February
4 'Wanted,' 'Iron Man' rock Super Bowl viewers

I was in Arizona over the weekend (though it had nothing to do with the Super Bowl) and only now am getting a look at the two big comicbook movie ads that aired during the game.

First, the ads for both movies — Marvel's "Iron Man" and U's "Wanted," based on the Top Cow comic — offered only the slightest glimpses of something new. Both films have had trailers out, and these short clips didn't give us a whole lot more than we'd seen before.

"Iron Man" continues to look like it's going to be an extremely solid movie. Robert Downey Jr. is an ideal casting choice for Tony Stark, and this may be the first instance of a second-tier Marvel hero spawning an A-list film franchise. Still, the coolness of "Iron Man" only makes the absence of any significant look so far at "The Incredible Hulk" increasingly worrisome. Also missing was an ad for "The Dark Knight," though obviously there are some tough issues surrounding promoting that with the recent death of Heath Ledger.

"Wanted" looks cool, but it's hard to overlook the fundamental change made to the plotline. In the graphic novel, Wesley is invited to join a group of super-VILLAINS — to take part in a fraternity of thoroughly nasty folks whose goal is to take the world for all its got. (It also explains the title: "Wanted," as in "10 Most Wanted Super Criminals.") The movie has morphed this into a "brotherhood of assassins" out to protect the world. So, yeah, the effects look cool and James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie look terrific doing all kinds of cool superhero-y things, but the closer this gets the more annoyed I am at this fundamental change in the plot, which I suspect was made to keep the film from being accused of glamorizing villainy, promoting violence, etc. The move amounts to little more than lip service anyway — as if a few lines of dialogue will take away from the seemingly awesome and outlandish portrayals of violence anyway.