Everyone’s favorite director, Brett Ratner, recently went on a bit of a rant to MTV News, talking about how he would love to direct more comic book movies, if only there were still some of the ‘best heroes’ to go around.
Now, I know what a lot of you are already thinking–but at least take a look at what the man had to say before you go ripping into him, please.
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“I would do any superhero movie that I was asked to do,” Ratner told MTV News. “But I wouldn’t have been interested in ‘Iron Man.’ I have a lot of respect for [Jon Favreau], because to me, it was a B-character. ‘Iron Man’? … But look what he did.”
Those comments definitely got under some people’s skin–this story was sent my way under the subject-heading, “Brett Ratner slams Jon Favreau and Iron Man,” for God’s sake. But I don’t see it as that bad of a comment: Iron Man was a B-list superhero (at best) and Jon Favreau deserves a lot of respect for taking the character and turning him into a mainstream icon.
However, I will call Ratner out on the fact that he said he wasn’t interested in comic book “B-characters.” I mean the guy is going to be producing and directing Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood, a comic book that was basically a C-list knock-off of The Avengers. He’d better hope that he too can work that Favreau magic at the box office.
For you Ratner-haters out there, here’s something Brett said in that same interview that will truly make you shudder with the thought of “What if?”, only to make you warm with joy all over again:
“I was so upset when I left ‘Superman,’” said Ratner. “[Bryan] Singer has his ‘X-Men,’ [Christopher] Nolan has ‘Batman‘ — there’s nothing left. ‘Hulk‘ has been exploited already. There’s nothing left for me.”
“I mean, I’m not going to go and do the Silver Surfer or something,” shrugged Ratner.
So we know that Silver Surfer is safe, but could you imagine if Ratner was handed a Batman or Superman film, or (God forbid!) another crack at X-Men? Don’t think it couldn’t happen! This guy is THE go-to guy in situations where celebrated directors depart from their franchises. Once Chris Nolan is tired of Batman…
Seriously though, I’m going to use this platform to proclaim that I’ve never understood all the Ratner-hate. Or for that matter, the intense hatred for X-Men: The Last Stand that I come across every day in the blogosphere. X3 wasn’t that bad of a movie; I keep watching it (gasp! I own it!) trying to get on the same page as a lot of my blogger-brethren, but I can’t do it. The film just isn’t that bad. I mean it certainly mucked with the X-Men continuum by killing off Cyclops and “killing off” Professor X… but the fight sequences were some of the best of the series (IMHO) and the plot (though a bit over-crammed) worked for me. X3 was a nice end chapter to the trilogy and a good setup for a fresher, younger, X-Men franchise down the line. Even Kelsey Grammer’s Beast was OK (though the makeup was a bit corny).
There, I said it. It’s so good to finally be able to come out of the closet as an X3 liker (not lover).
So, personally speaking: I would let Brett Ratner have a crack at another well-known comic book hero(es). It would be a B-list or C-list hero, but I would let him have a chance–if he deemed the project “worthy,” of course.
OK I’m finished. Now you can all go ahead and rant back about how you REALLY feel about Brett Ratner, X-Men: The Last Stand and Kofi Outlaw for saying he’s cool with both. I await your judgment.
Source: MTV News
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54 Comments
Hi everyone, First time posting long time reader here.
Kofi, i’m with you with the whole hate Brett for all his work, and myself do not find his work to be so repulsive, they may not be the best movies but their not THAT bad, Red Dragon was not bad and X3 was not bad either, for me it was the worst one of the trilogy, but not a bad movie in itself.
Kofi, I have the same predicament like you when it comes to Terminator 3. I don’t get all the hate for it. But, it is our opinions.
Now, I will say that Red Dragon was pretty good, however, I think I have said this before, whenever Ratner talks he makes himself look stupid.
And I love the name of his production company, Rat Entertainment. Nice put, brett!
I think that Ratner forgets that with the 2nd tier characters you have more leeway in terms of what you can and cannot do in a movie. I don’t hold the venom for him that some seem to in terms of his filmmaking prowess.
