This year, all-new versions of RoboCop (which we reviewed and that can be found here), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles AND Godzilla are returning to theaters and, beyond that, even more franchises will receive reboots. Some do a tremendous job revitalizing these classic stories, others... not so much. However, this week, we wanted to look back on the history of comic book reboots, not forward. We added 10 to the list (again, Transformers is there because the animated movie was a big deal) and since the poll was created on Tuesday, almost 400 Viners voted. In the end, only half of the poll's options received a good amount of love from the community, but only one of the movies took a clear lead: Batman Begins (insert Hans Zimmer music here).
While 1989's Batman does hold up, the franchise eventually went off the deep end. In 2005, director Christopher Nolan was able to successfully bring Bruce Wayne back for a whole new age. With a solid cast (Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Liam Neeson, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman) and creating a mythos the general audience likely hasn't seen before (Ra's al Ghul and the League of Shadows), Batman Begins was a terrific start to what is widely praised as one of the best comic book movie trilogies. One Comic Viner, kennybaese, explains why they wanted to vote for Dredd, but instead gave the nod to Batman Begins.
"I adore Dredd, but I don't think it's going to launch a franchise. This makes it more of a remake than a reboot in my opinion.
Batman Begins, on the other hand, was pretty incredible, especially given how far the Batman movie franchise had fallen. Coincidentally, I re-watched all three movies over the weekend, and while there are some over all tonal inconsistencies, the trilogy as a whole is a cohesive, epic, and moving story about what the Batman is. Batman Begins started that, with a balance of the dark, gothic look and comic book tone of the Tim Burton movies with the hyper-realistic cityscapes realistic(ish) terrorist drama that dominated the other two movies.
Batman Begins made Batman relevant again in a way he wouldn't have been without it, and set the stage for The Dark Knight's demand that comic book film be taken seriously and not dismissed entirely as popcorn entertainment. For that alone it gets my vote."
Here's the poll results. Dredd's in second place? You rock, Comic Viners.
- Batman Begins 37%
- Dredd 21%
- Man of Steel 16%
- The Amazing Spider-Man 11%
- Captain America: The First Avenger 10%
- The Incredible Hulk 2%
- Fantastic Four 1%
- The Punisher 1%
- Punisher: War Zone 1%
- Transformers 1%
Did you vote for Batman Begins or did another movie earn your support? Also, are there any upcoming reboots that have you really hyped? Get your conversation on, Viners! Also, don't forget to check the homepage next Tuesday for an all-new Comic Book Question of the Week. Seriously, you better be there!