Day 7

British History in Film | King John (1984)

Shakespeare's King John isn't one of his most popular plays, but I've always been interested in seeing it as a sort of sequel to the Robin Hood legend. There aren't too many versions available for home viewing, but the 1984 BBC production directed by David Giles and starring Leonard Rossiter is a fine production.

I'm no Shakespeare scholar - or even a super knowledgeable fan - but I wonder about why King John isn't more widely regarded. It has some great speeches and iconic scenes and Giles' version is especially well-performed. Rossiter is fantastic as the selfish, sometimes cowardly John, but George Costigand steals the show as the king's intelligent and humorous bastard nephew, son of the late King Richard. There's also some great casting for a couple of English noblemen, starting with Robert Brown, who was M in the '80s Bond movies.

John Castle is another cool actor who plays a noble. I wouldn't have known him before this project, but he was King John's brother Geoffrey in The Lion in Winter. Geoffrey's dead by the time King John takes place, but his presence is still very much felt. In Lion in Winter, Geoffrey's claim to the throne wasn't supported by either of his parents, but he did have the new king of France (played then by young Timothy Dalton) as an ally. In King John, King Philip is much older, but still supports Geoffrey's family. In fact, the play's drama is kicked off by Philip's insistence that Geoffrey's son is the rightful ruler of England.

There are some speeches that go long in the middle, but I'll sit through those for lopped-off heads and people falling off of castle walls. Sadly, I couldn't find a movie about John's son, Henry III, so next time we'll skip ahead to grandson Edward.

British History in Film | Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991) and Robin Hood (2010)

Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)



This one gets laughed at quite a bit, but I love it, even with its American Robin Hood. That has a lot to do with Alan Rickman, of course, though his Sheriff crosses from merely ambitiously evil into some truly creepy and despicable territory. That's the script and not Rickman's performance, but it does keep me from wholeheartedly enjoying that character.

I also love Michael Kamen's score and even the cheesy Brian Adams song, "(Everything I Do) I Do It For You." It's the one Brian Adams song I've ever liked, but I like it without reservation. Probably because of it's association with this movie.

On top of all that are some great set pieces. There's plenty not to like, too, but over all it's the big budget, spectacular Robin Hood that I wanted and it still holds up.

Robin Hood (2010)



It's barely a Robin Hood movie, but I still enjoy it as simply a medieval adventure. Ridley Scott is always visually exciting and I'm a huge fan of most of the cast from Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett to Max von Sydow, Mark Strong, Oscar Isaac, Mark Addy, Matthew Macfadyen, Kevin Durand, and Léa Seydoux. I even really like William Hurt in it and that's not something I can usually say about his movies. Also, the music is great, thanks to musician/actor (and appropriately named) Alan Doyle as the minstrel Allan A'Dayle.

Something interesting that Scott's movie does is place the action after the death of King Richard. Prince John is now King John, but no less spoiled and oppressive. Next week, we'll check in on him again during his later reign via Shakespeare.

British History in Film | The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938) and Robin Hood (1973)

The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)



A wonderful spectacle that includes most of my favorite Robin Hood stories in a single film. And what Errol Flynn lacks in Douglas Fairbanks' sheer acrobatic ability, he makes up in swordsmanship and charm. It's tough for me to pick a favorite between the two of them.

Meanwhile, Claude Rains is a memorable Prince John and Basil Rathbone is always a delicious foil for Flynn. I'm not a huge fan of Olivia de Havilland as Marian - not when I have Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio to compare her to - but she's fine and I have no complaints either.

Robin Hood (1973)



Made during a time when Disney was creating animated features on the cheap, but it's no less charming for that. It's not the best Robin Hood, but it will always be my Robin Hood.

British History in Film | Ivanhoe (1952) and Robin Hood (1922)

Ivanhoe (1952)



Last time, we left off with Henry II still king and fighting with his wife about who would take his place. She wanted Richard; he wanted John. If you know nothing else about the history of medieval Britain, you know that Richard won that argument. And you know it because of stories like Ivanhoe and Robin Hood.