I think he could make a good:
PUNISHER
SUBMARINER
PALADIN
WHITE TIGER
TOMB OF DRACULA
MORBIUS
NIGHTHAWK
DAREDEVIL
Ratner is OK, X3 was okay, Rush Hour is okay, my problem is that he’s just OK, and that he’s basically the back up guy for when everything goes wrong.
I think you just made my point. I feel if Ratner were able to get out from under the “having to serve the many corporate masters” mentality of big budget filmmaking and instead did a movie with a smaller budget, but more creativity and energy – he and the films he makes would be better served.
I do get what he says about the best ones being taken, but does make more sense to try a B hero and make it a success, like Favereau did.
In saying that, I’ve no idea why he thinks he’s good enough for the likes of Superman or Hulk.
His movies are ok, but that’s about it. The Rush Hour ones were fun, well, first two. Red Dragon was nowhere near as good as Manhunter.
As for XMen3, my problem was mainly lots of new characters being thrown in.
Especially Juggernaut. What a waste that was!
Kofi, Kofi. Sometimes I don’t get you man. Didn’t you say that no marvel storyline had as big an impact as Watchmen? Then now you say this. X-3 not that bad huh? If it is not then why does FX show it everytime they need a filler? Don’t they do the same for Alien Vs Predator? Is that a good movie too? If it wasn’t that bad then why are they rebooting the franchise this soon? How long did it take for WB to do that for Batman?
For a diehard fan of the X-men franchise the movie fell short. Now I understand that the storylines won’t match the comics in everything but the storyline for that movie was bad. I was ok with where X-2 took it with the emergence of Phoenix. However to have her kill not only Cyclops but Xavier was UNEXCEPTABLE! If they wanted to do the Cure storyline then why tie in Dark Phoenix? Both were good enough by themselves. It really didn’t make sense.
I just don’t blame Ratner for all this but I blame Fox and Bryan Singer as well. They were the ones who were pissed at Singer for leaving and wanted to stick it to him but all three of them FAILED! Why was Ratner selected anyway? Outside of Rush Hour 1,2 and 3 what great movie has he directed? Who is he to say that Iron Man is a “B” character? Is he a “A” director?
Another problem I had was the status of some characters. What the hell happened to Nightcrawler? Why wasn’t this explained? Did anybody explain to people who don’t read the comic that Juggernaut is NOT a mutant? I had to explain that to my friend.
Another crack at a superhero movie what a joke! The only superhero he should be allowed to do is Howard the Duck. Not even he could kill that!
Sweet Jesus I hate this drooling A-hole moron. Once again the only reason he gets work is his parties have the best white powder and hot chicks. Please Vic, Guys, no more Ratner news. Seriously flush this turd
I do not hate Brett Ratner as a director. I just don’t think he’s a craftsman like Jackson/Cameron/Nolan.
I would not let him within 100 miles of ANY character comic or A list or otherwise that you truly care about.
He’s servicable in a pinch and can pull in the box office (X3 is proof) – so he’s bankable and that makes him valuable in Hollywood.
What he says about Iron-Man being a “B” character, I can understand that if they had no clue about comics and only know of characters from their popularity with the mainstream media. I.E., Superman, Spider-Man, Batman, Hulk.
But Iron-Man, Tony Starks is DEFINATELY NOT a “B” character! He is one of the most important characters in the Marvel Universe! Ratner should know this, I do recall in one post he said that he read comics didn’t he?
Mike,
How can you claim to be an X-Men purist and not know that in the Ultimate X-Men continuum, Juggernaut IS a mutant. The movie version is based on that Ultimate version of the character. And Vinnie Jones needed MORE screen time, if anything. The fight with him and Storm and Wolverine at Jean Grey’s house was pretty cool. Tell me it wasn’t.
And FX played Batman Begins all the time for a long time, so… what’s your point on THAT?
I really really hated X-men 3 when I saw it in the theaters… however after like the 5th time I’ve watched it, I like it now. It doesn’t have horrible effects or direction I don’t think, its more the story that pissed me off, so.. maybe hes not that bad if hes handed something descent, but maybe not.
But its just his seeming ignorance for comic books that makes this whole thing hilarious and a little scary.
I’ll preface this by saying I did like X3 for what it was.
