Comic Book Villains (2002) (V)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

James Robinson

Writer (WGA):

James Robinson (written by)

Release Date:

1 January 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Obsession. Betrayal. Revenge. And other funny business.

Plot:

Told from the point of view from Archie (Qualls), a comic book collector, this is the story of a rivalry between two comic book shop owners...

Plot Keywords:

Fire

Cast

Donal Logue	...	Raymond McGillicudy
Cary Elwes	...	Carter
Michael Rapaport	...	Norman Link
Natasha Lyonne	...	Judy
DJ Qualls	...	Archie
Eileen Brennan	...	Mrs. Cresswell
Monet Mazur	...	Kiki
Danny Masterson	...	Conan
James Duval	...	Baz
Marshall Bell	...	Gun Store Order
Chris Weber	...	Tony
Denny Kirkwood	...	Dino
Irene Montalà	...	Woman in Barcelona
Donnal Ward	...	Normal Customer
Ric Borelli	...	Slob

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence, some sexuality and drug content.

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Netherlands:12 (DVD rating) | Portugal:M/16 (video premiere) | Australia:MA | Canada:14A | USA:R

Company:

Capital Arts Entertainment

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Near the end of the film, when Carter is driving away in his truck, and Raymond is fighting him for the steering wheel, the gearshift is in the Park position.

Quotes:

Archie: After all that had happened, life and the living of it seemed too fleeting to waste in one place or on arguing whether Superman was stronger than the Hulk.

Movie Connections:

References Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)

What?

Was this supposed to be comedy? It could hardly be called funny. A serious movie? Let's not even ask.

This movie transitions from lighthearted, mediocre but sweet/harmless farce to some sort of dark thriller in a way that is simply bizarre. The characters went from benign to murderous without any evolution... they just went from good to evil, plain and simple (I apologize for using that phrase). Both halves of the movie were vaguely interesting, and watchable. Neither was amazing. If the writers had chosen one tone to stick with throughout the movie, it would've been a regular old two-star, maybe two-and-a-half. But this... this was like if halfway through You've Got Mail, Meg Ryan went insane for some reason and started murdering people. It just fundamentally doesn't make any sense.

As for the acting, Logue was actually fun to watch, Cary Elwes (of whom I'm a fan) made me cringe, Eileen Brennan was actually quite likable, and DJ Qualls was hardly ever on screen despite being the narrator. He went through the first half of the movie mildly, and the second half with a sense of unease. Just like me.