I debated which to watch first, but settled on Ivanhoe just to get it out of the way. I love Walter Scott's novel, but the movie doesn't do it justice and weakens the Robin Hood character (which it just calls Locksley). And Robert Taylor's performance as the title character is super stiff. I think he's going for noble, but jeez he's wooden and it's surprising that Elizabeth Taylor and Joan Fontaine both go for him. The women are equally great though. Taylor easily makes me root for her, but Fontaine gives her character plenty of complicated emotions, too. I like them both.

George Sanders is doing what George Sanders does as the villain, but I always like that and De Bois-Guilbert is a tragic variety of his typical cad. The jousting scene and the attack on the castle are both a lot of fun, too. Ivanhoe isn't not one of my favorite medieval swashbucklers, but it still has plenty to recommend it.

Robin Hood (1922)



Now for the good stuff. Douglas Fairbanks' silent version of Robin Hood is an origin story, so Robin Hood as we know him doesn't appear until halfway through the movie. That might sound similar to complaints about the Ridley Scott version, but thanks to Fairbanks' impressive charm and some great humor, even the Hoodless half is a lot of fun.

Once the movie enters familiar territory, it gets even better with lavish sets and Fairbanks proving why he's the king of the swashbucklers. Silent or not, this version sets a high bar for other Robin Hood films. Next week, we'll look at a couple of more and see if they clear it.

7 Days in May | Holmes, Hood, and the Headless Horseman

Nosferatu (1922)



I've seen this so many times, but watching it again, I noticed a couple of story problems. How does Orlok get control of Knock? And Professor Bulwer, the Van Helsing character, has no purpose in the movie. He doesn't even directly interact with any other characters until the very last scene and even then it's only to observe what the real characters are doing.

But the style of Nosferatu is so strong, and Orlok is so utterly horrifying (thanks both to Max Schreck's performance and the way director FW Murnau shot him), that nothing else matters. It's not only the best adaptation of Dracula, it's the best vampire movie ever.

The Paleface (1922)

This lesser Buster Keaton short is full of racial stereotypes and hard to watch. They can't all be winners.

Cops (1922)

I love Buster Keaton's usual brand of slapstick, but the action in this short becomes more absurd than I like. It's also mean-spirited in that a lot of the comedy happens at the expense of innocent people. And finally, the plot that sets up Keaton's being chased by an entire police force is shakier than what I'm used to from him. It's still very funny in places, because Keaton, but not one I'll come back to a lot.

My Wife’s Relations (1922)

This is more like it. Due to a language barrier with a judge, Buster Keaton accidentally gets married into a rough family. As expected though, he stoically and resourcefully holds his own. I especially love the dinner table scene where he can't get a bite of his own food for having to constantly pass dishes up and down the table to the others. I've been there, pal.

Sherlock Holmes (1922)



Sort of "Scandal in Bohemia" meets Young Sherlock Holmes, only Holmes and Watson meet in college. It also plays up Holmes' feelings for Irene Adler (renamed Alice Faulkner, but it's following the "Scandal" plot) to a level that's unbelievable for Holmes fans. And it not only inserts Moriarty into the tale; it makes him the reason for Holmes' becoming a detective in the first place. So, lots of liberties taken here.

It's not a strong mystery either and Holmes says things like, "It's easier to know so-and-so is guilty than to explain how I know it." In other words, it barely feels like Sherlock Holmes. John Barrymore is handsome in the role, but I wish he was in a more faithful adaptation. Enjoyable; just not essential.

The Blacksmith (1922)

A really strong short with Buster Keaton as a blacksmith. I can't tell if he's a partner or an apprentice in the business, but he works with another smith who's played by ubiquitous Keaton co-star/nemesis, Joe Roberts. The two are adversaries, but when Roberts' character finally takes his abuse too far and goes to jail, Keaton takes over the whole business. The gags mostly involve Keaton's destroying everything he touches, but they're all funny and I particularly like the bit where he fits a horse for new shoes.

