How do you ruin potential for a great adaptation of the cult franchise “Wing Commander” in one fell swoop? You cast Freddie Prinze Jr. of course! The leading man with the charisma and talent of a mop stick leads the charge in this science fiction adaptation of the hit video game series, while Matthew Lillard is his spaz sidekick who screeches like a coked up C3P0 during battle, in spite of the fact that we’re told these are experienced soldiers.
Tag Archives: Adaptation
Man of Steel (2013)
Much in the way Bryan Singer practiced with “Superman Returns,” director Zack Snyder displays amazing restraint and subtlety with his version of Superman. Which is surprising considering Zack Snyder is hardly ever about subtlety. This is the man behind the loud and sophomoric “Sucker Punch” and “Dawn of the Dead” after all. But with “Watchmen,” Snyder proved he could disassemble the superhero mythology and completely lands his masterpiece with his iteration of Superman. “Man of Steel” garners a ton of heart and soul, with a tale of Clark Kent’s journey for a sense of purpose and belonging in a home world that’s not his own.
Top Ten Video Games Based on Movies
Hollywood keeps trying to tap the video game market to concoct the next hit movie or movie series for audiences, while movie based video games are all but extinct these days. For a while they were huge, while in the late eighties and the entire decade of the nineties were filled with video games based on movies. From “Dirty Harry,” and “Lethal Weapon,” to “Robocop,” “Robocop 2,” “Robocop 3,” “Robocop vs. Terminator,” The Entire “Terminator” series, the “Die Hard” trilogy, “No Escape,” “Congo,” “Stargate,” “Independence Day,” the list can go on. There was even “Street Fighter” the game based on the movie, which was based on a game. There are still games based on movies that I never knew existed.
In honor of the dying breed of good movie based video games, here are ten of our favorite video games based on movies. What are your favorite games based on movies?
Superman Returns (2006)
Countdown to “Man of Steel”!
I’m still not too sure what Warner was expecting with “Superman Returns.” I mean it made just as much as “Batman Begins” in its theatrical run, and director Bryan Singer does the best to connect this reboot to the successful Richard Donner films, so what is it that makes this film the bane of the Superman movie verse? Very few people understand Superman, nor do they really understand why he’s such an amazing character. I’ve experienced no end of people complaining that “Superman Returns” didn’t feature Superman punching things and fighting bad guys. In reality, that’s been the downfall of the character.
He’s become the lug head of the DC Universe. He’s become the bouncer in the club who punches people and never thinks ahead of time. Director Bryan Singer understood that Superman faced an immense dilemma and above all else, “Superman Returns” is Superman’s battle to become relevant again. Superman is not only about fighting intergalactic bad guys, and punching buildings. Superman, above all else, cherishes life. He is tasked with preserving it thanks to the amazing abilities he possesses in his genetic code. He could very well dominate the world if he wanted to, but he instead uses his super breath to snuff out a fire, and implores his laser beam eyes to blast away shards of glass that threaten to kill innocent bystanders on the ground below him.
Superman is a guardian angel first, and a fighter second. If the film has its fault, it’s that director Bryan Singer paints too much from the Palette of Richard Donner. He wants his film to be a Richard Donner entry, thus he takes the opportunity to recall many of the famous lines and scenes from Donner’s films. The film also is much too long in the tooth, with a heavy emphasis on Parker Posey’s character for some inexplicable reason. But like every comic book movie ever made, you have to forgive some elements, and enjoy the ride as a whole. “Superman Returns” is not so much an adventure, as it is a character’s journey back in to the world. Superman took his very first journey of selfishness, seeking his home world and looking for perhaps a family he always dreamed of having.
He never realized he belonged on Earth the whole time. Now that he’s returned, he realizes that Earth not only moved on without him, but that they no longer need a Superman. It’s the classic adage “You can’t go home again.” Ma Kent is dating a new man, Jimmy Olsen is a bolder photographer, Lex Luthor is still a slimy worm trying to build a new empire for himself, and Lois Lane has moved on more than Clark can comprehend. She is now dating the nephew of Perry White, and has a son. To make matters worse, Richard White (as played by James Marsden) isn’t just a good man, but he’s a noble one. He treats Lois with patience and love, he’s become the surrogate father to Lois’ son, and he is a kind individual. If given powers, he’d be his own Superman. He even has his own means of flight, as an aspiring pilot.
So Superman (as well as the writers) have to tip toe and figure out if Lois really even wants Superman anymore. Superman not only has to battle Lex Luthor once again, but he has to earn his way in to the minds and hearts of Metropolis once again. In doing so, he shows that there’s always a need for a protector, even if they’re not always a necessity. Brandon Routh does a fantastic job as Clark Kent and Superman, giving way to the social awkwardness, and alienation that Clark is accustomed to. Routh has the look and dashing bravado of Superman, and really grasps the role with his charisma and charm. Kate Bosworth is also a fine Lois Lane with a soft beauty and grace that makes her this bolder mother figure, while James Marsden’s portrayal of Richard White is dignified and likable.
We want Superman to win Lois back, but we also don’t want Richard to walk away a loser. Kevin Spacey also has a blast in the role of Luthor, giving him a demented bent that makes him menacing and deadly. “Superman Returns” plants the seeds for a future storyline when we slowly realize who Lois’ son’s father is, and allowed to continue further, I think Singer could have developed a fine narrative. It’s a shame that “Superman Returns” is given the brunt of the blame for stalling of the Superman movie-verse because, in spite of its flaws, it’s a wonderful and beautiful look at Superman’s re-emergence in to a darker world in need of hope.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
Countdown to “Man of Steel”!
“Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” is an abomination of the character known as Superman for the reasons that Superman fans know. Superman, above all else, is not supposed to decide the course of human events. Sure, he can stop a bank robbery, or save a drowning child, but he’s not supposed to be stop wars. He can’t stop them, interfere with them, nor can he decide which side he wants to battle on to help win a war beside humanity. The minute Superman fights for nuclear disarmament he no longer becomes a hero for the people, and now becomes a partisan tool. The minute Superman decides to fight for one group, he alienates everyone else.
Superman III (1983)
Countdown to “Man of Steel”!
For the third installment of the “Superman” movie series, Clark Kent is now Dean Martin and Richard Pryor is Jerry Lewis. Pandering to the comedy crowds, the Salkinds cast Richard Pryor as the villain of the film, Gus Gorman. I don’t know why they couldn’t have cast a bad boy or big action star of the seventies and made him the villain, but what’s done is done. Richard Pryor plays Richard Pryor as Gus Gorman, an out of work computer programmer who becomes the unwitting nemesis to Superman.
Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut (2006)
Countdown to “Man of Steel”!
Fans have debated since 2006 whether or not the Richard Donner Cut is the superior or inferior version to its 1980 brother from Richard Lester. Thanks to a online campaign from fans to allow Richard Donner to complete the film he was kicked off of, Donner finally was able to release his own version of the movie on DVD with some alterations, and major story changes. Back in 1980, when Donner was replaced by Richard Lester, many of the cast and crew followed with him. This time Donner is able to not only show what he had in store for much of his own Superman sequel, but also showed that he had a much more mature mind set in regards to the second outing for Superman on the big screen.