The Most Valuable Tool

for a director, besides the screenplay are his storyboards. If you aren't involved in film, storyboards are what directors use to visualize their film before starting to shoot, sort of like a comic book version of the movie.

So, it constantly SURPRISES me that Hollywood can completely SCREW UP movies based on comic books. How hard is it to translate what is essentially 50 volumes of storyboards for the big screen?

Granted there are some exceptions to the screw up rule: SPIDER-MAN 1 & 2, X-Men, Richard Donner's Version of SUPERMAN, which seem to avoid breaking the rule. Recently though movies like THE PUNISHER can't seem to click with audiences. Why not? I think it's because most of the people that are WRITING the movie version have never SEEN a Comic Book, or "Graphic Novel" as they are called these days. The other reason is that the Hollywood Execs that APPROVE such things don't understand the core audience.

I bring this up, because tonight in less than 2 hours from when I post this, the latest comic book franchise is relaunched with BATMAN BEGINS. Directed by CHRISTOPHER NOLAN (Insomnia, Momento), and starring CHRISTIAN BALE (Laurel Canyon, American Psycho, Empire Of The Sun) as Bruce Wayne. This movie is NOTHING like the last films directed by JOEL SCHUMACHER, which reduced Tim Burton's dark vision into a rehash of the TV Show which starred Adam West.

Once of the complaints I had with the TIM BURTON version of Batman back in 1989 was that it didn't give any depth to the Bruce Wayne Character, WHY was he a BAT MAN and not say, Gerbil man? What drove him to fight crime? WHERE did he get the cave, WHERE did he get the Car?

BATMAN BEGINS is a character driven movie, that delves into this aspect, we finally get to see what drives Bruce Wayne into his role of crime fighter. This, from what I hear, is that the Core comic book audience is looking for.. a comic book movie that is true to the source material.

Hopefully, other studios see this movie, and take notes for any other comic book film in the works. I know that Warners is getting ready to relaunch the SUPERMAN franchise, with BRYAN SINGER (X-Men, The Usual Suspects) at the helm. Warners is getting it right, why can't the other studios?