Movies about superheroes are flying out the proverbial wazoo lately and I thought it was time for me to put my two cents in.

Now, if you read my previous post on the Oscars you probably think I’m some artsy fartsy comic book store knob who just loves to whine and complain about the state of the film industry. There is some truth to that, but ultimately, I just love being entertained as much as the next guy. Since I was young I have loved comic books and when I saw Superman (starring Christopher Reeve) fly across my TV screen, I began dreaming of a time when I could see all of my favourite comic heros come to life.

There’s not enough time to go into every comic book film but I definitely want to mention a few (and also get to my point…eventually). Throughout the 80′s and 90s there was a steady release of somewhat campy, but usually fairly entertaining releases, but since the highly successful release of Spiderman, Batman Begins, and X-Men , Marvel and DC have been trying to pump out as many titles as possible.

A lot of these movies have been getting terrible reviews, but some (like the aforementioned Spiderman, Batman Begins, and Xmen) have been absolutely fantastic. I recently went to see the Incredible Hulk and Ironman and I thought they took this great movie making formula even further to create truly entertaining movies.

The key word is entertaining. A comic book doesn’t often have a complicated plot. It’s very simple. Sometimes they may seem complicated, but they’re not. They just pack a whole bunch of arcs into a series to make them seem complicated. Therefore, a comic book movie has no need to be complicated. It just needs to be entertaining. The other issue (and this is where the nerd comes in) is that they have to follow the mythos of the comics. When I finished watching Xmen 3 I wished that I had punched myself in the scrotum instead of watching that movie. The movie was full of plot holes and inconsistences and that took away from my enjoyment. I know that these studios want to break away from some of the old comic book plots to make it fresh. That’s fine. There’s no need to tell an old story. New stories are fine…just keep from breaking the dogma of the comic.

Also, please keep the origin stories intact. Comic book fans have been waiting for years to be able to see how Wolverine got his claws or Captain America became a super soldier in 24 frames per second and they can’t be disappointed by a terrible retelling of a characters origin.

At this point I’ve rambled on for far too long so I’m just going to end with this clip from the opening of Batman: The Animated Series. This (is in my opinion) one of the best adaptations of a comic book ever (ever). If you haven’t seen it, you owe it to yourself to check it out. NOTE TO BIG MOVIE STUDIOS: Please watch this show and figure out how you can use this formula to bring comic book characters to life in a way that is entertaining and interesting.

I was so happy this year when I read the Oscar nominations for best movie. Not only do I think that ‘No Country for Old Men’ is a near perfect film (and it definitely deserved to win), but I was also kind of pleased that all of the movies this year were below 15th in terms of box office rankings. The academy is finally steering away from simply voting for movies that made tons of coin.

There is a negative to this however; though it may be a positive for some. The big movie studios are too afraid to produce “quality films” in favour of making movies that they know will bring in the big bucks. Some film purists may see this as a positive because those big studios won’t be able to get their meat hooks all over the film and make it into that big blockbuster that they are clamoring for.

I am at the very least glad that the academy is starting to show more appreciation for the art of movie making and what it means to make a great film. I hope that the big studios will follow suit. If you haven’t seen ‘No Country for Old Men’, ‘There Will Be Blood’, ‘Juno’, ‘Atonement’, or ‘Michael Clayton’, do yourself a favour and grab a buddy and some popcorn. I know you won’t be disappointed…unless your favourite movie is ‘Judge Dredd’.