The Frozen North (1922)

This is apparently a parody of William S Hart melodramas, but I've only seen one Hart movie, so I didn't get the joke. It's strange seeing Buster Keaton play a thieving, murderous villain, but not as strange as the plot, which was hard for me to follow. Some of the gags got chuckles from me, but this is low on my ranking of Keaton films.

The Electric House (1922)

When Buster Keaton is mistaken for an electrical engineer and hired to wire a new home for electricity, I thought the gags would involve his incompetence to do the job (especially since I watched this back-to-back with The Blacksmith). Surprisingly, he does a great job and fills the house with awesome gadgets, including an escalator and a train system to deliver food from the kitchen to the dining room table. The jokes come from Keaton's being the wrong person to operate the house as he demonstrates it to the owners, but once he leaves, that's going to be a cool place to live.

Robin Hood (1922)



It's an origin story, so Robin Hood as we know him doesn't appear until halfway through the movie. But thanks to the charming Douglas Fairbanks and some great humor, even the Hoodless half is a lot of fun. Once the movie enters familiar territory, it gets even better with lavish sets and Fairbanks proving why he's the king of the swashbucklers. Highly recommended. I may even like this one better than Errol Flynn's (which I like a lot).

Day Dreams (1922)

Cute, but slight short film in which Buster Keaton writes letters to his sweetheart back home to report on his progress in building the fortune he needs to marry her. He'll tell her that he's "cleaning up on Wall Street" and she'll daydream about his being a stock tycoon, but of course he's actually a street sweeper. This kind of thing repeats a few times until he finally comes home to reveal his failure and face the consequences. It's a depressing scenario, but the individual gags are still very funny.

The Headless Horseman (1922)

Pretty faithful, silent adaptation of the Washington Irving story. Will Rogers isn't quite as lanky an Ichabod Crane as I like, but he's fine. And the Headless Horseman effects are surprisingly great.

It pads itself out though with extra subplots. There's one about the mother of one of Ichabod's students and how she wants to drive Ichabod out of town because he's not Dutch. And another has Brom Bones try to get rid of Ichabod by making the town believe that the schoolteacher is practicing witchcraft. It's interesting enough stuff, but not necessary, especially when I'm anxious to get to the ghost at the end.

I also don't care for how the movie robs the story of what ambiguity it has about Ichabod's fate. I mean, I think Irving's tale is pretty clear about what happens to Ichabod, but it leaves room for different opinions. This movie picks a side and shows it outright, acknowledging the other point of view, but basically mocking it as nonsense.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling



This is my first time reading this, but I've seen the movie many many times. I enjoyed unfilmed scenes like Nearly Headless Nick's party and the additional tension around everyone's thinking that Harry is the Heir. I also hadn't picked up from the film that Dumbledore wasn't the headmaster during Tom Riddle's day. And the Chamber of Secrets sequence flows a lot better without the long chase.

Like in the first book, Harry's successes rely more on coincidence than I'd like, but all-in-all it's a fun book and I'm looking forward to Azkaban.

Oyster War by Ben Towle

While I love sea adventure stories, very few of them are fully satisfying to me. The Unsinkable Walker Bean is one of those, and now Oyster War is another. It combines Ben Towle's knack for well-researched, detailed historical fiction with exciting action, captivating characters, humor, and lots of imagination. And the book is packaged handsomely in an oversized, hardcover album with thick paper, so it's as pleasurable to hold as it is to read.

10 movies I loved in 2010

So here they are. My ten favorite films from last year. Not necessarily the "best" in any objective way, but the ten I unabashedly dug the most.

