Box Office Analysis Why X-Men Days of Future Past will Break the 300 Million Dollar Barrier

 Every superhero film franchise, and other franchises in general have a saturation point. There is a reason why even though the films are separated by 500 million dollars, Superman(1978) and Marvel’s The Avengers(2012) are actually very close in terms of actual attendance. Others in this group are Batman(1989), Spider-Man(2002) and The Dark Knight(2008). Considering both inflation and The Avengers’ 3D boosted tickets*, all of these films are within 25% of each others’ ticket sales. They all reached their respective series’ saturation points. Star Wars(1977) and Raiders of the Lost Ark(1981) are other examples of this, as their arguably superior sequels, The Empire Strikes Back(1980) and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade(1989) started out with more, but ended with less.

*Even though The Avengers outgrossed The Dark Knight, their ticket sales are very close due to 3D upcharges.

 As can probably be gleaned from the above examples, the saturation point is often hit by the first film in a franchise. So, why do I think the defacto seventh film in the X-Men franchise will hit it? Because for one thing, it has already been proven that the first film was not the highest ticket seller of the franchise. X-Men(2000) sold less tickets than both X2: X-Men United(2003) and X-Men: The Last Stand(2006). The latter two being in a virtual tie for first, with “X3” just edging X2 by a mere 135,000 or so. As far as franchises go, only the anomalistic Lord of the Rings franchise has multiple(all three, really) films so close to the series’ saturation point. Exceptions to a rule do not make or change the rule. Also, even the highest point in the X-Men series, “X3“, sold less than half of the top tier of the above examples. There is room for improvement, and I think X-Men: Days of Future Past can capitalize on that fact.

X-Men: The Last Stand would have made over 300 million if it was released at today’s prices and had the advantage of 3D upcharges.

 Now that we have established that the X-Men franchise has yet to reach its peak, we can move on to why this particular X-Men film has more going for it than any of the past seven editions. Marvel’s The Avengers was a phenomenon, and while I firmly believe phenomenons cannot be predicted, they can be seen with 20/20 vision once they have occurred. Let me state for the record that I think X-Men “7” has zero chance at replicating The Avengers’ success. That said, I see no reason it can’t do half of it. Both X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand adjust to between 285-290m when inflation is taken into account. Neither film had what The Avengers had….the team-up gimmick. X-Men: Days of Future Past has both the original cast from “X1” to “X3” and the more recent X-Men: First Class.

 The Avengers had a team of four different franchises: Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor and Captain America. However, I believe the real pull of The Avengers was seeing Iron Man with these other superheroes. Iron Man, as played by Robert Downey Jr, is unequivocally the star of Marvel’s connected universe of films. Just as Wolverine, as played by Hugh Jackman, is the star of the X-Men universe. Yes, Wolverine is nowhere near as popular as Iron Man in film. But he is probably half as popular, considering the average of his spin-off films is basically half of the average of the three Iron Mans. Attendance-wise, Wolverine’s two films average 20-21 million tickets. Iron Man’s average is 40-44 million. X-Men First Class was a bit lower than Wolverine’s average, but having an X-Men film without Wolverine(Cameos don’t count) makes one wonder just how well an Avengers film would do starring just Captain America, Thor and Hulk. Surely not 600 million plus. In addition, First Class has done very well for itself in the ancillary markets, which has boosted that X-Men group’s fanbase. Even though the last two entries in the franchise, the aforementioned First Class and The Wolverine(2013), may not have blown the world up, they were still well received by theater-goers and on video.

No, cameos don’t count toward the typical Wolverine and the X-Men boost.

 Having Wolverine team-up with the First Class team(as well as the original team) is going to be more appealing than either “X2” or “X3” were.  And considering that those two films nearly reached an inflation-adjusted 300 million without the advantage of the team-up gimmick or 3D prices(and as long as director Bryan Singer delivers a quality product), I don’t see how X-Men: Days of Future Past does not make over 300 million dollars. If X-Men: Days of Future Past sells half of Marvel’s The Avengers‘ tickets, it will make 310 million. I believe it can go even higher.

