Best of 2014: Movies – Best Comic Book Movie

Another year is in the books, and we here at Hush Comics couldn’t pass at the chance to rank our favorites of this year’s releases in all types of mediums. Some of the winners will surprise you; heck, some of the results surprised  us. The results are completely subjective, and therefore were chosen with infallible logic. We would love to hear your opinions on what we have chosen, or if you thought we missed anything. This should be a fun review before we gear up for 2015.

Click on the link to take you to the “Best of 2014” homepage.

Best Comic Book Movie

• Guardians of the Galaxy
• Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier
• Amazing Spider-Man 2
• X-Men: Days of Future Past
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

WINNER – Guardians of the Galaxy

There’s no way you thought it could be anything else, right? The pelvic sorcery was just too strong with this one. With Marvel constantly putting out sequels and reboots and team-ups, this film of the most rag-tag group of a-holes in the galaxy was a deep breath of fresh air for fans. It might have been a way to say, “look, we can make a movie starring a talking raccoon and a tree and you’ll love it,” or it could be a sign of Marvel’s willingness to finally look outside the box, but any movie that can take that lazy idiot from Parks and Recreation and make him an international sex symbol is worthy of some award. – Sherif

Second Place – Captain America 2: The Winter Soldier

What’s not to love here? This movie not only had awesome special effects and fight scenes, but it also had a plot element that reverberated through the entire marvel cinematic universe including the television show. If that wasn’t enough, they even cherry-picked some of the best scenes from the comic books including a snippet from the Civil War storyline where Cap breaks out of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. While this wasn’t the first Marvel movie to follow The Avengers, it is the first one to follow more of the aftermath of that film as most of Thor was spent on Asgard (or at least dealing with that problem). We actually get to see the continuation of that plot as well as the buildup to the next Avengers movie. – Robert

Third Place – Amazing Spider-Man 2

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 came out this year. That sounds silly, but when thinking about a year in review, this movie’s premiere seems like it was ages ago.  Perhaps that’s because it felt like a classic comic movie to me.  I for one loved this movie.  It had scenes and dialogue that would appeal to all audiences, and at it’s core, that is what any Spider-Man movie should do.  While the ending was controversial, it was cannon and beautifully done.  It’s too bad that there were other films that came out this year that overshadowed this film; it may have done better last year.  However,  I think this is one will stand the test of time. – Adrian

RUNNER UP – X-Men: Days of Future Past

What can I say that anyone who’s been reading comics for more than a minute wouldn’t already know? It’s the movie of one of the best X-Men comics ever made – an apocalyptic future where sentinels readily hunt humans, and a little time travel is needed to fix it. These new X-Men movies are killin’ it, and I couldn’t handle how into this movie I was when I saw it in theaters. I do wish Kitty Pride had been the one to go back in time instead of Wolverine, but, Wolverine is apparently what the people want. Maybe the best thing about this new installment, though, is how it undid the unfortunate events of X3… by making it so that it never existed. – J.H.

RUNNER UP – Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

This will be a hard one to slice, and no pizza or sword pun intended there. This movie sure received a lot of hate and skepticism before the movie ever came out, and most people never shook that. To me, though, this film may not have been the best made comic book film (which definitely goes to Guardians), but TMNT gave me a feeling harkening back to my childhood and watching the original live-action turtles, which came out when I was only two…weird… Ultimately, they did Michelangelo right and as a man who owns a winter wardrobe where I look just like Mikey I can say that was enough to earn my approval. With Bebop and Rocksteady already confirmed for the sequel, you can bet I will be first in line all dressed up and ready to go. – Jacob

Next Category: Best Straight to DVD Movie

SPOILER-FREE Amazing Spider-Man 2 Review

Genre – Action, Comic Book, Superhero

Director – Marc Webb (Amazing Spider-Man, (500) Days of Summer)

Cast – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan

Alluring element – The return of the Amazing Spider-Man!