Number 10



The other Leonardo DiCaprio movie that invites more than one possible interpretation. I like this one more though because though everything wasn't spelled out, it didn't need to cut away just before a crucial moment to deliver the ambiguity. We got the complete story. How we interpret it is up to us.

Number 9



Iron Man 2 got a lot of flack for not being Iron Man. And its critics are right that it isn't as tight a movie as the first one and feels like it spends a lot of time setting up The Avengers. But it was very entertaining in the process and though I never felt like Tony was actually going to die, I was engaged by the mystery of how he was going to survive. Which really, is as much as any adventure series with a recurring character can do. Besides, if nothing else, the film brought Scarlett Johannson as Black Widow and that's Top Ten worthy all by itself.

The Awesome List: That's What Marnie Said

Tonner's Lord of the Rings dolls



These ain't no action figures.

After the break: Robin Hood, giant robot chess, Alfred Hitchcock meets Michael Scott, and more.

Movie News: Drew Barrymore and Flying Monkeys

Dawn Treader poster



Saw this poster at the movie theater last week. It's been so long since we've had any updates that I'd almost forgotten about the movie. Which is a shame because it's my favorite Narnia book and so by all rights should be the best film in the series. These things take so long to crank out though that I'm skeptical about the chances of the series' continuing far past this one. Hopefully it'll do really well as the holiday release that Prince Caspian should have been and the next ones will get fast-tracked. [/Film]

Another 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea



Because it's not tough enough keeping track of two Three Musketeers films, now there are two 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea movies in development as well. Disney's (captained by David Fincher) and now one by Ridley and Tony Scott; written by one of the guys who wrote the Clash of the Titans remake. The Scotts' version will be set in the future to connect it more closely with Jules Vernes' scifi intentions than with his actual nineteenth-century setting. I can't say that I'm excited about that. [The Hollywood Reporter]

After the break: a sea monster, Alpha Flight, Empires of the Deep, the Robin Hood post mortem, Three Musketeers, Hitman 2, Salt, and after Oz.

Movie News: The Happiest Hive of Scum and Villainy on Earth

Well, the Twitter experiment is a bust. Partially because I got tired of struggling with Tinying links, but mostly because it just wasn't as much fun. Time consuming as they are, I actually like creating these posts. Thanks for your patience while I figured that out.

Some of the stuff below was on Twitter last week, but not all of it.

Empires of the Deep



Empires of the Deep is the undersea adventure being produced by both US and Chinese filmmakers. I've talked about it before because I love the concept, but I've also been skeptical that it'll be any better than Dragon Wars. There's some encouraging news though in that Olga Kurylenko (Hitman, Quantum of Solace) will be in it. Dragon Wars also had some folks I liked in it, so this is no guarantee of quality, but Kurylenko is much better looking than Jason Behr and Craig Robinson. If nothing else, the movie will still be breathtakingly gorgeous. [/Film]

How to Train Your Dragon 2



Repeating myself from Twitter: I'm tempted to take a cynical view of Dreamwork's greenlighting a How to Train Your Dragon sequel, but a) this should come as absolutely no surprise, and b) I loved the first one so much that I'd like more. I just hope it's more along the lines of Shrek 2 (which I liked better than the first one) than Madagascar 2. [/Film]

Robin Hood Stills



/Film has tons of them.

A teenaged assassin, Thor, and Star Wars Land after the break.

Movie News: Chinese Cowboys and Other Seekers of Fortune and Glory

Robin Hood 2



The first one's not out yet, but they're already talking sequel. Apparently, Ridley Scott envisions the first one as the origin story and the sequel would follow Robin through the height of his career, possibly all the way to the signing of the Magna Carta. Though Scott describes that as 17 years of events, so is he possibly thinking of multiple sequels?