 Another good comparison for the X-Men franchise is the Fast and Furious franchise. After two rather great outings, the franchise fell to its low point with The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift(2006). And even though that film and 2Fast 2Furious(2003) before it, failed to become classics, the next chapter Fast and Furious(2009) managed to just squeak by 2Fast in admissions. Fast and Furious brought back most of the original cast, much like Days of Future Past is. With its two stars, Vin Diesel and Paul Walker back together. That team-up(see a pattern here?) managed to bring the series back to a typical attendance level despite the failings of its predecessor. And then Fast 5(2011) took the team-up(there it is again) aspect to the next level by bringing back most of the characters from previous films and having them team-up(I know, it’s getting old by now) with The Rock, Dwayne Johnson. That film took the entire franchise to new heights and its sequel even more so(by teaming up yet another character from past films, OK I’ll stop now). Much like some pundits are saying about the X-Men franchise, most thought this franchise had left its glory days in the past, but they were proved to be very wrong.

Paul Walker, you will be missed.

 X-Men: Days of Future Past will make more than 300 million dollars in the domestic market. How much more? Only time will tell that tale. But, considering Fox has green lighted another sequel in 2016, I think it’s safe to say they know what they’ve got and are planning to milk it for all it’s worth. And really, who can blame them?

 

Comic to Film- Bottom 10 Adaptions of Supervillains(Blockbusters)

And, here we uh…don’t go…

Here are my opinions on the worst comic to film adaptions of Supervillains. Now, I’m concentrating on films that made over 100 million at the domestic box office. Their adaptions were the most significant, since they reached more people.

10. Green Goblin II

Film Version: “New Goblin”:

 WTF? It’s like they heard the complaints from fans about The Green Goblin’s Power Rangers-esque costume in the first film and decided to give us all the middle finger with this design. The only reason this is not higher on the list is that the motivations of the character and his overall arc are very much from the comic. At first, Harry wants revenge on Spider-man/Peter Parker for killing his father. After the initial battle, Harry is injured then develops convenient amnesia. Later, Harry uses the Goblin equipment to help Spider-Man. But, why, oh why didn’t the filmmakers use this as an opportunity to improve on the original design and give us a Green Goblin we could truly fall in love with? The “New Goblin”? That was the best they could come up with? Ugh.

9. Doctor Doom

Film Version:

 DOOM!!!! Or in this case: Doom?

 I think the film version of the good Doctor gets a bit of a bad rap. I think he works better than most give him credit for. But, as far as an adaption of the comic book version, he falls well short. However, I think the filmmakers had a steep hill to climb adapting a character that plays way better on the comic page than a scriptwriting page. It’s hard to have the main villain walking around saying “DOLT!” and “I AM DOOM!” without it coming off as corny. Still, it is what it is, and the film version of Doom is anything but a commanding presence. I like Julian McMahon, but my Dr. Doom is not a whiner or a lovelorn fool. And, in neither film do we see him as a monarch. He craves power, sure, but not the kind of power the comic version wants. The Dr. Doom I know would have only used Silver Surfer’s power as a means to an end, not the end. The end being total world domination, of course. Why? Because he is DOOM!

8. Whiplash/Crimson Dynamo

Film Version:

 Was it in Mickey Rourke’s contract that he never wear a mask? And what is with Marvel’s mask-ophobic thing anyway? I understand that it’s easier for characters to emote sans a mask, but even in posters, all of their characters don’t look the way they are supposed to look. It’s kind of silly to show all of the Avengers in the middle of a battle with no masks on, since they have them on in the film. But I digress…

This character was supposed be an amalgamation of two Iron Man villains, Whiplash(or Blacklash) and Crimson Dynamo. So, why, on God’s green Earth did he not have armor? I mean, the scene in which he is hit repeatedly with a limousine is just flat silly. His legs would have been shattered into hundreds of pieces. It is inherent that a villain be menacing, but I never thought for a moment this guy could beat Iron Man. His best scenes are merely humorous, which is appropriate since he was kind of a joke.

7. Mephisto

Film Version:

I love Peter Fonda. But he is not Mephisto. The makers of Ghost Rider had a chance to adapt a classic character from Marvel Comics and decided to just turn him into a basic Devil. A cool Devil, maybe, but nowhere near as dark and menacing as Mephisto is in the comics. I’m not going to even mention the sequel’s version because the sequel is not worth mentioning.

