3 R-rated comic book films that deserve the same love as Deadpool!
It’s official! Deadpool has successfully dominated the global box office, remaining at the top for two weeks in a row. Following this claim, much has been discussed by how Fox will interpret this runaway success, with many claiming that modern cinema audiences have finally received the R-rated comic book movie they deserve!
Like most people, I hope the big conglomerate movie studios recognise the genre for how original it can be, rather than opting to produce carbon copy after carbon copy, in the hope that something will stick. Deadpool works as a movie because it stays true to the character, not bound by mandatory 3D integration or any other creative corrupting external force.
Deadpool is a great movie, all three of us on the podcast loved it, but let it be known that although Deadpool is the first R-rated comic book movie to achieve what some may deem ‘runaway success’. There are plenty of other awesome mature comic book movies out there that admittedly struggled to find an audience. Here are 5 that are well worth your attention, and can help you soothe that hard-core comic book fix.
Way back when, in a time before cinematic universes and excessive tax avoidance, there existed an interpretation of the Blade series. Although the original Blade released in 1998 is a perfectly decent action movie, it’s sequel released in 2002 amped up the stakes and action in almost every way.
With Guillermo Del Toro at the helm, he was able to bring a sense of high-fantasy to Marvel’s favourite Daywalker, making the vampires the good guys (and this is before they were shiny) and taking a successfully gritty stab at a grounded and focussed, superhero vampire movie. Shame about the sequel though!
Reason it didn’t hit: I would say, ahead of its time. We just weren’t ready for such awesomeness.
I’ll never stop saying it, I love Dredd. Perhaps the most underrated film on this list, Dredd is exactly the same as Deadpool in the sense that it aimed to return the character to its original idea, having previously been botched in a previous film. Karl Urban may not have the chin but he has the snarl, add just a dash of gritty voice and also the vital element of NOT REMOVING HIS HELMET! And it’s a sure-fire recipe for success!
Unfortunately, upon release, Dredd suffered from being shown in 3D exclusively, siphoning off a huge portion of the market who quite rightly either didn’t want to pay the premium price or just simply can’t be doing with the 30% light loss. Alex Garland’s script was solid and the choice to lock it down into one building perfectly allowed us to identify with the character, such a shame it didn’t hit.
Reason it didn’t hit: Doomed to die by being shown exclusively in 3D.
Alan Moore’s genius near future epic, V for Vendetta perfectly expands upon the idea first presented by George Orwell in a little known book called, Nineteen Eighty-Four. Commentating on what would happen in a pseudo-realistic setting if one man chose to stand up against the idea of omnipresent government surveillance, the film treated audience members in mature manner.
While there is spectacle to be had in the film, you cannot help but notice the sophistication present in some of the themes the movie aims to tackle and the rapport between Portman and Weaving is unmatched in terms of a non-romantic relationship between a man and a woman, not often seen in cinema. London acts as a unique backdrop, not often seen in superhero movies too!
Reason it didn’t hit: Sophisticated plot that doesn’t really work for your average comic book blockbuster.
So there you have it! I could go on of course, we haven’t even touched 300, Oldboy, Watchmen or Sin city but maybe that’s for a part two next week who knows. The point still stands though, whilst Deadpool is currently killing it (quite literally in some sense), don’t forget to recognise the films who laid its groundwork.
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