All this concerns me a bit for this first movie. Especially the part where Scott implies that you won't really get that Russell Crowe is Robin Hood until the last few minutes. I'm now trying to adjust my expectations from Russell-Crowe-as-Robin-Hood to Russell-Crowe-in-a-generic-medieval-adventure-film. That does require a large shift in thinking, but there's no reason that I wouldn't enjoy Russell Crowe in a generic, medieval adventure film directed by Ridley Scott. [/Film]

The Good, the Bad, the Weird



Make sure to check out the trailer for this Chinese adaptation of The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. As much as I respect the original, this looks like a lot of fun. An Eastern Western with heavy Indiana Jones influences. [Updated: A commenter let me know that - while it's set in China and was shot there - the movie's actually Korean. And not half bad either.]

Buy Indy's hat



Speaking of the archeologist, his hat - signed by Harrison Ford - is up for auction and there are still a couple of days left to bid (the auction closes shortly after midnight on Thursday morning). Current bid as I'm typing this is over $10,000, so make sure that checkbook's balanced.

Joss Whedon, Clash of the Titans, and a couple of alien invasions after the break.

We the People

On last weekend's What are You Reading? feature at Robot 6, I talked briefly about what should have been an awesome comic. The descendents of Robin Hood, Sinbad, and Zorro taking to streets of a modern city? Sounds great! Unfortunately... not so much.

Elsewhere on the Internets...

It's been a while since I've done one of these, so there's more stuff than usual to share. Here's some of what else I've been up to online lately. I'll probably need one or two more posts like this to catch up to the rest.

Gorillas Riding Dinosaurs

There were two things that always got me excited as a kid: pirates and medieval stuff. Whether it was King Arthur, Ivanhoe, Robin Hood, or something else, I always thrilled to tales of chivalry, plate mail, and yew bows. But then I found Star Wars and everything else didn’t seem as exhilarating anymore.

Well, now I’m grown up and Star Wars has lost nearly all its shine. Jack Sparrow has rekindled my love for swashbuckling scoundrels of the seas, but so far nothing has gotten me excited about castles and wizards again. Not until Demons of Sherwood, that is. Bo Hampton and Robert Tinell’s webcomic turned graphic novel has everything a good medieval story needs: knights, damsels (sometimes in distress; sometimes rescuing distressed fellas), merry men, spooky woods, noblemen of questionable trustworthiness, holy relics, and enough of the supernatural to make things interesting without turning the whole thing into a fantasy tale. It’s also very grounded in reality.

I’m not talking so much about research or historical accuracy, though it may have those things going for it too as far as I know. What I mean is that the art and the script have weight to them. The story reads as if it’s happening to real people, in spite of the utterly fantastic things that are going on around them.

Read more here.

When I reviewed Book One of The Good Neighbors back in the day, I was struck with the maturity that Black and Naifeh brought to their story. Black’s known for The Spiderwick Chronicles and Naifeh’s known for all sorts of kid-friendly stuff like Courtney Crumrin, Death Jr., and Polly and the Pirates. The Good Neighbors, on the other hand, is about a college girl named Rue whose mother is missing and whose father is a suspect in not only Mom’s disappearance, but also the death of one of Rue’s schoolmates. I was impressed with how dark and serious the story was, but how at the same time Black and Naifeh kept the characters lively enough to prevent it from becoming oppressive. They continue that balance in Book Two.

At the end of the first volume, Rue learned that her mother was a faerie; the daughter of the Faerie King who was won in a bet by Rue’s human father. But one of the conditions of the prize was that Rue’s mom would return to her people if Rue’s father were ever unfaithful, which he was. Which explains Mom’s disappearance. The dead student was a related, but tangential casualty of another faerie-related matter. As it turns out, Rue’s paternal grandfather is planning a takeover of Rue’s town and the local faerie activity is getting out-of-control as a result. The trouble is that no one but Rue – thanks to her mother’s heritage – can see it. In Kith, Grandpa’s plan takes a huge step forward as he demonstrates how far he’s willing to go to achieve it. And those who oppose him demonstrate how far they're willing to go to stop him.