6. Bane

Film Version:

You thought I meant that version didn’t you?

 I could have placed Mr. Freeze or Poison Ivy from Batman & Robin on this list, but this brutish, mentally-challenged version of Bane makes their adaptions look like Martin Scorsese’s The Departed adaption. In the comics, Bane was smart, calculating and shrewd. It’s in his very character that he looks musclebound but has brains to match Batman’s. So, to turn him into a brainless pile of muscle was a slap in the face to anyone who liked the comic version. Thank you, Joel Schumacher. The only reason this is not higher is because he is just not that important to the “film”.

5. Venom

Film Version:

Topher Grace.

I’m sure they hired him since he looks a lot like Tobey Maguire. They were going for an evil twin—a doppelganger. But, in doing so, they ruined a quality inherent in Eddie Brock. Since the alien costume enhanced the traits of its host, the body builder Brock was much stronger than Spider-Man when the costume grafted to him. You see, the costume actually absorbed then replicated Spider-Man’s powers when it took over his body. So when it took over Eddie’s, who is physically superior to a non-enhanced Peter Parker, it made him that much stronger than Spidey. Add in the cosmically convenient origin of the costume itself and you have one of the top five worst adaptions in film history.

4. Silver Samurai

Film Version:

 Talk about your missed opportunities.

The comic battles between Wolverine and Silver Samurai are legendary. I mean, just look:

So, instead of this, we get an old man in a robotic suit. Genius.

3. Deadpool

Film Version:

Speaking of “genius”…

…what say we take a character famous for his big mouth and take his mouth away?

2. Parallax

Film Version:

I know, I know. They retconned the character in 2004 to be a fear entity, but the original Parallax was just Hal Jordan gone to the dark side of the force. That was the spirit of the character. Especially to those who stopped reading comics in the late 90s/early 00s when most comics just lost their way(“fun”). But the real reason this is at #2, is because they obviously didn’t learn from the worst adaption ever…

1. Galactus

 

Film Version:

Hey, Hollywood, we don’t like ginormous smoke monsters. There are no classic films in which the main villain is a cloud of smoke. Even the Wizard of OZ wasn’t a cloud of smoke(and he wasn’t a villain either). But, at least the cloud of smoke in Star Trek: The Motion(less) Picture had motivation. What was Galactus’ motivation in Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer? The munchies? I guess there were no planet sized Big Macs he(it?) could send the Surfer out for, so Earth just had to do? Personally, I found the best aspect to the character of Galactus was that he was just so darned big, he couldn’t be bothered to even notice humans. And if you got his attention it was a freakin’ huge deal. Hard to get a cloud of smoke’s attention. Maybe Reed should have just made a giant Dustbuster and Silver Surfer would not have had to risk his life to save the Earth.

But, of course, Surfer didn’t die because we’re going to see him in his own film. Right? Nope, not gonna happen and it was all because Galactus was a cloud of smoke.

 

Comic to Film Review- Thor The Dark World

Thor: The Dark World(2013)- Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Christopher Eccleston and Anthony Hopkins. Musical Score by Brian Tyler. Written by A lot of People. Directed by Alan Taylor.

***SPOILERS AHEAD***

 When Malekith the Accursed(I know he’s not called that in the film, but for some reason I’ve always liked his comic book nom de voyage) decides to find the Aether, a strange power source, he finds that it has been absorbed by the most unlikeliest of beings, a human female scientist. A human female scientist that has just so happened to form a very special bond with a certain thunder god who stands in his way.

 That’s just one coincidence in a long line of coincidences in Thor: The Dark World, an improvement on its 2011 predecessor, if only in scope. The film starts off well, establishing Malekith as a threat to Asgard for many centuries, a villain who fought the aged Odin’s father. Then we see Thor’s band of merry men(and woman) doing what they do best, battling with all they have until Thor shows up to save the day. And, in a scene that irked me a bit, we see Thor is just so good, he takes out a Rock Giant with but a tap of his mighty hammer, Mjölnir. After a beautiful representation of the Ice Giants in the first film, this is how the Rock Giants are treated? First Mandarin in Iron Man 3, now this. Oh Marvel, what have ye wrought for the sake of a hip laugh in 2013? You know, not every scene can be Hulk vs Loki in The Avengers.