Scorecard:

Plot – 9

Acting – 8

Representation of genre/Identity – 10

Cinematography – 10

Effects/Environment – 10

Captivity – 9

Logical consistency – 9

Originality/Creativity – 8

Soundtrack/Ambiance – 7

Overall awesomeness – 10

 

Since being rebooted just one decade after the historic trilogy (okay, we can forget about Spider-Man 3) changed the way comic book adaptations were viewed by the world, The Amazing Spider-Man destroyed all doubt in fans that this was just a cash grab, but instead a legitimately sustainable universe. It was a risky move rebooting so soon, especially when many fans considered the third installment of the Raimi films to be a complete deal-breaker, but the two films have easily become a juggernaut, earning a place among the likes of the Nolan Batmans, Iron Mans, and Kick Asses. This has been well-deserved, as Peter Parker is one of the most beloved character of all-time, and second in popularity to nobody but maybe Superman or Batman. From KRS-One to Barack Obama, everybody loves their friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.

The Amazing Spider-Man does whatever a Spider-Man can… but better. From the get-go, we’re introduced to a Spider-Man who has been not been taking his two-year hiatus lightly. His skills are honed and the obligatory montage where Parker learns how to do like a spider does is long in the past. Instead, we are treated to spectacular scenes of Spidey chasing bad guys, infuriating them with his hilarious jabs at their incompetence – seriously, I’m convinced Peter Parker’s middle name is sarcasm. Although the end of AS1 left us in emotionally distraught from the death of Captain Stacey and the forced promise to leave Gwen Stacy alone (yeah, right. We’re talking about Emma Freaking Stone here), the tone of this movie is fervently fun and exciting.

We join our hero as he is graduating high school, which jumps years ahead in chronology, missing out on some potentially valuable years of high school chronology for Peter. It could be looked at as a rushed attempted to fit everything in, but I really see it as a clear statement that Webb will be focusing on the growth of Peter Parker, the man. The term “this isn’t high school anymore” is literally applied to Peter’s relationships across the board. It doesn’t take away from the light-hearted nature of the character himself, but the nature of the story and the villains which he faces lets us no right away that he has a monumental task ahead of him.

You know watt they say: with great power, comes villains with even greater power. Electro makes his first film appearance here, and it’s mostly a win. Max Dillon, played by Jamie Foxx, is a sad, lonely, brilliant man who never seems to catch a break. The ability to control electricity was the ultimate gag joke when Electro first broke onto the scene (actually, February 2014 marked his 50th Anniversary) However, in this completely wired society we live in now, the ability to control electricity made Max Dillon nothing short of a god.

Unfortunately, in The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Electro is reduced to somewhat of a goon to the real villain of the story. His character is so creepy and weird that you almost can’t feel sorry for him, even though his character is really the victim of unfortunate circumstance. There are also a few mishaps with his ultra-corny lines – you’ll know which ones when the time comes. Aesthetically, though, Electro is one of the coolest bad guys you can find in a movie. His entire body is comprised of electricity, making him look like a conduit. He’s part Dr. Manhattan from The Watchmen – except, thank goodness, he wears pants – and part conduit from the  inFamous video game. I think it looks phenomenal; you can argue one way or the other, but you have to admit, it looks much better than, ya know, this:

Image from Ultimate Spider-Man Season 2 “Electro”

Electro isn’t just used as physical muscle; he was worked over to introduce the real bad guy, Harry Osbourne. Dane DeHaan (Chronicle) plays a perfect Harry; he’s smart, emotional perturbed from being neglected by his rich dad (#richpeopleproblems), but finds solace in his one friend in this world, Peter Parker. DeHaan might not be the stud-muffin that James Franco was, but he does have this very DiCaprio vibe going on, even down to the patented hair flip thing. Due to Norman Osborn’s sickness, Harry finds himself thrust into power. Curt Connors failed to replicate the lizard serum in the film film – that thing that made everybody turn into giant lizards, remember? This has direct consequences in the sequel, and viewers might not even notice the connection if they aren’t looking for it.