So, I don’t know how you feel about faeries. They’re rarely near the top of my list of Things That Are Awesome, but I think that’s largely because of what Disney’s done to the concept. Not that I hate Disney, but they’ve turned faeries into Things That Are Quaint. Read the original tales – or, say, Mike Mignola’s take on them in Hellboy – and you remember that these can be malicious, scary creatures. Those are the kinds of faeries in The Good Neighbors. They’re intelligent, scheming, and utterly inhuman in their priorities and motivations. Black gives us the first hint of this in Book One when a flashback reveals the complete inability of Rue’s mother to relate to or comfort her daughter. When Rue comes home in tears because her friends laughed at her at school, her mother’s response is was to smile coldly and say something like, “How nice. You made them laugh.” Maybe it’s the parent in me, but I found that chilling.

Read the rest here.

What Are You Reading



Made some quick comments about Maus for Robot 6's weekly feature.

Robot 6's Holiday Haul



The other 6ers and I talked about our comics-related holiday gifts, both given and received.

Movie News: Robin Hood, Doc Holliday, Bone, Avatar 2, and more

Robin Hood poster



The Further Adventures of Doc Holliday



No, it probably won't star Val Kilmer. The universe isn't that kind. But Paramount has bought the rights to a script that spices up the life of the old huckleberry. Incidentally, though I know exactly what they're doing (or maybe because I know exactly what they're doing), I'm really tired of hearing people say that their historical adventure movies are "in the vein of Pirates of the Caribbean."

Les Aventures Extraordinaires d'Adele Blanc-Sec trailer

Watch all the way to the end. This is going to be Awesome.



Meet your new Ian Fleming





James McAvoy has been signed to play Ian Fleming in a biopic about the James Bond creator's experiences in British Intelligence during WWII. At one point I'd heard that they were going to fictionalize some events to make them more exciting (in the vein of Pirates of the Caribbean, I guess), but I don't know if that's still the plan.

Knight and Day poster and trailer



I try. I really try. But I see stuff like the trailer for the new spy flick Knight and Day and I just can't stay mad at Tom Cruise.

Captain America and Green Lantern movie updates



/Film reports that Captain America starts filming this June (which means we should be hearing casting info soon) and Green Lantern has hired an Oscar-winning crew including the cinematographer from Memoirs of a Geisha, the production and costume designers from the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the art director from Avatar. I never thought I'd say this, but Green Lantern ought to be one gorgeous movie.

Bone movie won't try to cover entire story



Sounds like the people behind the CGI Bone movie have the right idea. They won't be trying to squeeze the entire epic into one film. According to producer Dan Lin, they're currently trying to figure out how many volumes of the series to try to fit into what they hope will be the first of a series of films. Lin mentions three or four.

Minor spoilers follow if you haven't read the series

Three would end with the Bones still in Barrelhaven, before things really start to turn bad for them there and the story takes a darker turn, so thematically that makes sense. If they included Volume 4, that would end with the Bones having to leave Barrelhaven which seems like a natural breaking point from a geographical standpoint. I guess my preference would be for ending it after Volume 3. Not only did Jeff Smith tend to think of the series in terms of trilogies, but it would also give the filmmakers room to include more stuff from the books.

Lin also reveals the the movie will be made by the folks who did Happy Feet.

Avatar 2



As if there was any doubt, there will be an Avatar sequel. It could explore unseen parts of Pandora (like the oceans or underworld) or it could take us to some of the other moons around that gas giant Pandora's orbiting.

Quotes of the Month: I want Iron Man and Captain America to finally kiss.

I’ve gotta say, that’s one low f***ing bar. Set expectations for vaguely competent, Mr. Sulu! Today we’re going for multiple genres!
--Dirk Deppey, on a headline title implying that publishing non-superhero comics is somehow new and revolutionary.