 After that travesty, we move back to Asgard where Thor laments his lost love, while Lady Sif continues to pine away for him.  A strong woman who can take down all manner of beasties and she can’t grab her man by the scruff of his neck and lay a nice juicy one on him? Oh, the pathos. But Thor’s heart belongs to a mortal woman, which brings the audience back down to  Earth, where we find Jane Foster, still searching for Thor. And in her search, she happens upon a portal that takes her to where the Aether lay hidden. She absorbs said Aether and is sent back to Earth, unaware. While back in Asgard, Thor and the guardian of the Rainbow Bridge, Heimdall, become aware of her predicament so Thor is promptly returned to his mortal love. The reunion scene is well done, if a bit short due to the importance of returning back to the plot.

 Thor takes Foster back to Asgard, which is quickly under attack by Malekith and his Dark Elves. This was a scene right out of a Star Wars prequel, even the sound effects of the ships seem lifted directly from those films. Perhaps, we are already seeing the fruits of Disney’s purchase of Star Wars; An economical use of its sound library. But, back to the film, while Thor and Co. are preoccupied with a prison break, Malekith’s ship manages to breach the city’s defenses and land inside(!) the throne room. After quickly dispatching the throne itself, Malekith goes after his true target, The Aether, which still resides in Jane Foster. After a villain defense put up by Thor and Loki’s mother, Frigga, she is killed by Malekith. This was the scene that finally pulled me into the film. Although, I wouldn’t be shocked at all to see her return, a la Phil Coulson, I appreciated that the filmmakers were willing to off one of the rather important characters in the name of good storytelling.

 

 What follows is a beautiful funeral pyre scene. After the sadness comes anger and boy, is Thor  angry. Angry enough to not only defy his father, forsaking any claim he had on the throne, but also enraged enough to break his brother out of the dungeon. After receiving aide from his usual followers, Thor and Loki escape Asgard to find Malekith and save Jane. And in the best scene of the film, Loki feigns yet another betrayal of his brother by seemingly cutting his hand off(!). But just when you think Loki’s finally given up on Asgard, he saves the day and shows where his loyalty truly lies, but we’ll get to that later. After watching Loki apparently perish from a wound inflicted by “The Cursed”(Why couldn’t they just call him Kurse???), Thor literally stumbles upon a portal, the one Jane used earlier, to return to Earth for the endgame. Remember what I said about coincidences?

 Now, this is where things get a bit…murky. As the alignment of the nine worlds occurs, portals to and from those worlds appear. Which causes the final battle with Malekith to cover a lot of …ground. Thor and Malekith duke it out on one world then get transferred to another, causing Thor’s remote control over his hammer to get a bit wacky. For what this battle was, I think Taylor handled the direction of it well. The action is crisp and the stakes feel high. However, I couldn’t help but think how much better this scene would have been in different hands. This could have been an epic battle over nine worlds, but we really only get to see about three or four. And its epicness was also tempered by the humans coming up with the solution(or in this case, an easy plot device to solve the problem) and more “hip” humor thrown into the mix.

 The final scene is actually epic as Odin tells his son that he is free to be with Jane Foster(which is obviously too good to be true) and is promptly revealed as Loki back on the Throne(Where his true loyalty lies, but what happened to the “All-Father”?) And the mid-credits sequence was just strange as Sif and one of the Warriors Three give the remains of the Aether to The Collector for safe keeping. Yeah, that’s who I’d give it to(Loki-Odin must have ordered this?). And if this adaption of The Collector is what we can expect out of Guardians of the Galaxy, count me as underwhelmed.

  Overall, this film was more entertaining and more engrossing than the first film. It has its faults(chiefly, the humor), but is still an enjoyable experience and worth at least one viewing in the theaters. Now, bring on Cap 2!

 

Film Grade: A-

Comic to Film Grade: B+

 

 

Comic to Film review Spider-Man 2002

Spider-Man(2002)– Starring Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, Willem Dafoe, James Franco. Score by Danny Elfman. Written by David Koepp(From an original story by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko). Directed by Sam Raimi.

