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Bullet Sunday 225

Posted on Sunday, March 27th, 2011

Dave!Back to reality for a super-hero-fashion episode of Bullet Sunday! But, before we get there, I need to remind everybody that the best podcast on the internet you're probably not listening to is now on iTunes! Cannot recommend it highly enough: Hey! That's My Hummus on iTunes. And for baseball talk, don't forget Just Talking to the Cornfield on iTunes.

   
• Wonder Woman! I've had very strong reservations over the whole David E. Kelley Wonder Woman television pilot from the very beginning. From everything I've read, it seems as though he's dead-set on putting his personal stamp on the material, which means we're not going to get Wonder Woman... it's going to be Ally McBeal in bad latex. The first episode's villain is perfume company CEO Veronica Cale (WTF?) which is being played by the incomparable Elizabeth Hurley (who arrived in L.A. a while back to film her scenes)...

Liz Hurley arrives in L.A. for Wonder Woman shoot
©2011 Michael Wright/WENN (from AceShowbiz)

Since Elizabeth Hurley is in it, I'm pretty much obligated to watch the show now. Which is a shame, because the official Wonder Woman costume photo looks like crap...

Shitty New Wonder Woman Costume

In all seriousness, I've been to comic book conventions where the fan costumes looked better than this cheap-n-glossy joke. She looks like a badly-dressed dominatrix or something. Such a horrible departure from the classic Wonder Woman uniform that was worn so perfectly by Linda Carter in the original TV show...

Linda Carter as Wonder Woman.

Call it cheesy if you want, but THAT'S what Wonder Woman is supposed to look like. COSTUME GRADE: F

   
• Spider-Man! And speaking of truly terrible costumes... I loved the first two Spider-Man movies. The third one was awful story-wise, but had really good action sequences. Still, I was hoping for another Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire installment because I liked the "feel" they gave the character. Alas, it was not to be. So now we've moved on to something new which could be good or could be bad. And if the costume is what we have to go on, this is going to be as bad as it gets...

New Spider-Man Movie Costume

Even if he didn't have an inexplicably black crotch, this would be a horrible interpretation of an iconic costume. COSTUME GRADE: D

   
• Captain America! The modern-day Captain America comics have never interested me very much. Sure there are good stories that pop up from time to time but, overall, it's a one-note concept to me. But I have to say, everything I've seen for the upcoming Cap film looks flawless. First of all, they set the movie in World War II, which is faithful to the character's origin. Second of all, it seems as if director Joe Johnston is going out of his way to make it a fun and entertaining film to watch...

Chris Evans as Captain America

Hugo Weaving as The Red Skull

Captain America Film Still

What's so killer about Cap's costume is how you can see they're clearly building up to his modern-day outfit by starting with a WWII era interpretation. He was designed to be a symbol for the guys in the trenches, and its coming across perfectly. And just look at the Red Skull! Cannot wait for this movie. COSTUME GRADE: A

   
• Thor! Other than Walter Simonson's brilliant run on the character in the 1980's, I've never been a big fan of Thor. He just never seems to work in the context of the super-hero genre very well. But this film has Kenneth Branagh directing, and the trailers look to be pretty epic in scope, so we'll see...

Thor Costume

I am the first to admit that translating Thor's costume to the big screen is no easy task... but this looks all cheesy and plastic to me. I'm guessing it's supposed to be metal (maybe it is!), but I'm still not impressed and think it would have looked better with a brushed metal? This is probably going to appear much better on-screen when lit properly, so it's hard for me to be too critical. It is, after all, pretty faithful in "feel" to the original. COSTUME GRADE: C+

   
• Green Lantern! This is the hardest movie of all to figure out. I think my hetero-man-crush Ryan Reynolds was flawless casting for Hal Jordan, but the movie is looking like a George Lucas CGI party instead of a film of any substance. The special-effects generated costume in the preview trailer looked so bad that I couldn't fathom how the movie could possibly work...

Ryan Reynolds in Bad Green Lantern Costume

But then I saw this shot of Mark Strong as Sinestro and thought "maybe"...

Sinestro Movie Costume

Green Lantern was one of the first comic books I ever read, and so I continue to hope that everything comes together. Out of all the super-hero projects underway, it has the most potential for greatness... or disaster.

