Comic Book: The Movie

I was fortunate enough to see an advance screening of Mark Hamill's 'Comic Book: The Movie.' The low budget mockumentary is good natured and features some nice performances (highlighted by Hamill's portrayal of the comic-fan made documentarian that the story revolves around.)

There are many cameos by comic celebs like Stan Lee, Bruce Campbell and Kevin Smith. It also provides a window into the strange annual event known as Comiccon where thousands gather to celebrate fandom. The core story invokes the frustration of fans who suffer when classic properties are bastardized by Hollywood and in this story the fans strike back.

The movie is a bit long and loses its way for a while about an hour in but overall it entertaining and charming. The film is a celebration of comic books and the people who love them. It lacks the razor wit that Christopher Guest's films possess (A Mighty Wind, Best in Show) but this one is more authentic and seems to be a labor of love.

This is a nice little film and I recommend it.

The movie was rather odd, but it did have its moments. It works better if one really knows comics, vintage collectibles, the movie industry, and the actors involved (especially the ones known for voiceovers for popular shows). For those heavily into science fiction and comics, it was fun to pick out the people making cameos, including the "Men Behind the Mask." Mark Hamill's approach showed respect and reverence for the fan base, as well as poking a healthy dose of fun at the movie industry. The DVD has a lot of extra information including some of the panels these talented actors chaired. The movie was made for the fans, but unlike some movies of this ilk, they showed respect instead of making it a geeks on parade feature.

I was very excited to see this and sat patiently for two years while it spent months collecting dust on the Miramax shelves, finally being released direct-to-video. I'm in it--kinda. Since I was at the Comic-Con that year--I can see about a fourth of my face in one of the crowd shots--this added to the excitement. And I'm a comic fan, and a Mark Hamill fan and a fan of cartoon voices. So what could go wrong?

So I watched it, finally, and desperately wanted to like it. I mean, it was about comic fans! But...after the first five minutes or so the novelty wore off and I was stuck with a draggy, boring movie. The cast is game, but without much going on it gets a-mighty tedious. Still, it was nice to revisit a great con that I've not been to since two years after it happened.

For a much more entertaining evening, go to the second disk on the DVD package for "Behind the Voices," the hysterical symposium fans sat through to get themselves on film. They cut out most of it, (the guys doing the Animaniacs singing the Country song from memory, Billy West singing "Happy Happy Joy Joy) but it's still great. The movie: C+ The Other Stuff: B+

Well for starters its Mark Hamill walking around, pretending to be a super comic book nerd that centers his attention around a 1940's circa comic book, that Mirimax has recently picked up to be made into a modern day movie. The production company wants it to be bloody and action packed, Donald Swan (Hamill) wants it to be more like the older comic he has grown to love and adore. So the movie company hires him as an "expert" to go around and get the average joes "perceptive" on this would be movie (which is not real people). What makes this mock-umentary so neat is that big names like Stan Lee, Bruce Campbell, and Kevin Smith play along like its the real deal, and talk to Hamill like he isnt Hamill. Even the fans don't rush him yelling Skywalker or anything. Overall its fun to watch, and funny to see the conventions he goes too, and naturally Kevin Smith is pure gold!! A must own for any comic book fan.

I don't understand -- I like comic books, but I don't love them. I know some of the players in the industry (Stan Lee, Paul Dini, etc.), but not personally and not all of them. But this movie just SUCKED. The female and male studio execs were annoying, the cameraman was lame and even Billy West pulls out some stupid, creepy performance. Mark Hamill is best when he's excited about comics and the rest of it plays out terribly. I paid for this and will be going to the store to return it. Jeers, Hamill, jeers.