 I’ll preface this review by saying this is not a conventional movie review. In this series, I will review the films as a Spider-Man fan. I have been a Spider-Man fan since I can remember. I started reading the comics religiously when I was 10, and even had toys and t-shirts long before that. So when Cannon Films first announced they were intending on making a Spider-Man film way back in 1985, I was obviously stoked. As hindsight is 20/20, I’m sure happy Spider-Man: The Movie ended up in development hell, because I’m also sure Cannon’s version would have been low-budget and may have ended up one of the worst films ever made. The poster below says Tobe Hooper would be the director, but that version would have hearkened to the early 70s six-armed Spider-Man and would have been a horror themed disaster. Albert Pyun was the last director who signed on. The guy behind the notorious rubber eared Captain America(1990).

 Luckily for us Spidey fans, this film never saw the light of day as Cannon’s financial difficulties put the kibosh on that. A few years later, the king of the world, James Cameron not only wanted to direct a Spider-Man film, but write it as well. By this time, I was out of high school and the thought of the Terminator and Aliens director behind a Spider-Man film made this webhead foam at the mouth. There was even a scene in True Lies in which Arnold Schwarzenegger hangs upside down. I thought to myself, “He’s setting things up already”. 

 But, alas, a Cameron helmed Spider-Man film was not to be as the film rights fell into what felt like an eternal legal hell. Cameron would eventually give up on the project in favor of some small, mostly unnoticed, film called Titanic.  Poor fellow. I gave up too,  thinking the closest I’d ever see Spider-Man on the big screen would be the Spider-Man inspired look of Spawn in 1995.

 Then came rumblings of the end of Spider-Man’s legal troubles near the end of the millennium, and thanks to James Bond(Yep, MGM/UA and Columbia traded the full rights to the characters—talk about your blockbuster trades), Spider-Man was solely in Columbia’s(Sony’s) hands. So after a decade and a half of waiting, I now knew I would see a Spider-Man movie within a couple of years.

 No Spider-Man review would be complete without acknowledging the era it was promoted and released. September 11, 2001 and Spider-Man will ever be intertwined together. The most cathartic comic book ever produced was Amazing Spider-Man Vol 2 #36. Sure, most super-heroes ever created made their base of operations The Big Apple, but no other character embodies the spirit of the city like Spider-Man does. Spider-Man is New York City, and his first film was very therapeutic to those who witnessed the absolute evil of 9/11. That includes even a California boy like me, who thought the world was coming to end as I watched the towers fall.

 Fast forward to May 3, 2002, and this little webhead was first in line for the first two showings. I knew that I would have to see it two times, since the first time would be too emotional for me to truly understand what was going on in the film. For many reasons, I had waited for this moment for a long time and, finally, it was here. Yes, I cried. I don’t often cry at films, but I picked a seat in the back of the theater because I knew I would be balling my eyes out. My late older brother sat next to me and kept having to hand me tissue. So, needless to say, I have had more than a decade and literally over one hundred viewings to come to a true opinion on the film.

 First off, I applaud Raimi for attempting to bring the Lee/Ditko Spider-Man to the big screen. It is obvious this was a passion project for him and I’m now happy Raimi tried his best to make a Spider-Man film rather than Cameron making a Cameron Spider-Man film(Or Cannon making a Cannon Spider-Man film, for that matter). The film starts and ends much like a Spider-Man comic would, with the thoughts of Peter Parker. I think this was a nice touch and immediately immerses the viewer into the mind of Peter, much like the comics did. My only disappointment with the film initially, is the treatment of Mary Jane Watson, but I will go into that more in depth later.

 The bus scene was very typical of Parker as the lovable loser, if a bit over the top. These kids are just cruel to him. Even a nerd wouldn’t let him sit down next to her. Peter Parker may have been a geek, but he had qualities that endeared him to some, regardless of this. Once Harry shows up and has Peter’s back, then we see the true Peter, and not the victim from the scene before. However, once again, Flash and friends tease Peter for no apparent reason. While the cruelty of the kids is pretty much copied and pasted out of Amazing Fantasy #15, I feel David Koepp missed one crucial element that was the result; Peter’s growing bitterness. This was something that should not have been left out as it goes to Peter’s motivations when he lets the burglar go later in the film.

