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I enjoyed I Am Legend (the first half at least, I thought it did a good job portraying the desolate loneliness of the world) until I actually read the short story. I would have loved to see a movie that was actually based on I Am Legend. They've tried how many times now and failed to get it right?
If you like a story enough to make it into a movie, why change it so much that it's barely recognizable to the source material? Movies do this all the time and I'll never understand it.
I didn't mind Ozymandias. I thought his accent was kind of silly, but other than that, he was pretty spot on.
I liked the more stoic demeanor in the film's climax, to be honest. I always thought Veidt's "YES! I DID IT!" was unfitting for a man who always knew he would succeed, not to mention for a man who knew the world had paid a heavy price for its peace.
@Janice Price: I thought he did okay. Imagine if they had used Bowie, who was their first choice. (Ironically, I thought Elrond looked exactly like Eno circa 1974).
And I think we should all be glad that Sean Connery turned down Gandalf.
No Howard the Duck hate? That was a screen adaptation that completely sunk the character, both onscreen and in the comics. Initially he was cool enough to get name checked in a Pretenders song...afterwards a complete pariah.
@lagophobia: I loved the original Howard The Duck comic. It's the epitome of Marvel's weirdo period from the 70s. I think it could be done now with CGI. My first thought for the voice was Steve Buscemi, but Larry David would be even better. You'd have to get a real stylist like Wes Anderson to do it justice.
Ozymandias was a no win situation. There isn't an actor who could really embody everything he was supposed to be (natural athelete; smartest man in the world).
The only real life person I can think of who embodies that is Dolph Lundgren, and now that I've written that, I will be pissed that they didn't get him. Although Dolph isn't the greatest actor in the world.
Thank god for the relative anonymity of the internet.
@NerD: Blattella: I'd have a hard time thinking of Dolph as the smartest man in the world, but he definitely has the look. Right age, right physique, he even some what resembles the images from the comics.
@NerD: Blattella: No way. I vote Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson - he looks badass, and manages to play smart unexpectedly well. Unlike Dolph, who may be a brainfarm in real life, but always seems dumb as a post when he's acting.
I realize it barely counts as sci-fi, but Altman's Popeye had some of the best and worst casting. Robin Williams was not a good popeye, but Shelley Duvall was born to play Olive Oyl.
why isn't Rogue on here??? she was my favorite character from the comics and the animated series, and the movie turned her into some whiny emo teenager whose only dialogue throughout the 3 movies was screaming. the writers didn't develop her at all as a character, but i suppose out of this crap heap she was the lesser of the evils.
@Peace_Love_MoonPeople: Good call, plus not to sound sexist here, but the women in the Marvel world were sexy, curvy.. Anna Paquin is not sexy.. I dont even want anyone to argue that point with me, I will not concede..
@Peace_Love_MoonPeople: Rogue was supposed to be a little bit older than the other X-men, and very sassy. Paquin is my homegirl, but yeah, she was not right for the part.
@Wookie1972: that was exactly it though, rogue was supposed to be this sassy, southern girl and paquin can do a sassy sountern girl, just look at True Blood.....she will be stupid and annoying as hell, but she could do it.
@burlybax: well, in anna's defense she is limited by having a human musculoskeletal system and internal organs while the marvel women from comics are not.
@Wookie1972: There've been worse versions of Holmes and its not like there aren't also dozens of other true-to-text interpretations of the character. It isn't like this one movie is going to erase all that.
@Gothamite88: Mebbe not, but for some this could be the first exposure to the character. I dread the idea that kids will put down the original stories because they don't have enough explosions.
@bartelnathaniel: well at the end of Constantine where he tricks the devil is the one part they managed to get right which is more then most of these movies have done.
@#c17023085: That would be good, although Rennie is not exactly a "name." It would have to be a TV series (which would make sense, at least more sense than the movie did).
@Wookie1972: Paul Bettany is John Constantine, but who knows whether producers will figure that out before he dies. And if they insist on an American, Denis Leary is the American John Constantine.
@tralfaz23: This is an example where going low-budget on the casting just did not work. The character is supposed to be Robert Redford, for pete's sake: the all-american blond superhero. They should have gone for his 21st century equivalent Brad Pitt. And while I suppose you could argue that Ozymandias is supposed to be slightly effete and not appear superstrong, Goode looked like he would break if one of the other guys so much as brushed up against him.
And while we're on the subject of Watchmen, Malin Ackerman looked the part but gave one of the worst performances I've seen, period.
@Wookie1972: I don't think it was Ackerman's fault- Look at that one(and only) awesome sequence she gets, where she's filmed in super cool slow-mo, smashing through the floor of the burning building to the level below...
where she then directs foot traffic the window where archie is waiting to get them out. The character wasn't given anything interesting to do, but damn did she look the part.
@BlueBeard: Which pisses me off because the character in the book was one of the more interesting (although slightly sexist, i admit) The way they handled her big revelation was a travesty.
@tralfaz23: Having never read Watchmen, I thought the actor who played Ozymandias was awesome. I also thought that he was the most interesting character in the movie. Unfortunately, I can't compare how different he might have been.
@Rogue Justice: Well worth getting your hands on the comic. If only so that you have an appreciation of how close some of it is and also how far some of it fell short in the movie. I appreciate both for what they are but must admit a preference for the comic.
@Jassen: Sad thing is, there are actresses out there who are hot and can act (Tricia Helfer, for example). The failure of the character in the movie can be blamed on the writing (even in the comic she's just kinda there rather than a real character) and the crappy actress. She's especially lame in the scenes with her mom, whose actress had actual talent.
@snark_shark: It' s kinda funny, i have seen the movie 3 times now and each time i get so caught up in it i fail to notice a lot of the flaws i know are there. I think for me it's one of those movies i just wont ever analyze as i want to enjoy it for what it is to me. i have the same thing with 5th Element, i just cant bring myself to analyze it and take away from the joy i get from watching it.
@Jassen: I definitely get caught up in the parts that don't feature her. I'd say the one bit where she worked for me was when Rorschach goes into the bathroom to kill the mobster and she says "Christ" all disgusted. That moment was more like her in the comic. But usually I can get into a movie like you do too(hell, even could in the Matrix sequels to an extent).
@Mike White: I may have to see it. I've avoided it on account of the depressing subject matter. But with the possible exception of Slaughterhouse Five, the other VOnnegut movies are not good, period (Slapstick, anyone?)
11/23/09
If you like a story enough to make it into a movie, why change it so much that it's barely recognizable to the source material? Movies do this all the time and I'll never understand it.
11/23/09
I liked the more stoic demeanor in the film's climax, to be honest. I always thought Veidt's "YES! I DID IT!" was unfitting for a man who always knew he would succeed, not to mention for a man who knew the world had paid a heavy price for its peace.
11/23/09
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Thoth-Amon
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And I think we should all be glad that Sean Connery turned down Gandalf.
11/21/09
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11/21/09
The only real life person I can think of who embodies that is Dolph Lundgren, and now that I've written that, I will be pissed that they didn't get him. Although Dolph isn't the greatest actor in the world.
Thank god for the relative anonymity of the internet.
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But yeah a good Hellblazer movie would be nice.
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I have to admit I saw the movie before I read the comic, and I thought it wasn't bad. When I finally read the comic, I felt so cheated.
11/21/09
11/21/09
And while we're on the subject of Watchmen, Malin Ackerman looked the part but gave one of the worst performances I've seen, period.
11/21/09
And why do people let Malin Ackerman act?
11/21/09
where she then directs foot traffic the window where archie is waiting to get them out. The character wasn't given anything interesting to do, but damn did she look the part.
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#speakup
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#tips
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