Thoughts on a Flash movie.
So I've been thinking about superhero movies and what does and doesn't work in them and the fact that my favorite hero, the Flash, is pretty fucked when it comes to thinking up a plot that would work for a cinema audience. Most successful comic book films require the audience to have some knowledge of the subject matter before hand. Superman leaps tall buildings, Batman angsts, Spider-man is spider like, Robert Downey Jr. plays himself in every film he's in, etc. It's when you try to make a film of a less popular hero and try to introduce them and make people car despite how completely stupid their origins are when you think about it too closely that you run into trouble.
With the Flash you have extra difficulties. Which Flash would you make a film about? Jay is old, Barry is the boring straight guy to Hal and Ollie's douchebag wackiness, Wally doesn't work without Barry, and Bart really doesn't work even with all his predecessors because his family tree is insane even by comic book standards. And no matter how often people make the mistake, no, Flash Gordon is not a member of the Flash family. No.
Furthermore how can you make "goes fast" look cool on film? There's only many ways Matrix style bullet time can be used before people are sick of it. And what villain would he fight? The strength of Flash villains is that they're organized and have learned from experience. For movies, especially origin movies, you need a straight forward bad guy. If there's a personal grudge going on, even better.
My solution to all this? Period film. Barry Allen is a police scientist in the late 70's/early 80's and a lab accident gives him powers. Period police procedurals are the hot new thing. Life on Mars was a hit in the UK and it's being adapted for America. Jay Garrick is around as a retired superhero promoting the idea that while superheros/supervillains are a normal thing in this world, they're kind of silly and old fashion which is why people would think to rob banks dressed insanely but there isn't a ton of people who do it. Instead of doing the traditional supervillain punchfest ending, have Barry use his police connections to solve a series of murders that require superhero abilities for some reason.
Setting it back just a couple decades mean it has a new twist, avoids having to make a real world current event statement, and leaves room to have Wally in any Justice League movie that gets made without worrying about continuity. Also you don't have a million Law and Order and CSI geeks bitching about every detail because hey, it's not set in present day. Suspend your investigative sense of disbelief.
Maybe I'm wrong. This might be a terrible idea. But I like it. Think of punching thugs dressed in 80's fashion at the speed of sound. Doesn't it warm your heart?
Alternately, there is one procedural I might watch even harder:
With the Flash you have extra difficulties. Which Flash would you make a film about? Jay is old, Barry is the boring straight guy to Hal and Ollie's douchebag wackiness, Wally doesn't work without Barry, and Bart really doesn't work even with all his predecessors because his family tree is insane even by comic book standards. And no matter how often people make the mistake, no, Flash Gordon is not a member of the Flash family. No.
Furthermore how can you make "goes fast" look cool on film? There's only many ways Matrix style bullet time can be used before people are sick of it. And what villain would he fight? The strength of Flash villains is that they're organized and have learned from experience. For movies, especially origin movies, you need a straight forward bad guy. If there's a personal grudge going on, even better.
My solution to all this? Period film. Barry Allen is a police scientist in the late 70's/early 80's and a lab accident gives him powers. Period police procedurals are the hot new thing. Life on Mars was a hit in the UK and it's being adapted for America. Jay Garrick is around as a retired superhero promoting the idea that while superheros/supervillains are a normal thing in this world, they're kind of silly and old fashion which is why people would think to rob banks dressed insanely but there isn't a ton of people who do it. Instead of doing the traditional supervillain punchfest ending, have Barry use his police connections to solve a series of murders that require superhero abilities for some reason.
Setting it back just a couple decades mean it has a new twist, avoids having to make a real world current event statement, and leaves room to have Wally in any Justice League movie that gets made without worrying about continuity. Also you don't have a million Law and Order and CSI geeks bitching about every detail because hey, it's not set in present day. Suspend your investigative sense of disbelief.
Maybe I'm wrong. This might be a terrible idea. But I like it. Think of punching thugs dressed in 80's fashion at the speed of sound. Doesn't it warm your heart?
Alternately, there is one procedural I might watch even harder: