What is the need to see favorite books or comics realized as feature films?

For example, some friends and I were discussing Watchmen the other day, and we were split on our thoughts of the movie. I regard the movie, while pretty and effective on a superficial basis, as completely unnecessary because it only really succeeds on the page due to it's multi-layered, sometimes meta-narrative. Others thought it captured the look and basics of the main story, so they liked it well enough, although it wasn't nearly as good as the book. I asked "So why did you like it, then?" and I get answers like "I just wanted to see Rorshach on the screen" or "because it's Watchmen, man!"

That got me thinking; what is it about books that make us say "that would make a good movie" and why do we have the desire to see something written for the page turned into something for the screen? Isn't the book good enough? Especially comics, which are already visual storytelling.

I love cinema and some of my favorite movies are adaptations. But beyond the usual fanboy wank, what is the desire to finally see Wolverine or Gandalf on the big screen?

Discuss!

I am a bit different into what i think is a good comic or not. the first thing that catches my eye is the art, to me the story is second. if a comic is well drawn i will read it. i draw a lot, so seeing what is going on in others heads is amazing to me.

now having said that, a story is also key as to whether i will enjoy it. for example, wolverine (as one of your examples) is such a layered character in the comics. he comes across as a gruff take no shit kind of guy, and he is, but there is much more to him, as in his code of honor, how he would like to just be left alone but knows that will never be the case. the relationship he has had with characters is more of a father figure (considering hes well over 120 years old) allows for his character to be more than just snikt!

the one i really want to see come to life is ryan reynolds as Hal Jordan, The Green Lantern. the visuals alone are going to be worth it. the story of a person who has a i dont give a fuck attitude towards consequences merging with a wish ring just has too much potential not to be a good movie. add in the fact that he will be facing off against his complete opposite and you get sort of what i alluded too about the next bat villan, azrael. looking in the mirror at yourself only to see that person warped and the complete opposite of what you are, and then to have to battle him.

i know people shit all over punisher warzone and daredevil, but i enjoyed both immensely for the simple fact they are how i would picture the characters IRL if it were possible.

as far as what stories would i like to see?

green lantern - secret origin would be about the only one to make sense for right now but maybe add to it some elements of Wanted:Hal Jordan then maybe go towards the sinestro war.

wolverine - japan natrually, although it may seem like out of left field, since theres hardly any mention of logan and his samauri past

Thor - keep it simple. show him cast from asgard to learn humility from his father with his half brother loki. show some plot where loki begins the machine that brings together the avengers

Captain america - i wouldnt change much of it (from what i have heard) could redskull be a viable bad guy? sure, but then the focus will be too much in the past and not the present (which i am assuming is going to happen, a split between past and present according to reports) because you cant simply have both characters be frozen in the arctic

the avengers - just like the comics, have loki manipulate banner/hulk so that they (cap, iron man, thor and whoever else) band together to stop the hulk, only to realise they have been tricked. id like to say to go with the ultimates storyline, grandtheft america, but no way that gets done as the first movie, unless they drop origins of the liberators in the other movies

for the xmen, i think the better stories would be the mutant massacre, maybe a savage land journey, and definitely involve the shiar

i can't really comment on this from a comic book/graphic novel standpoint because i've never really delved into them...but when i've read a book that i thought i'd like to see as a film, it's usually because i want to see someone else's vision of the look/feel of the work and how it compares to mine...granted, that doesn't happen often because if i love the book, the book alone is enough for me...it can be disappointing when you feel a film doesn't capture the essence of the book it's adapted from

i do more often than not picture a particular actor when reading a book if the character reminds me of them from the physical description...so i suppose it can be neat if that actor does end up portraying them in the film

thats good also. when i read a comic, every character has a different voice in my head

For so many years i've told folks i read comics because the stories are good. So its fun to see some of them come to life on the big screen and gain larger audiences and people go oh that is a cool story. It is not just little kid stories.

they really arent. i grew up on xmen, and i remember very vividly kitty dropping the nbomb to make a point and it was really pertinent to the story and what the xmen are about

Great Example. I always loved X-Men God Loves, Man Kills as one of their better more serious storly lines.

