Comics Movies
Comics and movies both blossomed in the cultural landscape of the 20th Century. And as they flowered they cross-pollinated one another with their brightest blooms and their most effective arrangements. The digital revolution has opened many doors to the previously unfilmable, leading to an explosion in the number of comic book adaptations.
For many people 'comics movies' mean gaudy titans in tights pounding the snot out of one another. However, if you remove the properties of the two big American companies (DC and Marvel), a broader spectrum of the fantastic and mundane is revealed.
Presenting for your selection, a cornucopia of pocket universes born of ink, transformed into light. For Superheroes peruse the DC and Marvel sub-headings under Comics Movies, stage left.
Pictured: Marv (Mickey Rourke) takes a moment to collect his thoughts in 2005's "Sin City" - cinema's most faithful comic book adaptation to date.
300 (2006)
7.7/10
Director: Zack Snyder
Starring: Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Dominic West, David Wenham, Vincent Regan, Michael F...
A hyper-real, testosterone-laden interpretation of the Spartan legend, based on Frank Miller's graphic novel and drenched in the same CGI-enhanced gol... Read more
Asterix and the Vikings (2006)
6/10
Director: Stefan Fjeldmark, Jesper Moller
Starring: Voices Of, Paul Giamatti, Brad Garrett, Sean Astin, Evan Rachel Wood, John Di Ma...
After hearing that fear gives villagers wings, and completely missing the metaphor, Viking Chief Timandahaf sends his officers to Gaul to kidnap a lil... Read more
Zoom: Academy for Superheroes (2006)
4.3/10
Director: Peter Hewitt
Starring: Tim Allen, Courteney Cox, Kate Mara, Chevy Chase, Spencer Breslin, Kevin Zegers,...
Apathetic, former superhero Captain Zoom (Tim Allen) is called out of retirement to train four unlikely kids with superpowers, who basically have to s... Read more
Hellboy Animated: Sword of Storms (2006)
6.6/10
Director: Tad Stones, Phil Weinstein
Starring: Voices Of, Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, John Hurt, Peri Gilpin
This animated feature sees the main cast from the film reprising their roles including Ron Perlman, Selma Blair and John Hurt. When a folklore profes... Read more
Open Season (2006)
6.1/10
Director: Roger Allers, Jill Culton, Anthony Stacchi
Starring: Voices Of, Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Jon Favreau, Gary Sinise, Jane Krako...
Once again, a happily domesticated animal gets a nasty shock when returned to its natural habitat - in this case the fish out of water is a grizzly be... Read more
Art School Confidential (2006)
6.3/10
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Starring: Jim Broadbent, Anjelica Huston, Matt Keeslar, John Malkovich, Max Minghella, Sop...
Terry Zwigoff reunites with comics writer Daniel Clowes ('Ghost World') for this punishing satire of the Art School universe where Jerome (Max Minghel... Read more
Garfield 2: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)
5/10
Director: Tim Hill
Starring: (Voice of) , Billy Connolly, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Breckin Meyer, Bill Murray, V...
As with the original, this sequel features Bill Murray as the big, orange, CGI puss in a real-life world. In spite of the title, the story is swiped... Read more
V for Vendetta (2006)
7.5/10
Director: James McTeigue
Starring: Hugo Weaving, Natalie Portman, Stephen Rea, Stephen Fry, Rupert Graves, John Hur...
The dystopian world depicted in the graphic novel by Alan Moore and David Lloyd is brought to the screen in this thrilling sci-fi actioner. In a fasci... Read more
A History of Violence ( Blu-ray ) (2005)
7.5/10
Director: David Cronenberg
Starring: Ed Harris, Maria Bello, Viggo Mortensen, William Hurt, Stephen McHattie, Ashton...
Adapted from a graphic novel, Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) is a quiet man living a quiet life in Indiana. A quiet shattered when a pair of fugitives wa... Read more
Tokyo Zombie (2005)
6.1/10
Director: Sakichi Sato
Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Sho Aikawa, Erika Okuda, Arata Furuta, Hina Matsuoka
Tokyo's future is overshadowed by a looming mountain of garbage, a stinking blot on the landscape where everything from toasters to cars to corpses ar... Read more