Review of Comic Book Villains

Introduction

Apart from Unbreakable, there haven`t been many recent movies focusing on comic books. James Dale Robinson seems to be keen on the subject matter, as he not only directed but also wrote this tale of how everyday comic book geeks can get all hot under the collar and resort to violence when a major collection is up for grabs.

After an avid collector dies and leaves behind him a wife and a comic book collection worth thousands of dollars, word spreads quickly, and rival geeks start rallying for their possession. The geeks in question are Raymond (played by Donal Logue), Carter (Cary Elwes), married couple Norm (Michael Rapaport - who had a guest role in Friends) and Judy (Natasha Lyonne - American Pie et al), and Archie (DJ Qualls - Road Trip). They are at each other`s throats and hatch various schemes in order to win Mrs Cresswell over, but all seem doomed to fail.

And for all the real comic book geeks out there, yes, there is a whole host of trivia in the movie, most in the form of banter between very competitive collector`s who are always trying to trip the other up in more ways than one.

Video

It is presented in 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen, and the visuals are deep and well defined, as one would come to expect from a modern-day movie. There is the odd compression sign visible, but I really mean the odd one, as there aren`t any real flaws in the crisp print.

Although this is billed as a comedy of sorts, there are a few action scenes included, all directed with expertise by Robinson, although I suspect he is taking his first steps into the cinematic world, although they appear to be confident steps. Explosions, the odd gunshot...they`re all dressed up and fit well into the 93 minute running time.

Audio

A DD 5.1 track is on offer, and the surrounds, although used occassionally, are used well, as is the main audio stream to deliver the crisp dialogue.

The script is good, if a little cliché-ridden. Although Robinson shows originality in some scenes, in others he can`t make his mind up just what genre Comic Book Villains should fall into. Perhaps it is good that it displays ambiguity, but by the end of the movie you`ll feel that although the groundwork was good, the end product just didn`t sit properly.

Features

This is a Lions Gate Films release, so no extra-ridden disc is expected, but it would be nice. Anyway, this is what`s included:

Theatrical Trailer - OK then...the main extra is a trailer. Excellent.

`Orion The Hunter` Biography - this is a 3-page, static screen bio of what appears to be a comic book character.

The menus are static, designed as if it is a comic book page, and as well as the usual setup (play movie, scene selection, subtitles and extra features), they also have a screen showing the DVD credits.

Conclusion

Whilst Comic Book Villains boasts good performances (especially from Rapaport and Lyonne) and an original plot, it can`t help staying away from a tacky, out-of-place ending: it tries to have a Reservoir Dogs style climatic blood-splattering, but this fails miserably. It upsets the whole tone of the movie, and instead of ending on the same note it started on, it feels like Robinson is trying to make a comic-book orientated Pulp Fiction. From the different stories of each collector to the jumping in time (the opening voice-over occurs again towards the end of the movie), I have the suspicion that Robinson is trying to be the next Tarantino...

Disc wise, the quality of the presentation is good, but the extras are very sparse. As I`ve said many a time before, a measly trailer and 3 static pages just does not cut it nowadays.

Overall, this is interesting to watch as at first it ventures on new ground, but it can`t help falling to the deep, dark depths of Hollywood clichés.