...why is there a Storm Trooper in this photo, and why isn't he shooting and shooting and shooting until there's nothing left but his memories of what he'd seen, and then he starts shooting them too.
--Paul Tobin, presenting the only question a sane person can possibly ask after viewing this.

Or at least his epidermis is steel, I dunno what happens to sweetum's internals and guts and all that when he goes for the ball, or a brick, or a fluffy kitty. And I don't want to know, nobody should give a rat's ass about stuff like that, especially because if you make enough of a fanboy stink (insert joke here) some Marvel nitwit will write a story explaining it and that's a large part of what f***ed superhero comics up in the first place.
--Evan Dorkin, using the Absorbing Man to simultaneously pinpoint everything that is both right and wrong with modern superhero comics.

At some point, it's hard to backseat drive folks that set out to make millions of dollars and then succeed in doing so, even when you feel they're playing audience Jenga.
--Tom Spurgeon, on second-guessing what's wrong with modern superhero comics.

In the end, geeks love a thing -- any thing -- enough to immerse themselves in its most minute detail, to discuss it and dissect it and construct charmingly elaborate theories/tiresomely belligerent opinions about it. What that thing happens to be? That matters much less, if at all.
--Glen Weldon, supporting my long-held opinion that sports fans are giant nerds too.

Let me tell you that's there's only one Robin Hood movie that matters, and I'm not talking about the Kevin Costner one (although it does have a place in my heart as the first movie I saw on a date): Ooh-de-lally ooh-de-lally, motherf***ers. All the other Robin Hoods can f*** off.
--Topless Robot's Rob Bricken, who may be over-reacting to the trailers for Ridley Scott's Robin Hood, but still has excellent taste in Robin Hood films.

This is what I am truly hoping for with Girl Comics: I want the comics to be ridiculous enough to match the ridiculous title. I want it to be silly and fun and gratuitous and shamelessly girly. I want the male superheroes exploited. I want a shirtless Daredevil centrefold. I want a soft focus every time Winter Soldier appears. I want a round table "Who would you do?" discussion between all of the women on that cover (especially Sue Storm, because you know it would make her uncomfortable at first). I want Namor to appear in this series for whatever reason. I want a bunch of ladies to pull a prank on Tony Stark because he deserves it. I want to see dating and drinking and shopping punctuated by the occasional ass-kicking. I want Iron Man and Captain America to finally kiss.
--Rachelle Goguen, proving that she should write every single story in Marvel's upcoming Girl Comics anthology. [By way of Robot 6]

10 Favorite Movie Characters: Adaptation Edition

Siskoid started it this time. Since we both limited our original 10 Favorite Movie Characters lists to characters who'd originated in movies, he thought it would be fun to do a separate list of characters adapted from other media. And so did I.

I didn't start off with extra rules for myself this time, but in order to trim my list down to 10 (from an original 23) I decided that the final cut would be made up only of characters where I actually prefer the movie version to the original. I'll list the other 13 at the end without much in the way of additional comments.

Incidentally, I'm glad I waited to read Siskoid's list until after I finished my own. His would have heavily influenced mine since I also love - amongst others - Michael Caine's Alfred and JK Simmons' Jonah Jameson.

1. Robin Hood (Robin Hood)



I didn't see Errol Flynn's version of Robin Hood until I was an adult, so my childhood image of the character was shaped mostly by Howard Pyle's thorough, but mostly dry accounts of his exploits. As a result, I loved the idea of Robin Hood, but didn't truly fall in love with the character until Disney turned him into a dashing, cunning, swashbuckling fox (whom I still prefer to Errol Flynn, by the way).

2. Henry V (Henry V)



Kenneth Branagh is single-handedly responsible for making me fall in love with Shakespeare. His performance in Henry V is what did it. Until then I thought Shakespeare's history plays were pretty dull, dry stuff (I'd never seen one performed at that point), but Branagh brought it to life. He made it exciting to watch young, foolish Prince Hal transform himself into a competent and inspirational leader.

