Supermax villains revealed?
“El Mayimbe,” who posts on the movie site Latino Review, says he got his hands on David Goyer’s script to the upcoming Green Arrow film Supermax. This is the film where Green Arrow’s thrown in a jail filled with a bunch of super villains … and according to Latino Review, that list of villains will include several of DC’s heavy hitters, like Shock Trauma, Cascade and the Aryan Nation — THE ARYAN NATION! You might remember them — or maybe you don’t — from Justice League Task Force #10. OK, actually there are some villains I’ve heard of before, like Pied Piper, Merlyn, Count Vertigo and Floronic Man. Go check out the post for more appearances and plot details.
The Ticker
–Maureen Ryan with the Chicago Tribune says more Battlestar Galactica films, a la Razor, could be on the way.
–Joe Morgenstern with the Wall Street Journal contemplates why Speed Racer wasn’t well received.
–Waltz with Bashir, an animated documentary about the 1982 massacre at the Shatila and Sabra Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, received rave reviews at the Cannes Film Festival. The New York Times even compares it to Art Spiegelman’s Maus, saying the animation “initially works as something of a distancing device, giving you the space — intellectual, emotional — to process the story and its accumulating horrors.”
May 20th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
And here I hoped, like that ill-advised JLA movie, this project had quietly died and been taken off the table. Ho-hum.
So… What was the pitch for this movie? “It’s got Green Arrow, except he’ll be locked in prison and won’t have any arrows.” Great… Sounds promising already. NOT.
I’m not even sure who this movie is supposed to appeal to. Comic readers who know obscure characters like Shock Trauma, Cascade and the Aryan Nation? So there’s maybe a few hundred paying customers right there. Anyone else?
I’d be interested in seeing a really good, gritty GA movie… Perhaps one using The Longbow Hunters, or other aspects of Mike Grell’s run, as a basis? But that’s not what this is.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to establish the character first, and then maybe stick the character in an unusual story, like this one? I know some are tired of origin stories, but if they’re done well (like in Batman Begins or Iron Man) I don’t mind at all. I also think it’s somewhat necessary if you’re going to get a mainstream audience. I definitely think Marvel Studios is taking a smarter approach to establish their characters to the masses.
Well, if this is like most WB/DC projects not involving Bats, Supes or Vertigo, it’ll never get made anyhow. That would be good, since I think Goyer got lucky with BB, or perhaps had considerable help and drew from good source material (such as Year One). His other stuff has sucked.
Lame title too… “Supermax” sounds like A.) A Jerry Bruckheimer-style prison break movie, B.) A film about a kid named Max who gets super powers, C.) The name of a new, cutting edge feminine napkin. Take your pick.
May 20th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Forgive me improper use of commas above… I meant to say that it might be best to establish GA/Ollie in a movie that actually uses Ollie AS Green Arrow (again, a variation of The Longbow Hunters or perhaps the recent GA: Year One story?) and THEN, for a possible sequel, maybe revive this “Supermax” idea?
It might not be so bad as the second or third movie in a series, once the character’s been established and (hopefully) has gained some appeal with a wide audience. It’s just a bad idea as an introduction to Ollie Queen.
But even then, if you use it later on, change the name already! Sheesh.
May 21st, 2008 at 1:03 am
Super Max sounds like a superhero version of like Tango & Cash or Van Damme’s Death Warrant.
It could probably be made with an original superhero character instead but theythought it would be cooler if they used GA