Thanks to our friends over at Twitch we find ourselves blessed with a trailer for the much anticipated Ong Bak 2.
Though this movie has nothing to do with the first one, it promises to have as much bad dialogue and weak story. And we wont care. It will still be made of awesome.
For those of you who were lucky and wise enough to see it, you know that Ong Bak was one of the most visually (in action terms) spectacular martial arts films in history. It introduced us all to Tony Jaa, who is the one true heir to the Jackie Chan throne. In Ong Bak, there were no stunt men, no wires and no visual effects… all the stunts and action you saw were REAL and all done by Jaa himself. The man is a total freak of nature.
The story of Ong Bak was horrible as was all the dialog… but no one who saw it cared. The action was second to none. I thought for sure we’d see a bunch of North American producers pick Jaa up for some bad guy roles in Hollywood films, but that never materialized. Too bad.
Anyway, now comes word of Ong Bak 2. Jaa is back! Our friends over at RopeOfSilicon give us this:
this film has nothing to do with the plot of the first film, which, if you remember, involved Jaa hunting down some men that stole the head of from his town’s Buddha statue. If you haven’t seen it or even heard of it you really should check it out, Jaa is a kick-ass fighter. Twitch tells us, in this one Jaa stars in a period piece as a poor orphan boy raised by a collection of martial arts masters from across Asia and ends up an expert in all, fusing the styles into one comprehensive fighting style.
Sure… why not… sign me up. All I care about is seeing Jaa kick insane amounts of ass! By the way, if you’d like to see a larger version of the poster, you can go here.
10 Harrison Ford Films You Must See Where He’s Not Named Indy Or Han
Although it may be true that Harrison Ford hasn’t done (aside from Indiana Jones 4) a good film in over 10 years, there is no denying that the man has had one of the best careers Hollywood has ever seen. Up till the end of the 1990’s Ford was the preeminent Hollywood movie star. Consider some of the following:
1994 - ShoWest “Box Office Star of the Century”
1999 - Peoples Choice Awards “All Time Favorite Movie Star”
2000 - AFI “Lifetime Achievement Award
2002 - Golden Globe Awards “Cecil B DeMille Lifetime Achivement Award”
And many many awards and nominations for individual films he’s done
Now you’d be forgiven if all you instantly thought of was “Star Wars” or “Indiana Jones” films when Harrison’s name is brought up. After all, they are two of the single most important and popular franchises in film history. But Ford’s film resume and legacy go beyond the names Han Solo or Indiana Jones, and as the years pass on, I’m finding there are more and more film fans out there who have never seen some of his best work.
So with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opening, I thought this would be a good time to highlight 10 Harrison Ford films that you absolutely must see where Ford’s character isn’t named either “Indy” or “Han”. Here we go:
SABRINA (1995)
Also Starring - Julia Ormond, Greg Kinnear
Quite possibly my favorite romantic comedy of all time and one of the pieces of evidence that remakes can be just as good or even better than the original. Ford was nominated for Best Actor and the Golden Globes for his performance. This movie is gold. And guys… it’s also a great date movie… trust me.
Synopsis: ” Sydney Pollack directs this whimsical remake of the 1954 romantic comedy by Billy Wilder. Greg Kinnear and Harrison Ford deftly portray the two wealthy Larrabee brothers, who end up fighting over the affections of their chauffeur’s daughter. When Sabrina (Julia Ormond) originally attempts to win over David Larrabee (Greg Kinnear), the younger of the two brothers, and the notorious playboy whom her father works for, he barely even knows she’s alive. To help get her mind off David, Sabrina’s dad sends her on a trip to Paris, where she trains to become a fashion photographer. In Europe, the mousy young girl blossoms into a beautiful woman before returning to the Larrabee estate on Long Island. At first David doesn’t recognize the altered Sabrina. Once he does, however, he falls hard, which jeopardizes his impending marriage to Elizabeth, a wealthy doctor. This turn of events greatly concerns his older, more serious brother, Linus (Harrison Ford), who’s counting on the marriage to cement a merger between his company and a business owned by Elizabeth’s rich father. So Linus decides to woo Sabrina, hoping she’ll fall for him and forget his brother. However, the scheme backfires when Linus himself begins to find the charming Sabrina irresistible.”
BLADE RUNNER (1982)
Also Starring - Rutger Hauer, Sean Young
I’ll admit that while I myself and not a big fan of this film, there is no denying the huge following and massive influence this movie has had. Considered by many to be one of the very best Sci-Fi films of all time and a visionary piece of work by director Ridley Scott. To be a part of any sci-fi discussion it’s a prerequisite that you watch this film.
