Comic Book: The Movie

I was about 20 minutes into this thing when I realized there was no going up for this movie, that the poor production and shotty acting wasn't just something they were trying, that this mockumentary was really just this bad. I actually felt dumber watching it. You literally have Mark Hammil running around the comic con as Mark Hammil, but calling himself Don, what, like he's acting?? Then, whenever they'd improv something in to move the, I can't believe I'm calling it this but, "plot" along, it was so forced and awkward, I mean the acting, anything else was drivel. I'm not even sure what he was trying to say. what, Hollywood doesn't have the passion for films that we had as kids?? Uh, yah, what planet have you been on?? I mean, if they did something more with it, I dunno, made it meaningful or something, but no. He was just concerned with giving us detail after detail of this fictional comic character, who we don't even care for cuz he's made up by Mark Hammil!!

Mark, stick to the voice work and leave the "movie making" to your fighter jet co-star, he's making 20 mil a flick, you're just making an ass atta yourself....

Well for starters its Mark Hamill walking around, pretending to be a super comic book nerd that centers his attention around a 1940's circa comic book, that Mirimax has recently picked up to be made into a modern day movie. The production company wants it to be bloody and action packed, Donald Swan (Hamill) wants it to be more like the older comic he has grown to love and adore. So the movie company hires him as an "expert" to go around and get the average joes "perceptive" on this would be movie (which is not real people). What makes this mock-umentary so neat is that big names like Stan Lee, Bruce Campbell, and Kevin Smith play along like its the real deal, and talk to Hamill like he isnt Hamill. Even the fans don't rush him yelling Skywalker or anything. Overall its fun to watch, and funny to see the conventions he goes too, and naturally Kevin Smith is pure gold!! A must own for any comic book fan.

The movie was rather odd, but it did have its moments. It works better if one really knows comics, vintage collectibles, the movie industry, and the actors involved (especially the ones known for voiceovers for popular shows). For those heavily into science fiction and comics, it was fun to pick out the people making cameos, including the "Men Behind the Mask." Mark Hamill's approach showed respect and reverence for the fan base, as well as poking a healthy dose of fun at the movie industry. The DVD has a lot of extra information including some of the panels these talented actors chaired. The movie was made for the fans, but unlike some movies of this ilk, they showed respect instead of making it a geeks on parade feature.

Well, not really..........BUT it sounded like a good grabber line.

Actually, it seems as if their creator gave this a "thumbs up", since he allowed them to use that vignette of him. I really didn't realize how much he'd look like "Bob".

Although I was taken aback at how much Luke Skywalker has aged, I did enjoy seeing him still standing up for old-fashioned values. I do enjoy the X-Men, and the Titans, I still have a very warm spot in my memory for Captain Marvel, Aquaman, and The Flash. And I still prefer Robin to Nightshade.

As far as the quality of the movie - it did drag quite a bit in places (Day 1 seemed to take up half the length of the movie) and they skimmed over Leo's realization that the old "hildhood friends" were fake...I'd like to have seen mor of Sid and Johnathan.

I was very excited to see this and sat patiently for two years while it spent months collecting dust on the Miramax shelves, finally being released direct-to-video. I'm in it--kinda. Since I was at the Comic-Con that year--I can see about a fourth of my face in one of the crowd shots--this added to the excitement. And I'm a comic fan, and a Mark Hamill fan and a fan of cartoon voices. So what could go wrong?

So I watched it, finally, and desperately wanted to like it. I mean, it was about comic fans! But...after the first five minutes or so the novelty wore off and I was stuck with a draggy, boring movie. The cast is game, but without much going on it gets a-mighty tedious. Still, it was nice to revisit a great con that I've not been to since two years after it happened.

For a much more entertaining evening, go to the second disk on the DVD package for "Behind the Voices," the hysterical symposium fans sat through to get themselves on film. They cut out most of it, (the guys doing the Animaniacs singing the Country song from memory, Billy West singing "Happy Happy Joy Joy) but it's still great. The movie: C+ The Other Stuff: B+