The topic of Peter’s parents is also revisited, something that I felt was sorely lacking in the first film. Have patience though, friends; it was all done on purpose, showing just enough in the first film to give enough context for the “aha!” moments in this one. It’s nice to see a little foresight, and that is something the franchise definitely has. There are numerous foreshadowings to a Sinister Six/Venom movie to be found (most of it was unfortunately spoiled by the internet weeks before the movie even came out), but they  were more-so Easter Egg rewards for comic book fans than distractions from the main events.

Clocking in at two and a half hours of run-time, AS2 flew by. The film is cut into enough transitions that I didn’t feel like the movie needed to end, nor did it feel too sporadic to keep up with the fast pace. There were a few scenes that felt bipolar, ie – Parker’s inevitable guilt trip about hooking up with Gwen in lieu of the promise to her dad, even though he had just laid on some hardcore PDA earlier that day. There are also several montages with music that doesn’t really fit the ambiance of the situation. They’re all forgivable and minor missteps, as Spider-Man almost gets a bit of a pass because Peter Parker is such an awkward character already.

I wouldn’t say that the heroism takes a back seat, but to call AS2 anything but a love story first and foremost would be a disservice to the dynamic performance that Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield give. This feels like you wish your first love story was. Arguably, Gwen means more for Peter’s character development than being Spider-Man does. What makes Gwen so important to Spider-Man’s journey is her ride-or-die attitude. She has no great power, but still feels the responsibility to do the right things – a value surely instilled in her by her late father.

What I really love about The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the ability to keep the spirit of the Web Slinger intact while still trying to evolve the story to make it fit in a 21st century setting. The evolution of OsCorp into genetic manipulation – as well as “The Vault” and its contents – is a lunge in the right direction. It makes OsCorp directly responsible for the origins of The Lizard, Spider-Man, Electro, Rhino with his mechanized suit and more to come (Sinister Six and Venom, presumably). Furthermore, making the “Goblin” trait into a degenerative disease is a brilliant way to tie everybody back together, especially Peter’s parents. At the heart of it, though, is still your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. From the incredible slow-mo Spider-Sense sequences and the ludicrously awesome lack of effort when facing impending doom to the heart-to-heart that he has with Aunt May and even as subtle as the replacement of dark eyes on the costume with white ones, I fell in love with Spider-Man all over again. Ultimately, with director Marc Webb and Andrew Garfield as lead Peter Parker on board for a third movie as well, there’s just as much to be excited for going forward as this is to enjoy in Amazing Spider-Man 2.

Thanks to Aurora Rise, a non-profit organization that funnels donations to the rehabilitation of victims in the Aurora theater shooting, we were able to see Amazing Spider-Man 2 a few days early AND support a good cause. Thanks to Aurora Rise and Aurora Movie Tavern for hooking it up!

 

Hush Family outing!

 

All media credited to Marvel Comics and Sony/Columbia Pictures 

So Far This Week… April 30th, 2014

Holy crap! Get ready to have your socks knocked off; this week brings in a lot of great news tidbits.

This Sunday is May the Fourth!  Hush Comics is lucky enough to be running a panel at StarFest to commemorate the holiday.  Come see us at 10 AM!

This Saturday, May 3rd, is FREE COMIC BOOK DAY! Head to your local comic book store for free issues of some of the biggest (and smallest, in the case of Mouse Guard) stories in the industry. Many local shops are holding insane sales for books, so it’s an amazing opportunity for new fans to dive in head-first to the comic book world. Don’t believe me? Just take Levar Burton’s word for it.

For more information on which books are available, this is your one-stop shop (figuratively, I mean, you still have to go to the shop to get the books. duh.). Also, Denverites, visit the Mile High Comics’ Jason Street Mega-Store for some awesome festivities on  Saturday.

If you’re like us, you like to occasionally use the ComiXology to supplement the physical copies of comics you buy at your local stores… RIGHT?? Well, since the acquisition by Amazon, there have already been some swift changes to the storefront. If you’re as confused as we are, check out this informational article.

Today marks the return of the Amazing Spider-Man to the comic book world. After over a year of Otto Octavius as Spider-Man (it’s complicated), Peter is back in command and with a new lease on life! And just in time for the movie, Amazing Spider-Man 2, to hit theaters.

