Excelsior!! The Marvel Universe on Film (Spoilers Allowed)

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Is that the same one as the one you're talking about? The one at Latino Review has been taken down, and this will probably be gone by tomorrow as well.

 

So, what's the official Avengers lineup as of right now?

 

No Ed Norton? Damn.

 

I'm looking forward to Captain America and the Avengers film; gonna pretend like the new Spider-Man film doesn't exist....

 

OK, this is about a broadway show, not a film, but I don't think it deserves a whole new thread...

I went to see Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark this week while visiting NYC.

Uh...
Where to even begin.
This is a broadway show that went way, way, waaaaayyyy over-budget, with all manner of delays, complications, and actors being injured while rehearsing the wire-work stunts.
what can I say about this show that is positive.
Um, it is loud. By 'loud', I mean my fillings were rattling in my teeth (and I was sitting in the middle of the main floor/orchestra, not right in front of the speekers). No, I am not exaggerating for some stupid effect. It was that LOUD. I mean
L OOO U U DD
L OO OO U U D D
L O O U U D D
L OO OO U UU D D
LLLLL OOO UU U DD
Imagine strapping yourself to a speaker at any rock concert (particularly some metal band with a lot of bass). That is how loud it was. So if you ignore anything else about my comments, PLEASE do yourself a favor, and bring ear-plugs. My ears were still ringing the next day.
What else is 'good'? Well, some of the wire effects are pretty neat, if unimaginative.

Now, granted modern broadway musicals emphasize spectacle over substance, story, and writing (like the SW prequels).
But this...
Just the title: Turn Off the Dark. What does that even mean? It doesn't make sense in normal context, nor is there any explanation anywhere in the play. It just doesn't. Where did this come from? What is it supposed to do? Where is the reference? Uhhg.

Costuming: well, they got Spider-Man right, but that's about it. The villains that show up (won't comment on the ****-ed up origins) look absolutely horrible. One is a giant inflatable puppet, the Green Goblin design makes the power-rangers costume from the first S-M movie look good. "Generic Villains' have weird masks that look like a melted Day-of-the-dead sculpture mixed with greek comedy/tragedy masks. Some are supposed to look 'realistic', some stylized, and some, well, just weird.
Music: aside from being LOUD, the songs (written by Bono if anyone cares) are utterly vapid and insipid. They do nothing to inspire, and are about twice the volume of the regular dialog. No one would ever know or recognize them outside of the play (whereas anyone hearing someone singing (for example) 'Maria' or 'Anything Goes' would likely be able recognize the reference). In other words, the songs don't stand out on their own.
Set Design and Props: Some of it is pretty, but the design is schizophrenic--some of it is 'realistic', some of it seems to be based on the Sony Movies, some of it looks like it is supposed to be 'comic-bookie' stylized, and some of it is just bizarre. The villains on rampages are shown on projected rear-image panels that move back and forth, with the costume versions of the characters and CGI simulations to show off their powers. It doesn't work. It really doesn't. Like the music, the effect is loud, but ineffective.
Characters: Well, J.J.Jameson was the closest to correctly portrayed. Who the hell is "Swarm"? Never heard of the character. And Swiss Miss? A silver-foil plated dark-skinned woman with spikey/pointy weapons sticking out of her? W.T.F!!!! Other characters are a mishmash of movie versions, comic versions, and twisted perversions of their origins that border on unrecognizable.
Story: a totally botched version of the origin and fight with the first Green Goblin. Another WTF were they thinking. They didn't even get Uncle Ben's quote about power and responsibility right--they substituted something about Rise Above it All, which turned into another obnoxious song with many reprises.
Acting: well, considering the complete and utter mess they had to work with, the Actors are the only thing that could even try to redeem this steaming pile of road-apples. They didn't stand a chance. The stunt doubles to a decent job of striking all the right poses.

I guess if you knew nothing whatsoever about Spider-man, and cared less, yo

 

Shameful confession: I actually have the soundtrack to Turn Off the Dark. I kind of dig it.

 

Well, after watching Iron Man 2, Captain America, and (just now) Thor, I have no hope for Avengers. Not unless something drastically different is done.

Even the cheezy 80s Hulk & Thor movie was a better adaptation of Thor.
Captain America was just boring.
Iron Man 2 was a letdown.
X-Men First class didn't work, and was perhaps the worst of the marvel movies ever released (even topping the 1970s Doctor Strange and Spider-man and the Chinese Web)

What happened?
We had X-men, X2, Iron Man, (Norton) Hulk, X3, and X-men Origins:Wolverine

Then... We got garbage.
Maybe if the production team goes back to see what the first X-men movie did correctly, then there's a remote chance of Avengers being good. It just doesn't seem likely though.

 

Wolverine had continuity problems?

 

I realize X-men movies are not tied directly to Avengers (aside from both being Marvel properties).
However, X-men provided a great deal of information for a super-hero team and their personalities in a single movie (OK, they're all mutants, but vastly different backgrounds and powers), and made it all work. The first two movies were good. X3 wasn't great, but it was OK--just a huge letdown after 1&2. Kinda like RotJ was after ESB. Origins was enjoyable in spite of several dubious decisions (plot and character).
I couldn't get into FC. It was too hard to suspend disbelief, and the effects weren't up to the standards set by any of the other movies--they looked fake, with the quality I would expect from a low-budget SyFy channel flick, or FOX mfTV movie.

Avengers, now, has had 5 movies to build up individual character histories as a prelude. 2 good (IM1 and Hulk), 1 meh (IM2) and 2 yuck (CA:TFA and Thor). I have to think that this is not a good foundation.
Contrast this with the Avengers Assemble Cartoon, in which characters are introduced pretty much from scratch (you didn't have to see the IM or Hulk movies, but it helped a little), did and did so with pretty tight scripts. At least 2 major characters were introduced with each of the first 10 episodes, and they were shown in their own element(s) before bringing them all together. Each one was tied in to a unified story, and told in a good sequential way before they all meet together in one place.

I very much doubt that the people in charge of the current Avengers movie under development will be able to come even close to that level of movie, even after building on 5 previous movies for material.

 

Well, that was a little vague. First Class's continuity issues, on the other hand, stood out like a sore thumb, specifically Xavier being paralyzed at a younger age whilst flashbacks in X3 and Wolverine showed him with working legs as an adult.

 

Terrain changes. Different entrance. New dam built since the old one, with another WeaponX disaster.
Considering the plot problems, effects problems, and writing problems, Origins isn't nearly as big a disaster as FC.

FC had good casting. That's it. Origins had meat on the bones of the characters, story (with a few glitches), FX that didn't make me cringe, decent casting (Gambit really didn't need to be there), and was entertaining. I was able to lose myself into the movie.

 

Really, my only problem with Wolverine (that I can think of) is with his wife supposedly dying. Shouldn't he be able to tell if she's dead or not?

But aside from that, it's a decent movie. Loved the appearances from Wade Wilson/Deadpool, Gambit, and a young Scott Summers.

 

LOL, I remembered someone saying he didn't get why SLJ was appearing in the end of every Avenger film, and just assumed he would appear in the end of every single movie from now on, even non-Avenger ones.

 

There have been lots of little details, but for the most part they haven't been explained. To a generalist (anyone not a comic book fan), they would be meaningless until the comic-book geek sitting next the them tried to explain it.
Sure, there's good stuff in there, but it hasn't tied together, nor does it seem close--more like a series of throw-away gags.
Yeah, count all the X's in the X-men movies.

I'd prefer a set of really, really good movies, that, if they tied together, great, if not, still bloody fantastic. The way Marvel should be. I won't even get into what annoyed me with Thor.