Synopsis: ” Director Ridley Scott’s hauntingly prescient vision of the not-too-distant future stars Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, a retired police assassin, or “blade runner.” The Los Angeles of 2019 is a dark, polluted, overcrowded dystopia dominated by cloud-piercing buildings and looming neon… Director Ridley Scott’s hauntingly prescient vision of the not-too-distant future stars Harrison Ford as Rick Deckard, a retired police assassin, or “blade runner.” The Los Angeles of 2019 is a dark, polluted, overcrowded dystopia dominated by cloud-piercing buildings and looming neon billboards, the air dense with acid rain and flying traffic. World-weary Deckard has been called out of retirement to liquidate four escaped “replicants”–genetically derived androids of great strength, intelligence, and nearly-human emotion who serve as slaves and prostitutes in the off-planet colonies. Led by Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer), they’ve come to Los Angeles to confront their designer, Eldon Tyrell (Joe Turkel), with their unhappiness about the brevity of their four-year life span. In the course of his search, Deckard becomes romantically entwined with Tyrell’s lovely assistant, Rachael (Sean Young), and must eventually confront Batty in an unforgettable rain-soaked sequence. A highly influential fusion of the science fiction and noir genres based on the novel DO ANDROIDS DREAM OF ELECTRIC SHEEP? by Philip K. Dick, this postmodern film boasts astonishingly rich art direction, juxtaposing ingenious technological gadgetry with yellowing photographs and fetishistic objets d’art as it touches on questions of time, memory, identity, and mortality. Different from Scott’s 1992 director’s cut, this widely released edition of the film, which features Ford’s narration and an ending culled from footage of Stanley Kubrick’s THE SHINING, remains the most well known version of this stunning cinematic landmark.”
THE FUGITIVE (1993)
Also Starring - Tommy Lee Jones, Joe Pantoliano
Who says all movies based on old TV shows can’t work? The Fugitive proves that theory wrong. Ford nabbed himself a Best Actor nomination at the Golden Globes for his role in this film… which also happens to be the second best critically reviewed film in his career (something like a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes) and is also probably my favorite film of his outside Indy or Han. Tommy Lee Jones is also un-freaking-believable in this movie.
Synopsis: ” In this near-perfect suspense movie adapted from the popular 1960s television series that starred David Janssen, renowned vascular surgeon Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) has been falsely accused and convicted–on circumstantial evidence–of his wife’s (Sela Ward) murder. While… In this near-perfect suspense movie adapted from the popular 1960s television series that starred David Janssen, renowned vascular surgeon Dr. Richard Kimble (Harrison Ford) has been falsely accused and convicted–on circumstantial evidence–of his wife’s (Sela Ward) murder. While Kimble is being transported to prison, another convict stabs an inattentive guard, causing a massive wreck. Kimble escapes but is hunted by tough U.S. marshal Sam Gerard (Tommy Lee Jones). The fugitive from injustice attempts to set the record straight: He transforms himself into a jack-of-all-trades and a man of a thousand faces in a desperate attempt to uncover the truth about his wife’s murder and track down the real killer. Spectacular special effects and a pulse-pounding performance by Ford turned Andrew Davis’s thrilling film into a blockbuster at the box office, leading to a sequel, U.S. MARSHALS.”
CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER (1994)
Also Starring: Anne Archer, James Earl Jones
One of the Jack Ryan films where Ford picked up the role from Alec Baldwin (who did a great job with it himself in Hunt For Red October). This film also featured one of the very BEST screen bad guys of the 90’s with actor Joaquim de Almeida as a Columbian Drug Lord.
Synopsis: ” Patriotic American Jack Ryan’s (Harrison Ford) just been promoted to Deputy Director of Intelligence for the CIA. But before he can adjust to the demands of his position as advisor to the President, Jack’s got to investigate a massacre that took the lives of several dignitaries. Probing relentlessly, Jack uncovers the disturbing truth about criminal activities involving an international drug cartel and a close friend of the United States President. Based on Tom Clancy’s bestselling novel.”
AIR FORCE ONE (1997)
Also Starring - Gary Oldman, Glenn Close
Just a good, solid, slightly cheesy “rah rah USA USA” type of film with Ford as the President who doesn’t take crap. A very fun film that had a lot of potential to be terrible but ended up being a really great movie. Sadly, this film also marked that last good movie Ford would do, and the last good performance he would give up until Indy 4.