Ryan Reynolds and the Ring

It's pretty hard to get a feel for how the costume works from still images. On Hal Jordan, all the crazy lines look just plain stupid. On Sinestro, they look awesome. I'm guessing that when they're in-motion they'll be all glowing and stuff, which will probably look cool. Or corny. I have no idea. I do think it would have been better to not go with 100% CGI though, which seems like a recipe for disaster. COSTUME GRADE: Wait and C

   
• X-Men! I should probably get this out of the way... I loathed all of the X-Men films. They were SO BORING. The X-Men were never really given any battles. Sure there were some silly little scrapes here and there, but they didn't have any scope. Everything in the movie seemed so much smaller than life. And while the costumes weren't anything to write home about, I thought they were okay. Sadly, the costumes weren't the problem. And so now we're re-booting the franchise with a prequel...

X-Men First Class Photo

X-Men First Class Photo

From what I can tell, the costumes here are pretty good. They are a faithful (albeit upgraded) interpretation of the "original" X-Men costumes, which was no easy task. All we can do is wait and see if the movie has the scope and story to make any use of them. COSTUME GRADE: B

   
That's a lot of super-heroes. And it doesn't even account for the new Superman movie reboot, the third Iron Man film, the third Batman film, The Hulk reboot, The Avengers, and whatever else that's coming up. I hope that people don't get burnt out on comic book movies.

Comments

  1. Sybil Law says:

    Ha! Your last line pretty much summed it up for me!

  2. claire says:

    omg, that new Wonder Woman outfit is horrible! I’m also rather concerned about WW being a lawyer in her secret identity. Spew your law rhetoric on Harry’s Law, Mr. Kelley, not Wonder Woman!

    I grew up with Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman too. (And looking at her picture, I see that I’m not crazy- her outfit didn’t have the stylized Ws across the bust that the comics do.) Sure I have feelings about fighting crime in a strapless bathing suit, but it is iconic and it is Wonder Woman.

    The old tv show even had other outfits for her which were cool looking. One for underwater and I think another for motorcycle riding.

    Ah well, we’ll see.

  3. Etienne says:

    In the X-men prequel pic I’m wondering about the babe that’s 3rd from the left. What’s her X-moniker & what’s her ‘special’ talent? Is she like “Whore-verine”?

    • Dave2 says:

      That’s Emma Frost, The White Queen! Depending on which version they’re using… she’s either psychic… or can turn tough as diamonds. I think. I haven’t kept up with the X-books in a while.

  4. the muskrat says:

    i’ve never been a comic book reader but have enjoyed most of the “super hero” movies. i agree about some of these costumes being for the sucks though.

  5. we all know that i am not known for my fashion sense, but i don’t mind the new wonder woman outfit as much as i expected to. even as a kid i thought it was kinda silly that such a strong woman was wearing a bathing suit and heels to battle the bad guys. i adored wonder woman, used to pray that i was adopted and that i was secretly related to her, but i thought the outfit on the silly side. seems to me that this new one is actually a little more practical and not so terrible.

    all of that said, i love reading the whys of your opinions. i’m obviously not so into comic books and appreciate your knowledge of the source material and movie making.

    (bracing for outrage about my first opinion)

  6. also…batman starts filming in pittsburgh in may. will i see you here?

  7. I dunno, I think the new Wonder Woman outfit is kinda hot. Yum. What we need though, are more comic book movie reboots.

  8. Invader_Stu says:

    I’m not usre about the new x-men movie. It looks a little to xavier’s school for the gifted 90210 for me.

  9. Avitable says:

    Emma Frost is both psychic AND can turn into diamonds – she had a secondary mutation that I’m sure they’re going to use.

    I don’t like Thor or Captain American, normally, but I would absolutely suggest getting the Matt Fraction Thor run, which was outstanding, and the Brubaker Cap run. They both made the characters interesting and relevant.

    • Dave2 says:

      I bought a bunch of Cap collections, including the Winter Soldier books, but haven’t had a chance to read them yet.

      I am completely unfamiliar with any current Thor works, so I’ll check and see if there are any Matt Fraction Thor collections… thanks!

  10. martymankins says:

    Damn fine photo of Ms Hurley.

    I saw the Thor trailer on Sunday and it looks ok, but I am looking forward to the Captain America movie. Very impressed with that one.

    Of course, I would always be happy with a nice Aquaman movie.

    Don’t let my wife know you didn’t like the X-Men series. She may have words with you.

  11. Michelle M. says:

    I do not like the new costume. Too shiny. The gold and the blue are off and I don’t like the new tiara. I’m worried the series will be awful (and then we’ll never get a live action movie), but am hopeful since Elizabeth Hurley will class things up.

  12. I’ve heard they’ve changed the tights and given her the red boots back.

    Wait! Let me go google it.

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