IESB.net spoke to Brandon Routh about Superman being a darker character in the next Superman film and this is what he had to say:
“I don’t know, I don’t think the character necessarily has to be darker, I think he is kind of dark in a sense, emotional dark, in Superman Returns, and the movie as a whole was slightly dark, they could have had more prowess in it I suppose, and I think that’s one thing that can be done in the sequel, so I don’t know how much darker you want to make it necessarily. You make the stakes higher, you make the villain darker, I think that’s a way to do it. But I don’t think Superman himself needs to be darker. He definitely has to struggle, how does Superman be a part of the world? And does he have to make sacrifices to be a part of that world? To fit in and what purpose does he really play in the world? Those are all kind of dark places to explore. But, I don’t think Superman should ever be dark and brooding, that’s not is nature. And that’s now what people what to see. Like Brainiac or something like that, a situation when the villain is…”
Bravo Mr Routh gets it, now if only the powers that be would relise that The Dark Knight worked as a darker film simply because that is the essence of the Batman world and character. Â To say that darker will work with other characters is simplistic at best, and downright stupid moneygrubbing mentality at its worst. Â Oh Batman was dark and he made a lot of money, lets make everyone darker.
How about you just write the best story for the character and treat the film like you would one going for an Academy Award. Â These are important iconic characters that have a place in fine film (of course lets not remember that film is a fun medium too).
Taking this idea and running with it I’ve been giving a huge amount of thought to Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. Â You see I find the film barely passable, it was reasonable enough to divert your attention for an hour or so but it never really feels like it’s doing anything more than scratching the surface of a good Hellboy movie. Â Is it better than the first? Â I don’t know, a lot of people are saying it is, but then a lot of people didn’t care for the first one.
I didn’t mind the first one, this second one doesn’t really generate enough spark for me to make a real decision as a result I’m probably more apathetic towards it.
So if I was the man in charge of bringing Hellboy to other media outside of comic books I would certainly have approached it differently (this is taking up the mantle after the first film):
A BPRD television series
The BPRD have such a wonderful group of characters that all deserve story lines and fleshing out that no movie could really do them justice, not in an ensemble cast and since I don’t think they could each individually carry a film this is the best option.
The key here is to follow suit of the comic book series and have the BPRD series focus on the supporting cast, Liz, Abe, Johann, Roger etc. Â The approach to the show would be one of individual standalone episodes, mini-movies each one at first bringing the individual characters out in front (not origins as such) and then follow an X-Files season one monster/myth of the week.
Hellboy would make infrequent guest appearances for key mythology episodes but would essentially be a only a guest character, saving him for the big movie.
The other thing I would have done in the approach to the series is remove the Del Toro. Â I like him, I think he’s visionary, I also think that he high jacked the Hellboy look and feel. Â It’s too Pan’s Labyrinth and not enough Mignola. Â Write the whole season out before filming anything. Â I would want to know where the series was going and filter stuff through it for the second season and the sequel film.
Hellboy 2
The essential storyline is fine, I’m happy to keep the whole concept of The Golden Army in fact given  seeding throughout the series the villains within the film could have been given a whole lot more depth and urgency.
They were fine as baddies go, just needed more storyline, more motivation.
I would drop the humour, or at least tone down the Manning character, he was a buffoon in this and the BPRD agents all incompetent. Â I would also drop the Liz romance too, I don’t know, I just didn’t get interested in it.
The cast though would remain untouched, they are all so perfect in their roles that to change those would be a travesty and in my mind impossible.
Theme music for the BPRD series opening sequence: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds Red Right Hand - not the cover version featured in the first one.
I dunno, you can say what you want about Tom Cruise but truth be told I can still enjoy Top Gun. Â When they were first attempting to sell surround sound systems, DVD players and big screen TVs all they would do is pop in the newly released with no special features and probably a cardboard cover Top Gun DVD into the player and you could see the men being drawn over to that corner.
Hey, I admit I was one of those guys who saw in the corner of my eye a fighter jet do a barrel roll, realise that they were showing Top Gun and abandon my wife to the blank VHS tape aisle.
So now they’re saying that they are in talks to drum up a Top Gun 2 with Cruise as one of the instructors. Â Done right this could be most triumphant and very welcomed, done poorly and it could be Starship Troopers 3: I want to like it but it makes it too damn hard to.
I’m willing to forget the kookiness of Cruise for a decent Top Gun sequel, they have to bring back Iceman though and at least it’s not a remake, I am so sick of remakes!!!
Originally the film Jumper snuck up on me, I didn’t know anything about it until I saw the ads on TV for it (there were plenty of those too). Â Then I didn’t get a chance to go see it, I admit I was more than a little hesitant with Vader himself Hayden Christensen playing the lead and all of the bad reviews it was getting.
I know, I know I judged it on unfair grounds. Â Christensen was quite good in My Life as a House which makes me question Lucas’s direction in Star Wars (what!? No!? The shock!) and I very rarely listen to reviews. Â If anything I should have been convinced by the very cool poster that has him standing in long coat on top of the Sphinx (I know I’m shallow and easily bought by a cool poster or trailer).
So I avoided it until this weekend and threw it on in front of pizza bought on the other side of town and bundled in the foil sun shade thingies (how Macgyver of me). Â What I got (apart from lukewarm pizza - which was still very yummy thank you for asking) was a reasonably rewarding movie that made me think a little and reinforced the idea that I want to read the novel after the recommendation of Captain Incredible originally.
The effects were all pretty cool, but it is the ideas behind it that really spark the imagination, being able to go anywhere you want. Â I do also like the idea that the main character accepts and uses his powers pretty much straight off instead of not wanting to believe it, or hating his powers or whatever.
Hayden Christensen, Rachel Bilson and Samuel L Jackson were all quite cool, Jackson’s white hair is interesting and if he wants mofo white hair he can have mofo white hair.
They are talking about a sequel and I for one would be quite happy to see one, in the meantime I’m tracking the books down (there’s a sequel to the novel also).
Taking this idea and running with it I’ve been giving a huge amount of thought to Hellboy 2: The Golden Army. Â You see I find the film barely passable, it was reasonable enough to divert your attention for an hour or so but it never really feels like it’s doing anything more than scratching the surface of a good Hellboy movie. Â Is it better than the first? Â I don’t know, a lot of people are saying it is, but then a lot of people didn’t care for the first one.
The key here is to follow suit of the comic book series and have the BPRD series focus on the supporting cast, Liz, Abe, Johann, Roger etc. Â The approach to the show would be one of individual standalone episodes, mini-movies each one at first bringing the individual characters out in front (not origins as such) and then follow an X-Files season one monster/myth of the week.
Originally the film Jumper snuck up on me, I didn’t know anything about it until I saw the ads on TV for it (there were plenty of those too). Â Then I didn’t get a chance to go see it, I admit I was more than a little hesitant with Vader himself Hayden Christensen playing the lead and all of the bad reviews it was getting.