My problem, though, is that it really didn’t feel like the other two. The first two movies were grounded in reality, at least, as real as mustant superheroes can get. And to me, that worked. X-Men proved you didn’t have to go dark to make it real.
X-3 came along, and it didn’t even try to stay within the same level of realism that the first two did. It’s plot was more out-there, as were its action scenes, and its characters. Juggernaut as he was portrayed in the movie, for instance, would’ve stuck out (even more) horribly in the first two than he did in this one.
X-3 was much more of a “comic-book” movie than the other two were. Had they been that way from the beginning, I don’t think it would’ve been as hated as it is. But it’s hated now because it just feels different than the other two.
Kelsey Grammar’s Beast was the only upside of this film, every other character was used inappropriately.
I like how Rogue is in 3 films as a main character but doesn’t get one power or action sequence… I like how Colossus is NOT Russian… I like how they line up in the final battle there… I like how Magneto sends in all his minions to get owned then after 5 minutes decides to take out the guns (why not do that first dumbass)… I also like how Angel’s scenes consist of just him flying in an our 3 times and how the boxart shows him in an X-Uniform when he never wears one… I like how Jean Grey just stands still in every scene and… well that’s all she does whether she’s using powers or not… I like how the leader, Cyclops was never the leader, Cyclops… I think Halle Berry arguing for more screen time was really cool and helped the movie… I like how Pyro is American… I like how the characters’ motivations all make sense… I like how characters react like normal people will in those situations… I like how they did the Phoenix story justice… I like how Professor X is a completely different character this time around and completely gives up on Cyclops and Tells off Wolverine…
Most of all, I like how Fox ruined X-Men.
/end Sarcasm
Ratner Should just stick to movies like rush hour. He is not the type for comic book movies. No one may like what I say but all the X-men movies should be called Wolverine Reloaded. Not saying that these movie are great but they are crap. Storm, Magneto, Sabertooth, and that third movie.. OMG I think Ranter ate some mushrooms read a few X-men issues and then made some crap up. The Phoenix was a Crack Head Cheetah Girl gone rabid. The Story was like something from a low-budget spin off( Mutant-X). The Character development was crap, just thinking about the movies make me wanna shed a tear sigh, my ranting will continue
lol @ rob
your right
I liked X-Men 3 more than I liked Superman Returns and I also still watch it. As you say, the action is pretty good and the storyline, while convoluted and bogged down in extraneous characters (and someone give Cyclops a break, he was barely in X-Men 2 and then they do this to him…), was a good one.
But I do have major problems with it, it’s certainly the weakest of the 3 films. Wolverine wasn’t as badass as before (I mean even in X2, when hitting on Jean, he was badass… in this one he just came off as whiny), there were way too many characters (The dude with the wings… what was the point?) and also, “I’m the Juggernaut Bitch!”… just no.
And I’m sorry, but according to this film, if someone throws a car at me, it’s not going to actually hurt me unless it’s on fire. And what was with the dude with the spikes? Some Power, you can only hurt me if you’re hugging me. And…
As you can see, I could go on. It’s a nice entertaining film, but wholly sub-par compared to the other two.
Hey man everyone is entitled to their opinion – I don’t fault you for yours. It’s cool.
Here’s mine
Ratner:
A ‘competent’ director who seems to remake or recycle ideas with every movie he does. Go down his list on IMDB – it’s all right there. Originality is NOT in the guy’s credo.
Compared to other movies X3 wasn’t ‘horrible’.
AFTER the amazing things that Singer accomplished with the first two however, it was a travesty. He took all the emotion, heart and soul that Singer was able to get into the first two (realness) and flush it right down the toilet. Grammer’s Beast to me was the BEST thing in the whole movie, definitely. Ratner with that movie, achieved what made any movie in the previous years based on a comic book NOT be taken seriously. And it echoed the comic book trend of ‘hey Wolerine is cool – everything else should be secondary, let’s make HIM the main character.’