Synopsis: ” President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) is one of the most respected leaders in the history of America. When Kazakhstanian separatists commit atrocities on their own people, Marshall authorizes a guerrilla mission to take their leader, General Radek (Jürgen Prochnow), into custody and restore the democratic regime. In his speech afterward, the president vows never to let America hesitate again when dealing with terrorists. However, that’s before a group of them, led by the ruthless Korchunov (Gary Oldman) take over his own flight on Air Force One, with his wife and young daughter also on board. President Marshall, a decorated Vietnam veteran, becomes a one-man vigilante force in his efforts to free his family and the other hostages, retake the plane, and thwart the hijackers. Director Wolfgang Petersen’s thrilling film is supported by an excellent ensemble cast, which includes William H. Macy, Philip Baker Hall, and Glenn Close as Kathryn Bennett, the vice president who must hold the Cabinet together in Marshall’s absence.”
PATRIOT GAMES (1992)
Also Starring - James Earl Jones, Sean Bean
These Jack Ryan films are all great (yes, I even liked the one with Ben Affleck), and once again they come up with a fantastic bad guy. Sean Bean as the disgruntled Irish terrorist was just amazing in this film. It had everything you could possibly want from a political thriller. It was intense, exciting and all with great performances. The funny thing about this movie was that I didn’t even realize it was a sequel to Hunt For Red October until James Earl Jones showed up on screen the first time I saw it! :P
Synopsis: ” Ex-CIA agent Jack Ryan (Harrison Ford) is forced back into service when he saves the lives of the English minister to Northern Ireland and his family from a terrorist attack, killing one of the perpetrators in the process. The dead man’s brother, also a member of an IRA splinter faction, vows revenge on Ryan and his family and pursues them to the United States. Ryan knows it is only a matter of time till he comes face to face with his nemesis… and that only one of them will come out alive. Based on Tom Clancy’s bestselling novel.”
WORKING GIRL (1988)
Also Starring - Melanie Griffith, Sigourney Weaver
This was really Melanie Griffith’s movie, but Harrison was the male lead. In incredibly hilarious film that surprisingly still stands up today after 20 years. The immortal words “I have a head for business and a bod for sin. Is there anything wrong with that? ” were uttered in this flick and let me tell you… truer words were never spoken. Yet another example of Ford’s diversity as an actor.
Synopsis: ” A young secretary (Melanie Griffith in an Oscar-nominated performance) with dreams of moving up the corporate ladder thinks that her brains will help her achieve her goals. And when she finds a job with a seemingly helpful and sympathetic boss–who’s also a woman (played by Sigourney Weaver)–it looks as if she’s on her way. But it turns out the executive is slimy and duplicitous, stealing the secretary’s clever ideas to further her own career. Now the furious secretary’s determined to get revenge–and her plan may not only propel her to the top of the heap but get her a husband too (Harrison Ford). Mike Nichols directed this workplace comedy with a light, smart touch, getting terrific performances from his excellent cast.”
WITNESS (1985)
Also Starring - Kelly McGillis, Alexander Godunov
The single highest critically rated film on Ford’s resume… I’m actually surprised this movie doesn’t get mentioned more in various “all time greatest movies” discussions. Ford was nominated for both the Oscar and the Golden Globe for this brilliant film that has been spoofed, mimicked and flat out ripped off by several other films since. It’s not just a crime mystery… it’s also a great character study in its own way. Touching, thrilling and great tension all toped off with a couple of solid character dilemmas throughout the movie. MUST SEE!
Synopsis: ” Australian Peter Weir’s first Hollywood film tells the story of John Book (Harrison Ford), a Philadelphia cop whose life is altered while trying to help Rachel (Kelly McGillis), an Amish woman, and her son Samuel (Lukas Haas), who witnesses a murder in a Philadelphia train station bathroom. After discovering that the murder was committed by a member of his force, Book travels to Lancaster County with Rachel and Samuel and poses as a member of the Amish community to hide from his murderous police peers. While there, love blooms between Rachel and Book, and he finds himself drawn in by the honesty and simplicity of the old-world Amish lifestyle. Fine performances and beautiful cinematography are prevalent throughout.”
REGARDING HENRY (1991)
Also Starring - Annette Bening
Certainly not the most well recieved or critically acclaimed film on Ford’s impressive list… I nonetheless really loved this movie and think it’s the film that Harrison Ford really showed what he was capable of as an actor. Not an action flick, not a comedy, not another character where he gives you a wink and a smile… this was some great stuff from Ford and a performance he simply doesn’t get enough credit for in my opinion. If you appreciate Ford, you really owe it to yourself to see him in this one.