I'll always have a fondness for the superhero comics i grew up reading, but reading stuff like Preacher, Y The Last Man, and Sandman were all awesome stories.

THIS.

If it's a well drawn comic and an interesting story it can be very well read like if you were just to read a Novel.

I comics

never had a shop around that sold the independents. i do remember picking up a title called ex-mutants which i think was my first exp with anything other than dc and marvel.

im still not too big on independents. i have ab out 100 or so TPB or HC of green lantern, avengers (new, mighty, old school, initative and dark) green lantern, JLA, ultimates, ultimate xmen, ultimate spiderman, xmen, uncanny, adjectiveless, new and others.

I was never a comics fan & pnly read a handful.

I LOVED the Watchmen movie. I had no intention of seeing it & caught it by chance. I thought it was so dark & different.
I bought the book because all the fanboys said the movie sucked & the book was so much better.
I disliked the book.
Call me crazy.

I had no idea History of Violence, The tom hanks ganster movie or even kick ass were comics until I looked them up.

so there is a perspective from outside the comic book geek circle.

I love Batman but never got into the comics, so movies are great for me.

You should, Batman comics are pretty good, but I'm not really a DC reader that much.

While I agree that there is some outstanding writing in comic books (Neil Gaiman and Grant Morrison come to mind immediately-- as well as, obviously, Frank Miller), it's my experience that this is the exception rather than the rule.
Most comic books (especially superhero comics, ESPECIALLY Marvel and DC) are filled with inane bullshit, cheap attention-grabbing gimmicks and sloppy storytelling that can't even begin to compare with a good novel. And this is coming from a former comic book fan.

This is why a lot of times superhero movies fall flat on their ass. There are very little things that work in the comic book diegesis that don't look fucking stupid in a movie.

Most the time the superhero movies that fall flat on their asses are from story arcs that aren't very deep or a long backstory, because they don't want make a movie that will please JUST the comic book geeks. They usually just want to appease the masses, and most the time this usually pisses off the comic book geeks.

Usually if you please the comic book geeks, they're the ones that will see the movie 3x 4x 5x and then take non-comic book geeks.

But movies usually just try and grab the wider mass audience first which usually is bad thing.


But usually I'll read a comic book and follow the story because it's drawn well, if I want to read a book I'll read a novel.

Why would I read a comic book when I could have just as easily been watching Bat Man: The Animated Series? As a kid I really had no interest in reading comic books, and I read a lot as a kid.

This is acceptable alternative.


and are you calling me immature for still liking to read comic books at my ldfart: age?

Actually I really liked the change that they made in the Watchmen movie. The whole "strange creature that looks like alien will kill a bunch of people with psychic waves based in a spooky pirate comics will solve cold war" was very, very ridiculous and almost spoiled the whole novel for me.

I didn't say that, you just did.

I forgot another reason I like to see comic books become movies.

Seeing people like Scarlett Johansson play the black Widow:

I didn't have a problem with that change either, but only because there's no way that would have worked on the screen. For the comic medium, though, it was perfect. Bizarre, grotesque, and really over the top horrific. But it doesn't really matter WHAT it is, as long as it's a "powerful outside force that forces peace."

What I DIDN'T like about the movie's version was that the cataclysmic event wasn't immediate on a human level because the movie didn't take the time to develop the characters that experienced the horror and perished from it. In the book, it was horrible because you spent time with these characters and felt the impact on a human level. In the movie, it's from a distance and there was no emotional damage. It was just yet another destroyed city.

In fact, the entire third act of the Watchmen movie was a dropped ball, and it's the act that was most crucial to get right. It's passable, I guess, but nowhere as meaty as the book. Of course, the book was also a commentary on the comic medium, so I can see that being over the head of people who don't read a lot of comics.