Movies you may not know started as Comics

Some of the reviews to follow couldn't be anything but Comics originally, like Spawn and Hellboy, but others you may not realize originated on the paneled page of Comics and made the transition to the Silver Screen.  I have not included films like Transformers, GI-Joe, or Masters of the Universe which started as toys and moved to television and comics before ending up as movies.  That's a whole other blog waiting to happen. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990, 1991, 1993, 2007) Mirage Studios

Everyone's favorite "Heroes in a Half-Shell" began life as a joke made by Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird mocking other hot-selling comics of the early 80's Daredevil, New Mutants, Cerberus and Ronin.  In the first comic, all the turtles wore red masks, and they ended up killing the Shredder.  It was a much darker and grittier version than the catch-phrase spouting, pizza-eating goofy characters they would eventually become.  By the late 80's and early 90's you couldn't swing a nunchuku without hitting something featuring the faces of the famous fighting foursome.  The immortal Jim Henson designed the suits that brought the Turtles to the screen, and was one of his final projects.  The original trilogy of movies went from entertaining to campy really fast, and the 2007 all-digital remake TMNT recaptures some of the original charm and free spirit that the Turtles embodied. 

·         Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: 8 ninja Stars. This is as good as it got for the Team in Green

·         TMNT 2: The Secret of the Ooze: 4 Ninja Stars. Vanilla ice has a cameo and song. Yech.

·         TMNT 3: Turtles in Time: 2 Ninja Stars. This one was really a reach.  Not very entertaining.

·         TMNT: A good reboot, 6.5Ninja Stars.

Dick Tracy (1990) Tribune Media Services

If the newspaper you read growing up didn't have the Dick Tracy comic strip...which is likely...the first exposure you got to Dick Tracy in his trademark yellow fedora was in this awesomely cast movie.  Warren Beatty as Dick Tracy is great in the titular character, Madonna is at her peak as Breathless Mahoney, and Al Pacino as a mob boss is expected, but there are so many other great names that appear in this flick, like Kathy Bates and Dick Van Dyke in bit roles as a stenographer and a corrupt DA, Dustin Hoffman as Mumbles, Paul Sorvino as Lips Manlis, Mandy Patinkin as piano player 88 keys, and Catherine O'Hara and James Caan as rival gangsters Texie Garcia and Spud Spaldoni.  This film is a good romp through the 30's with bright colors and outrageous villains, and looks like it was pulled straight from the funny pages. 

7.5 Ninja Stars

The Rocketeer (1991) Pacific Comics

This film is another trip in the wayback machine to the 30's, where daredevil pilot Cliff Secord finds a rocket pack designed by Howard Hughes and uses it to fight Nazis.  First of all, let me just say that Jennifer Connelly is meow-licious in this movie, and Timothy Dalton plays the villain with panache and flair.  There are plenty of homages to film serials of the time period, and there is just a wholesome feel to this movie.  It doesn't rely on lots of gunfire or huge action sequences to make the story work, but you don't feel like you are lacking action at any point while watching.  Really an underrated film for its time.

7.5 Ninja Stars

The Shadow (1994) Street and Smith

For a change of pace, this movie was set...in the 30's.  Alec Baldwin plays the title role with some good help by Ian McKellan as elder sidekick Dr. Reinhardt Lane, and Tim Curry as henchman Farley Claymore.  The plot of this one is actually a lot more solid than I remembered before I gave it another viewing, but the special effects and action sequences are a bit lacking.  The dialogue is nothing to write home about either, but after it was done I found myself entertained, if not greatly so.

5.5 Ninja Stars

The Mask (1994) Dark Horse

We finally get out of the 30's with this tribute to campiness that actually follows the storyline of the comics quite well.  In the Comics, whoever wears The Mask is granted the ability to change thier body into just about anything, and completely loses all social inhibitions.  One change where the movie strayed from the Comic, is that the wearer would inevitably go completely insane and turn to cruel antiheroes, but toned down this role was perfect fodder for the rubber faced Jim Carrey who was in his heyday as The Mask, Ace Ventura, and Dumb and Dumber were all released in 1994.  Another important fact about this movie is that it introduced the world to Cameron Diaz.  And thank you for that.  And I guess since the Mask appeared wearing a zoot suit...we didn't QUITE manage to get all the way out of the 30's.

6 Ninja Stars

The Phantom  (1996) Various

Aaaand...we're back in the late 30's once again for this tale starring Billy Zane, Kristy Swanson, and Catherine Zeta-Jones.  The Phantom is a non-super powered hero who fights crime with the help of his horse Hero and his wolf Devil.  This movie suffered from lack of imagination from start to finish, and gets slow in some places, stagnant in others, and the action is laughable.  It feels like this movie was thrown together to try and cash in on the other films that did that period much better.  That said, I bought a Phantom ring when the movie was released, and to this day it resides on my keychain.  So I guess there is a part of me that is always reminded of this film.

5 Ninja Stars

The warm and fluffy part of this blog post is quite over.  The rest of these films go from dark to darker and reflect that change that happens in everyone's life where they stop watching films made for kids and start watching films made for adults, which is perhaps why I didn't like the Shadow and The Phantom as much as I liked the Rocketeer, which came out when I was 11.  But by '97 when Spawn was released I was 17 and quite ready to delve into the darker side of what film has to offer.

Spawn (1997) Image Comics

This film is about a man who is murdered, then tapped to be the general of Hells army and given a cape with powers. He then rebels against his hellish overlords and instead fights for vengeance against those who killed him, and tries to reunite with his wife.  It's not a very good storyline, the special effects aren't very good either, and while this movie does accomplish being dark and somewhat scary, it's just not quite what fans, nor I, were hoping for.

3 Ninja Stars

Road to Perdition (2002) Paradox Press

To start...what a cast.  Tom Hanks, Jude Law, Daniel Craig, and Paul Newman in his final film appearance.  Let that soak in for a second.  Then find and watch this dark, gritty, masterpiece of cinematography which explores a father-son relationship taken to quite the extreme.  I hesitate to say anything more about this movie other than it needs to be seen again.  And again. 

8.5 Ninja Stars

Hellboy Duology (2004, 2008) Dark Horse

Ron Perlman as Hellboy is just genius as he delivers quips and one-liners with great gruff timing, while the rest of the cast is good, with the exception of Selma Blair, who, if trapped in a wet paper bag could not use her acting skills to get said wet paper bag to open for her.  Yes, I said it.  Selma Blair couldn't act her way out of a wet paper bag.  Both films perfectly encapsulate the struggles of a demon who just wants to fit in with the rest of us, find love, and fight monsters. 

·         Hellboy: 8.5 Ninja Stars

·         Hellboy 2: The Golden Army: 7 Ninja Stars

Constantine (2005) Based on DC's Hellblazer

This is my second favorite Keanu Reaves film, falling just short of The Matrix.  Keanu plays the cynical chain-smoking John Constantine, who is a normal guy mostly...except he can see the agents of both God and the Devil that walk among us and influence our lives.  He uses his mastery of the occult to bring down as many demons as he can, so he can try to gain the good graces of God.  I love all the plot twists that this movie takes, and the ending is one that will make you think. 

7 Ninja Stars.

Noah Westerfield cannot choose a favorite Ninja Turtle, for he embodies aspects of each of them and can use all of their weapons with lethal proficiency.