Saturday, April 23, 2005

Miller @ the Movies

Sin City was the talk of April at the movie theater so where will Frank Miller's inky aesthetics strike next cinematically speaking ? The obvious choice would be in Sin City Volume 2. Robert Rodriguez (that films renegade force) works fast. And he could always finish the job of adapting Frank Miller's stories of the town without pity; Miller and Rodriguez didn't deplete all of the graphic novels in this first hit movie.

Despite the hype, the now well-known and of-the-moment Sin City was not actually the first Miller inspired movie. 2003's incredibly botched Daredevilfilm holds that disappointing and undeserved honor. The film used Miller's very famous Elektra/Bullseye arc that put both the comic (a B level character and seller) and Frank Miller the writer/artist on the map back in the day. Let's not speak of Elektra... I haven't seen it. Don't intend to. I doubt I could take it given my love of the real character. You know, the one made of ink who does not also happen to go by the moniker of 'Jennifer Garner'.

Whether or not Sin City gets a quick sequel, I expect that we'll see someone attempt Ronin before long as well. Ronin is like a mass collision of already familiar, easily marketable movie genres --Samurai / Apocalyptic Future-- most prevalent among them. The other major Miller work that we'll see adapted soon (though development hell is always a danger) is 300, a graphic novel about the Persian/Greek war and the battle of Thermopylae war.

Zach Snyder is currently set to helm. Yay! Snyder's debut was the generally impressive and tightly wound remake ofDawn of the Dead so maybe he does have what it takes to pull off the herculean task of a bloody action-packed period epic. Any guesses as to whether or not it will make it to the screen on time (2006) and with Snyder still in? Or will Hollywood execs, known for their disloyalty to those without clout if those higher on the foodchain suddenly get interested (and that could happen with Miller being suddenly a name that Hollywood types know) dump him and move on to a more boring choice. Or maybe you think he's the wrong choice to begin with? Not I.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wasn't the Ronin you're referring to already adapted onto the big screen in 1998, with Robert De Niro? Or are the film and graphic novel different.

NATHANIEL R said...

Different. The Ronin on page is a futuristic sci-fi thing w/ Japanese influences. The Ronin onscreen (I did not see it) --isn't it a police thriller?

Gustavo H.R. said...

Update your Oscar predictions.

Anonymous said...

It's too early to update Oscar predictions. Nothings changed. Nothing's been released. etc...

Anonymous said...

Ronin is a car thriller set in France starring Robert DeNiro, Natasha McElhrone and Jean Reno...

...incase you actually wanted to know. The car chases were great, there rest was alright.

-Glenn

Anonymous said...

best regards, nice info » »