In X2, Singer had set-up the perfect opportunity to really do some nice emotional character stuff with Scott Summers in the wake of Jean’s death in the third movie – the stage was perfectly set to really be able to do some great stuff with Cyclops. What does Ratner give us? He’s a plot device stepping stone to Jean’s return and dies in the first ten minutes……. Oh NICELY done………
Anyway its all evidenced in his comments – especially his attitude. He won’t even THINK of taking a little known character (try BLADE for instance like Norrington did) and really taking the opportunity, especially with a lesser known property where he would have more creative freedom, to make the project his own – really do something innovative with the character and surprise people. But of course not – instead he’s “I’m a HOLLYWOOD guy and comics are big now so I need a HIGHLINE character because…. Well, I DESERVE it…..”
Good for you Brett. Maybe you’ll get another walk-on on Entourage.
I hope Rattner never gets NEAR another comic book flick, even if it’s “Archie!” He completely effed up X-3. I mean, it’s watchable, buy by NO means classic, like X-2 was. He should stick to action comedies like Rush Hour and leave the comic movies to Nolan, Singer and Favreau.
I do know and I also know that Marvel is primarily known for 610 not 1610. The 1610 would confuse people who have little knowledge of that would be confused. The only character from 1610 that was able to work IMO was Nick Fury. And that’s because of Sam Jackson.
Vinnie Jones didn’t need more screen time because he has MY Entertainment to thank for his only highlight of the film.
FX shows Batman Begins because they are trying to get ratings off of the Dark Knight hype. What is X-3 tie into? Its to early for Wolverine. Like I said they put it on to take up time when they know viewers will not be TUNING in, in large amounts.
Think a lot of posts sum it up nicely.
Want it done quick with lots of mindless action – call Brett
Want a story, with characters to get involved with – DON’T
Also this is one of the funnier threads I’ve seen here.
Walk-on on Entourage!
Oh yes and Kofi that fight with Juggernaut, Wolverine and Storm was WEAK! Comepared to the Lady Deathstrike, Wolverine vs the attackers in the mansion it doesn’t compare.
I also agree with what some of the others on here have said, the movie is the worst of the the franchise. What was the point to some of the characters?
You still didn’t answer my question outside of being known for directing rush hour what is his claim to fame? Killing the X-men that’s what it is!
Correction I meant MY Way Entertainment
IRON MAN a B-charecter ??
WTF !??!?!
Bucky ! Mr.Ratner.
Bucky is a B-Charecter.
well he used 2 Be,Befor he took over for Cap after his Death.
Aside from Ratner’s comical ignorance of comic book characters, snubbing his nose at Silver Surfer and Iron Man, he’s not too bad. Granted, I hate the Rush Hour movies, but Red Dragon was very engaging, the best of the series in my opinion, and X3 was better than XI and X2. I don’t get the love for the first two movies, or for Singer in general. Superman Returns was boring and stupid, while Usual Suspects was terrific and Valkyrie was pretty good. He’s a mixed bag he seems to get too much praise on the internet.
@ T.
X3!!!!!!!!!!!
R u serious ?!?!
Mabey as a movie alone(if ur drunk).
But if you any Respect for comic books and/or Comic book movies,i dont know how any1 could enjoy it.
Really Dude the Said Juggernaut was a Mutant.
WtF !?!
and dont Even get me started on the Dialoge.
the the only good thing that came out of this film.
was the introduction of Moira McTaggart and Muir island.
I really dislike Ratner and think he is probably the biggest loser in the world when he speaks, but Red Dragon was a very good movie. I’m not sure if he got lucky, is lazy, or just doesn’t care, but X3 was truly awful. On balance, he would likely butcher any comic book he touched.
Darn it! Rob Keyes hit the Nail slap on the head.X3 Looked and felt rushed.With little or no care for the characters.Second How is Youngblood a c-class Avengers?? Riddle me that!You have two different eras of superheros.Avengers 70’s-80’s and then Youngblood 90’s.And Lastly nuff said.
X-3 wasn’t garbage, but it was supposed to be based on the epic rise and fall of the Phoenix. Bryan Singer even contemplated filming it as a two-parter to do it justice. It should have been huge. That’s where a lot of the disappointment comes from. Singer was planning on helming it, but Fox and Marvel wouldn’t stomach him directing Superman and delaying the release of X-3 in order to do it. In other words, ‘we don’t need you’. Well, you guys were right. They were both wrong and we got two movies that have disappointed more than blown our minds as they should have.
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