Gwen Stacy herself challenged Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon to a lip-sync battle, which is quickly becoming my favorite recurring bit on the show. Emma Stone destroys Fallon – all she does is win, win, win.

Before last week’s episode of Game of Thrones, “Oathkeeper,” a trailer for the upcoming series called Leftovers. I’m still not too sure what it’s about, but I’m interested enough to check it out when it airs June 29th.

Speaking of Game of Thrones, the upcoming video game by Telltale Games is getting some narrative assistance from the story creator’s right hand man, Ty Corey Franck as a story consultant. With games like The Walking Dead and Wolf Among Us, I’m sold with anything Telltale puts out.

Marvel is not just trending, but making it a priority for gender equality in their books. Our article on what Ms. Marvel means to us (and the world) is just the start. Now that Elektra, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, She-Hulk, X-Men (all female cast) and the aforementioned Ms. Marvel have solo titles, it’s time for another leading lady to get her own series; Storm debuts this summer, written by Greg Pak – an interview from C2E2 can be found here.

Not even a year after the series’ Felina, and we’re still mourning the legendary Breaking Bad. Fans should check out this 8 minute-long tribute (seriously, whoever made this should win a freakin’ award) to the Heisenberg; while you’re at it, read our Breaking Bad Week articles. You’re God Damn Right.

Image Comics (The Walking Dead, Saga, Deadly Class, Black Science…..) is trying to get some much-deserved cred with Humble Bundle, a site that lets users choose how much they pay for these works (sorry, there is a minimum payment lol). Here are some more details on the deal.

2014 is the year of the Bat…man 75th Anniversary, and July 23rd has been officially dubbed Batman Day! To celebrate, go to your local shop and pick up a FREE issue of a reimagined Detective Comics #27; Batman Day also coincides with the release of Grayson #1 and Robin Rises: Omega #1. Ah, it’s a good time to be a Bat.

The DC New 52 run of Batman has been arguably the best comic out since it went to print in 2011. A line of Greg Capullo-inspired action figures will be released soon (Batman and Talon coming this month). I want to buy an army of Talons, but I will likely settle for two.

Saturday morning cartoons meets Sunday night slow jams! Check out this awesome rendition of the classic Ducktales theme song.

Spider-Man is definitely the topic of choice this week, but DC and Warner Bros. can’t let Marvel steal all the shine. Zack Synder has been announced as the director to a Justice League movie to be released after Batman vs Superman.

Classic Frank Miller graphic novel, Ronin, is getting picked up by the SyFy channel. Hell yes.

Just in time for Star Wars Day, the initial cast for Star Wars: Episode VII has been released. What do you think?

To continue to expand upon its appeal to fourteen year old boys (just a good ribbing from a PlayStation person), X-Box One has launched WWE Network on consoles.

The Disney-Marvel connection will be in full effect this fall when Disney Infinity brings the big guns to its platform for its second iteration, Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes. I haven’t gotten a chance to play the game, but it seems like a great game for kids.

DC’s adult alter-ego game, Injustice: Gods Among Us, is rumored to be getting a sequel out next year. I’m not too sure how a new installment will be justified, but I’m excited, nonetheless. We’ll have more news on that as it develops.

Village idiot Joe Dirt may be getting a sequel. Yeah, that’s where we’re at with comedies…

Graphic Novel Review-Spider-Man: Torment

Spider-Man: Torment

Collecting: Spider-Man #1-5

Original Release Date: 1990 (collected edition released 2011)

Publisher: Marvel

Pages: 144

Characters: Spider-Man, Mary Jane Watson, Calypso, The Lizard, Kraven The Hunter

Writer/Artist: Todd McFarlane

StoryLine – 6

Art – 10

Captivity and Length – 7

Identity – 7

Use of Medium – 10

Depth – 8

Fluidity – 6

Intrigue/Originality – 9

The Little Things – 8

Overall awesomeness – 9

On the eve of the early premier to Columbia Pictures sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man, I ventured out to my garage to uncover my collection of Spider-Man arcs from over the years. Sidebar; It is important to recognize for the sake of this review that Spider-Man was my first nerdy obsession. I came to comics in purist tradition. There was no multi-billion dollar studio backing a franchise of movies or chain of retail stores carpet bagging 80’s cartoon T-shirts for the neo-nerds to wear as ironic or trendy. There were no celebrities gushing over their love of all things Marvel in hopes of landing the next big role. Web-heads like me had NBC’s Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends on Saturday mornings, and that’s about it.

Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man saved my life. 1988 was a hard year for my family. My mother decided to move from New York City half way around the country to Denver to be closer to my grandparents. Nothing could have been more crushing to me at the time. All I knew was New York; other cities didn’t even exist to me. There are only two truths that keep me half-way sane: the Yankees are the greatest sports team ever assembled and Spider-Man is the best super hero in all of comics.

Parker is a New Yorker without both of his parents. He is nerdy and unsure of himself. Spider-Man reminded me of home. Without Spider-Man, I may not have fallen in love with comic books.

When McFarlane announced that he was leaving The Amazing Spider-Man, my heart sunk. The man who gave us spaghetti-webbing was leaving; who could possibly replace him? It was soon released that McFarlane would launch a new Spidey book simply titled Spider-Man. Not only would Todd pencil the book, but he would write its stories too. This was a dream come true! The man who gave us Venom would be responsible for creating new villains and plots in the Marvel universe! His first attempt launched in 1990 was the five part mini-series, Torment.

The first issue gave us an iconic cover. The Wall-Crawler, hunched over, over-exaggerated eyes, twisted arm, nestled safely in his web was here! Spider-Man sold 2.5 million copies initially. It’s variant covers helped push the title into uncharted territory in sales.

And to top it off, in the top right hand corner of the issue, McFarlane dubbed the series, The Legend of The ArachKnight. This was an obvious dig at DC Comics and the tidal-wave success of Tim Burton’s blockbuster film, Batman. There were more subtle jabs towards the Bat in the first few pages and web-heads went nuts! The success of Batman was overwhelming, there seemed to be no stopping the media blitz and little if no space was left for any other heroes. Quite frankly, it was hard to identify with a billionaire playboy who played cops and robbers in some fictitious town, but Peter Parker was from Queens, and he could never quite get over the hump. His character was much more relatable to me.

Despite Torment‘s initial popularity, McFarlane faced wide-spread criticism from fan-boys, peers and even his last Marvel editor Danny Fingeroth. His initial editor, Jim Salicrup, offered Todd the shot to author and pencil his own title. The book was a huge cash cow for Marvel but Todd seemed to face opposition at every turn. He had already weathered the storm of critics who claimed that he couldn’t draw anatomically correct figures. Instead of changing his style and falling victim to self doubt, he drew even crazier. He twisted bodies in ways they shouldn’t have been able to, he gave us MORE spaghetti-webbing and made Spider-Man his way. He would, “Rise above it all.” With that being said, Torment isn’t Shakespeare, and it didn’t have to be. McFarlane used the Torment series to push HIS brand of art. And even though the company tried to tame his style, they encouraged their next generation of artists, including Amazing Spider-Man successor, Erik Larsen, to draw Spidey the same way because that’s what sold comics.

“The City. New York. Littered with towering concrete giants that seem to swallow up the sky.” Torment is simple – the Lizard is out of control in New York. He is under the control of the dark voodoo priestess Calypso, and on a vicious killing spree. The sensually drawn Calypso has revenge in her dark soul. Her wish? To kill Spider-Man and resurrect Kraven The Hunter. Spidey nearly loses his life in this bloody battle. Any true McFarlane fan will tell you that you don’t need much more than that.

Critics argued that McFarlane never learned how to establish tone in his writing, but if the artwork does it for you, imagination should take care of the rest. The panels are elegantly illustrated. The backdrop of New York is gritty and terrifying. The flow of the first five books may seem a bit sloppy, but the Spider-Man he depicted was a stretch from our friendly neighborhood hero. He is placed in a mysterious plot for no reason – other than torment – and we, the reader, get to enjoy a fresh perspective from one of the most successful comic book artists of all time.