Leonardo DeCaprio as Peter Parker. Never getting past scripting stage, legal wrangling over who owned the rights prevented any more movement so Cam left after the situation refused to resolve itself and once it did, Director Sam Raimi took the reins and released one of the most successful superhero films ever made, the top-grosser THAT year. A solid film for the most part, its score is atrocious and the villain is heavily neutered however. Tobey McGuire gives a sincere performance full of the required angst and pathos and Raimi shows his love for his childhood hero by keeping Spidey’s sense of humor and plenty of dramatic moments. An even better sequel, surpassing the original followed in 2004 and a not so good one in 2007. The Incredible Hulk finally got movie treatment in 2003, a good film for the most part, although its pretentiousness nearly causes the film to implode. Nick Nolte as Banner’s father sucks the energy out of every scene he’s in, with his ham-fisted acting. Director Ang Lee is not to be faulted as he does his best with a one-note character as does Eric Bana as Bruce Banner. A sequel is ready for release in summer 2008 that unlike the first, borrows heavily from the television series, especially the iconic music and Lou Ferrigno. Ben Affleck is” Daredevil,” so the ads proclaimed, was released in 2003, but lost significant amount of fans due to its severely edited narrative. The DVD later restored some thirty minutes worth of footage that corrected muddy plotlines and character motivations. Affleck would have been just fine had he not brought his usual baggage to the role, but he does what’s required and has great chemistry with co-star Jon Faveraue as Foggy Nelson. Although the film suffers from the pointless race change for the Kingpin (was white, is black for the movie) and the conspicuous absence of the Devil’s mentor, Stick, who strangely shows up in the awful Elektra movie, the film works just fine. The less said about the 2004 spin-off, “Elektra” the better; an incoherent mess that nearly derailed star Jennifer Garner’s career. The Fantastic Four returned to the big screen in 2005 with an official adaptation and way bigger budget, except they forgot to include a compelling story. A sequel followed in 2007 with an appearance by the Silver Surfer, but again, the story was all but forgotten. Both films are definitely made for FF fans only; the screenplay and the obnoxious cast are so campy and dim-witted I couldn’t see anyone besides a fan or a retarded child enjoying their stupid antics. Michael Chiklis is a standout as Thing. Despite it all, the films were huge at the box-office. 2008 brings us the current release of “Iron Man,” a well made, but ultimately overrated origin story. I will admit, I was never a fan, but being a semi-regular comic book devotee I was at least familiar with billionaire Tony Stark and his alter ego’s metal costume and his sometimes involvement with the The Avengers. Credit to the film for not being too thick with continuity and back story as the film is open and easy to follow for the unfortunate plebeians who don’t enjoy comics, although if you don’t like comic books you have no reason to be watching this movie. The film’s accessibility is also its detriment, it’s nearly too open and airy. There are very little moments of awe or wonder. To those propping this up as the BEST THING EVER are dead wrong! This has nothing on “Superman: The Movie/II/Returns", especially “Batman Begins,” which took already familiar material and made it seem fresh and original, yet didn’t contradict to insulting degrees. IM follows it’s history well enough, provides the proper updating, yet it never feels like anything bigger than the screen it’s projected on. Even though we welcome the predictability of origin stories, this one is too predictable and ends not with a bang, but a whimper. Hell, I enjoy “Swamp Thing” more than this, the added extra footage to the DVD should explain that. That said, the cast is not to be faulted, especially Robert Downey Jr, who has gained more fame in the last several years for his battle with booze and drugs than his acting. It’s great to have him back as he’s always been a charismatic actor in the right role; an intense Chevy Chase, he makes Stark likeable, gives him a soul at the height of his prick-like behavior and slips easily into the role of hero when called upon. Even though we’ve seen the billionaire playboy shtick before, he sets himself apart with some terribly funny lines. He’s Marvel’s answer to Bruce Wayne, but Stark knows how to have fun and seems to enjoy himself most of the time. He surrounds himself with his good friends, Col. Rhodes played by Terrance Howard and his personal Secretary Pepper Potts played by Gwyneth Paltrow who has gained some weight in recent years and looks fantastic for the first time in a long time. Jeff Bridges makes a formidable baddie as Obadiah Stane, Vice President of Stark Industries who tries at every turn to take over Stark Industries and eliminate Tony. For most people this would be good enough, but having grown up with Superman and to a lesser extent, Batman, Iron Man just does not cut it. There are several scenes of great fun when he kills some terrorists and discovers his newfound capabilities. One scene that almost had me is when Iron Man is flying for the very first time and is playing cat and mouse with two jet fighters. It’s a great sequence, but cuts away just when it gets moving. Unfortunately those are the only WOW moments I can think of; everything else feels like a well made television movie, which is not a slam, really, just an observation. It’s more of a disappointment as I’ve seen more movie WOW moments on “Smallville” than most of “Iron Man’s” running time. I’m thinking the film is getting high marks, not for what it does right, but for what it doesn’t do wrong. There’s no stupid Otis sidekick or Prince on the soundtrack, but also there is really NO memorable hero action sequence, at least not on the scale of Superman’s airplane rescue in “Returns” or a cool melee with the bad guys from Part II. Granted the heroes are not to be compared, but the movies can and it’s obvious by now where I stand and which movie superhero is superior. The movie’s low-key tone is welcomed, but it’s dull, one of the dullest origin stories in quite sometime; most of the story plays out like a corporate drama with Stark maneuvering against Stane and vice versa. The ultimate showdown with Stark/Stane clad in their iron suits is basically a big yawner as there was little to no suspense as to who the real bad guy was. Director Jon Faveraue (Foggy Nelson from “Daredevil”) does a respectable job, I like how he used L.A. instead of the over-used New York/East coast for the setting, but the screenplay is too flimsy for any director to let loose. Movies like this scream action and when they don’t see it, they lie there like an injured roadside possum waiting to die. Superman/Batman both are at their finest when they are doing what they do best, kick ass and rescue people. Aside from some worthy terrorist killings, Iron Man is just as happy zipping around L.A. and crashing into his garage stocked full of classic cars. That might work for a television series, but big screen superheroes should demand more. “Iron Man” is by no means a terrible movie; there is a huge difference between a bad movie and me/viewer just not liking it. (The I-hate-Star Wars-brigade; ya know the asshole, loser, friendless, crybaby, low-frequency, inauthentic, basement-dwelling, douchebag moochers that actually think the entire population that the prequels suck- They need to know this huge difference backwards and forwards before opening their rotten gobs ever again!) I’m in the latter category as it failed, for the most part to engage me, but that’s my glitch, not the movies.’ It would be hard pressed to find a legitimate gripe outside of my own personal sensibilities. I’m sure the fans will be singing its praises and I must admit I enjoyed most of it; Downey is fantastic, killing the filthy terrorists was a blast, but as a whole it left me unimpressed and as soon as I left the theater, it became forgettable. The only thing of note to emerge from all this is that this is the first movie released under the Marvel Studios banner, they now have their very own studio so no more interference from studio hacks. Let’s hope the recently announced “Captain America” movie will fare much better.