 Ben and May are treated with kid gloves in this film, so their characters seem like cartoons. Rosemary Harris is an excellent, if verbose, Aunt May and she’s given much more to chew on in the next film. In this one, she’s just kind of there. Uncle Ben’s death is well done and works within the confines of this story. Although, I hate that Ben died for no apparent reason. In the comics, he was protecting Aunt May. In this, he’s protecting a huge yellow boat of a car. Not quite heroic, just tragic.

 The “puberty” of Spider-Man is well conceived and portrayed. This is by far the best part of the film as we see Peter come to grips with every new discovery about his powers. I hate that they couldn’t have the mechanical webshooters, but I think the organic webs are pretty cool and work within this story. I still couldn’t help but wish for one of those “I’m out of web fluid” moments(which kind of happens in the next film). But, hopefully, the new series will bring that in.

 One thing this series did not get accurately, was Spider-Man’s constant quipping. This is a minor gripe as a consistent barrage of bad puns would be nigh unbearable. But, when Iron Man is funnier than Spider-Man on film, you know something is wrong. Call me a Spider-Fanatic, but I like my Spider-Man funny.

 On to Mary Jane. MJ looks like MJ. She has friends like MJ. She wants to be famous like MJ. She is even a neighbor of Peter. But MJ does not act like MJ. She acts like Gwen Stacy. Now, this could have been done purposefully by Koepp and Raimi. They could have decided to combine the two characters much like Brian Michael Bendis did in the Ultimate Spider-Man series. But, I still missed seeing the wild MJ on the big screen. This just wasn’t Mary Jane Watson to me. Unlike having the kids be cruel to Peter without any effect on his motivations, this does nothing to disrupt the film in any way. It’s just my opinion on her character versus the comics version I grew up with.

 Now we come to Norman Osborn. I think Willem Defoe did an amazing job on the character and he was written very reverently. From moment one, we can palpably feel Osborn’s obsessive nature to win. Which makes his eventual transformation into the Green Goblin believable. That’s Norman Osborn. As far as The Green Goblin, I thought his characterization was also right out of the comics. Right up to his death. I even liked the mirror talks. It made the character creepy and established that the Goblin was an alternate personality and not Norman’s true one. Where the character fell down was in his design. Obviously, the armor was quite functional and mostly realistic, but he looked like a deranged villain out of The Power Rangers. Not only that, but the mouth hole was just downright weird and cumbersome. Exemplifying how little control a film writer has in making his vision come across to an audience, a scene that on paper may have been awesome, comes off as absurd and ridiculous. Case in point, the rooftop scene where Green Goblin offers Spider-Man a partnership. The dialogue is excellent and quotable, but the absurdity of these two talking back and forth without an expression visible on their faces nearly ruins it.

 James Franco did a great job with Harry. They nailed the character and his father-son pathos brilliantly. The scene where Harry tells his father he understands why he’s not around for him is eloquent and well-acted. They may not look like the characters from the comics, but who wants to see corn rolls on a white guy anyway? Funnily enough, Franco would eventually become somewhat infamous for his corn rolls in a recent indie film Spring Break.

 The love story between Peter and Mary Jane is equally brilliant and awkward, beautiful and frustrating. In a theme that continues throughout the Raimi series, we are literally tortured with slow moving conversational scenes that go from hope to despair within the blink of an eye. The angst is thick and the ugh factor is high. I have a serious love/hate relationship with the Peter/MJ scenes. I will probably never come to a definitive opinion on them. While I love the pathos of our lovable loser, I hate that he just can’t be happy. And I’m pretty sure that’s the exact feeling we’re supposed to have. However, it doesn’t make it any easier.

 The action is right out of the comics and I love every scene. The musical score by Elfman is excellent, and I love the “non-thematic” theme. The theme feels more like an emotional high than a generic march. In fact, I’d go as far as to say Elfman’s Spider-Man theme and some of the cues in the film are almost orgasmic in nature. The film and music together create a feeling that Peter is going through puberty and is becoming a man(Spider-Man?) before our eyes. In that sense, I think the movie and music combination is a work of art.

 In conclusion, I absolutely adore this movie. It’s far from perfect, but so is Peter Parker.

Grade of film: A

Comic to film grade: B+