Comic Book Villains (2002)

A Wasted Opportunity Mr. Robinson
James Robinson started out with a pretty good idea although I was hoping for a character based more on the comic book guy from "The Simpsons". He had enough money to make a technically solid feature out of his material, and he did a fairly good job of casting (except for Cary Elwes). I won't bother to summarize the plot but will just address what went wrong. And enough is wrong to render this thing genuinely terrible.

It appears that Robinson was inspired to totally change his original ending late in the game, but was not inspired enough to rewrite the first half of his screenplay (very lazy). Which means there is a HUGE disconnection between the first and the second halves of the movie. This is not a good thing because in the first half Robinson provides film language elements (signs and syntax) that point in an entirely different direction from the way the film ends up going. The whole idea of film is to effectively tell a story; bottom line is that writers and directors who do this well are considered talented.

As I was watching it I gave it more credit than it deserved. I was waiting for them to reveal that the mother and the robber had just set up the store-owners to teach them a lesson. After a point I had to abandon this idea and began to wonder if it was a parody without any humor. If that's the idea then someone should explain to Robinson that to be successful a parody should be funny.

There were some very good shots in this movie. Natasha Lyonne gave a particularly good performance even if it was a grown-up version of her "American Pie" character. So a lot of good work was totally wasted on something that doesn't work on any level which is very sad.

Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.

Comic Book Fan Boys Run Amouk
There is an underlining message to COMIC BOOK VILLIANS. All involved in this film must either hate comic books and its industry or know a lot about it... or care about comic books to put out this "message" film. It can go either way. In the mid-to-late 90's, the comic book industry and its subculture went on a collecting and memorabilia craze. People thought they were going to buy comic books as investments and be millionaires. That plan bottomed out and the industry nose-dived. COMIC BOOK VILLIANS indirectly is an outgrowth of what happened to the industry in the late 90's. The film is a cross between PULP FICTION, A SIMPLE PLAN, and VERY BAD THINGS with a touch of 'Kevin Smith' thrown into the mix. Two rival comic book storeowners Ray and Norman (Donal Logue / Michael Rapaport respectively) in a small town find out a local avid collector has died. Then they figure that they can get his comic book collection and sell it for a windfall. Unfortunately, the guy lived at his Mom's house (Eileen Brennan) where he kept his collection and she refuses to sell. So, the two rivals devise plans to woo her to get the collection. However, she stands her ground not to sell. They end up resorting to drastic measures to get the collection and it gets real ugly, and very, very, violent. The plot starts out innocently enough with the script and dialogue having "comic book-knowledge" banter and even mentions the SDComic Con Int. (The San Diego Comic Con International)etc. However, it suddenly takes a sharp left turn and it is jarring and unwatchable. None of the characters are likeable. The only positive aspect of the film is that one of the characters; a comic book aficionado (D.J. Qualls as Archie) realizes the futility of comic book collecting and comes out on top. Therefore, as stated, there is an underlining message of the film; and that it is telling comic book 'fan-boys' to "GET-A-LIFE!" and that there is a whole world out there to explore besides the world of comic books and its obsession with memorabilia and collections. The film is blatant in this message and if that is its main intent, it is a scathing dig on the whole culture of the comic book industry.

What a Funny and Good hearted movie
This is a movie for the fans of comic books, eccentric actors, and/or just for people who are generally odd-ball types. If you fit into any of the above categories, you must buy this movie! Or watch it on STARZ!