3. Gomez Addams (Addams Family, Addams Family Values)



Let's face it: Gomez Addams in Charles Addams' cartoons doesn't have a lot of personality. And though John Astin is funny and charming as the character, he doesn't equal the hilarious, manic insanity of Raul Julia's performance. Julia made me want to be Gomez. (Though Angelica Huston as Morticia didn't make the fantasy any less appealing either.)

4. Hawkeye (The Last of the Mohicans)



I couldn't make it all the way through James Fenimore Cooper's famous novel. Conversely, I can't stop watching the Michael Mann movie. One of my favorite things to do is watch Daniel Day Lewis play dapper, stuffy Cecil in A Room with a View and then immediately watch him as the iconically rugged Hawkeye. His range as an actor blows my mind.

5. Porthos (The Three Musketeers)



The literary Porthos is okay, but he's also an arrogant, vain blowhard. Platt's version, on the other hand, is a dashing pirate. I wish this production would've spent some money on costumes, because other than that it's my favorite adaptation of The Three Musketeers.

6. Rogue (X-Men)



I've always been a big fan of Rogue and by all rights I should have hated the changes they made to her in X-Men. But Anna Paquin made me love her all over again as a completely different character by combining the least annoying parts of Kitty Pride with the pathos of Rogue. And Paquin is such a talented actress that I root for her so much harder than I root for the comics version (who, frankly, can be infuriating at times).

7. Boromir (The Fellowship of the Ring)



I hate Boromir in Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring. He's a whiny, deluded, backstabbing bastard. I get that we're supposed to think he's more than that, but we're not given any reason to see him as more. Not until Sean Bean came along we're not. Thanks to him and Peter Jackson's script, Boromir becomes a tragic character that I deeply wish could've come to a different end.

8. Susan Pevensie (The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe)



I saw the Narnia films before I read CS Lewis' series and wow was I ever disappointed in Susan as Lewis wrote her. The film version of Susan is the most hesitant of the Pevensie siblings, but she eventually comes around and her early reluctance makes her final acceptance that much more sweet and powerful. I like her much more than Lucy who seems to come to faith so easily. Susan's more relatable because she has to work so hard. Unfortunately, Lewis' Susan never overcomes and becomes a symbol of lost faith. What a rip off.

9. Tony Stark (Iron Man)



Comics Tony Stark: Rich jerk who's only interesting when he's making me hate him for killing Captain America.

Movie Tony Stark: "I'm sorry. This is the fun-vee. The humdrum-vee is back there."

10. Scotty (Star Trek)



Absolutely no disrespect intended to James Doohan who eventually turned Scotty into a sweet, lovable character, but his young Scotty wasn't sweet and lovable. Maybe I'm missing the point (and let me know if I am), but as far as I can tell he was mostly there to fix the ship, run the transporters, and occasionally make us chuckle. Simon Pegg's Scotty, on the other hand, was the brightest spot in an already fun, bright movie.

Characters I like about the same as the versions they're adapted from:

• Ebenezer Scrooge (pretty much every version of A Christmas Carol)
• James Bond (as played in Doctor No, From Russia with Love, Thunderball, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, For Your Eyes Only, The Living Daylights, Goldeneye, Casino Royale, and Quantum of Solace)
• Frankenstein's Monster (as played in Bride of Frankenstein)
• Captain Blood (as played by Errol Flynn in Captain Blood)
• Jayne (Serenity, which is kind of cheating since it was the same actor playing the same character from Firefly, but still...)

Adapted characters I like, but have never seen or read about the original version:

• Lucy Honeychurch (A Room with a View)
• Amos Starkadder (Cold Comfort Farm)
• Mouse Alexander (Devil in a Blue Dress)
• Severus Snape (the Harry Potter films)
• John Rambo (First Blood)
• Cal McAffrey (State of Play)
• Mr. Knightley (Emma)
• V (V for Vendetta)