Synopsis: ” Henry Turner (Harrison Ford), a wealthy, high-powered, highly successful Manhattan lawyer, seems to have everything — a perfect wife (Annette Bening), a perfect daughter, a perfect life. In fact, Henry is completely cold, rigid and unable to experience love or joy in his day-to- day existence. Everything changes, however, when Henry is gunned down in an act of random violence, and must undergo a slow, difficult recovery. In the process of relearning the most basic skills — walking, reading, getting dressed in the morning — Henry discovers something even more important: how to love his family and friends again and how to find true happiness in life.”
THE MOSQUITO COAST (1986)
Also Starring - Helen Mirren, River Phoenix
Another one of those films where Ford shows he’s more than just a handsome face with a scoundrel smile and seductive charm. Ford acts his heart out in The Mosquito Coast and it really come across in every single scene. Ford got Nominated for the Golden Globe Award for his performance as well. Of interesting note… see this and you get to see a younger Helen Mirren (The Queen). Damn this woman has aged so fricking well!
Synopsis: ” A brilliant and obsessive inventor, fed up with capitalistic and consumeristic modern society, picks up and moves his family to an isolated Caribbean island, where he puts his ideas into practice. Under his guidance, his new home at first becomes a paradise, but bit by bit, both his mind and his world begin to fall apart. ”
CONCLUSION - It’s a shame that with the success of Star Wars and Indiana Jones, many new film fans (say… 25 or younger) haven’t seen some of the films on this list… even some of us older fans haven’t seen a few of them. I recommend them all. Run out to Blockbuster and grab 2 or 3 of them you haven’t seen and treat yourself this weekend!
Ranking The Best To Worst Of M. Night
With “The Happening” coming this weekend (too bad it’s going up against The Incredible Hulk), our eyes are once again turned to that very unique filmmaker (hey… love him or hate him, you’ve got to admit he certainly does have his own style), The ShamHammer himself, M. Night Shyamalan.
So in honor of his forthcoming release, I thought it would be fun to look back on his films up to this point and rank them in order of best to worst. Now let me give this quick disclaimer… for most people, M. Night Shyamalan came into existence with The Sixth Sense, even thought he did have 2 films before that (Praying with Anger and Wide Awake)… so for the purposes of this post, were just going to look at the career of Shyamalan starting with Sixth Sense.
I’ve gone on record many times and said that I believe that M. Night Shyamalan’s films have gotten progressively worse and worse since that break out with Sixth Sense. As I’ve put my list here together though… I’ve come to realize that isn’t actually 100% true… you’ll see what I mean.
M. NIGHT SHYAMALAN’S FILMS FROM BEST TO WORST
1) THE SIXTH SENSE
There are good movies… and then there are movies that effect their audiences so much (either with fear, laughter, shock, excitement… whatever) that they go beyond being just a film, and become a part of the pop-culture fabric itself. And it wasn’t even just the catch line “I see dead people” either. The whole film was brilliantly orchestrated. The screenplay was only outdone by the direction. And the ending redefined what a “twist” came to mean. As a matter of fact… now whenever you mention a “twist ending”, people everywhere generally think about Sixth Sense… as a matter of fact, I’ve read some critics now who just refer to a twist ended as “pulling a sixth sense”. A fantastic, well thought out, creepy and haunting film. Truly the Shamhammer’s coming out party, and unquestionably his best film by miles.
2) SIGNS
In this film, M. Night Shyamalan showed us that he understood the most important thing about directing a “horror” or scary film. That one thing is understanding that what the audience DOESN’T see, will scare them a whole hell of a lot more than what they DO see if the atmosphere and environment are set up properly. That damn scene where Mel Gibson is out in the corn fields looking around and just BARELY catches a glimpse of a foot as it disappears into the field was AWESOME! BRILLIANT shot selection. But it wasn’t just the disappearing foot… it was the atmosphere that Shammy already set up. Very good characters, very good scares…. all almost wasted by a terrible ending… but overall still a solid film.
3) UNBREAKABLE
This is where my “progressively worse” theory hits a snag. Unbreakable actually came out before Signs… I feel Signs is just ahead of it in quality. Unbreakable was a very interesting idea… a very different kind of Superhero movie. Bruce Willis’ character is a fantastic one, and the slow unraveling of his mystery is well crafted. However, i think this film get over hyped for it’s INTENTION rather than it’s actual results. Samuel L Jackson’s character could have been one of the best ever… but he ends up being just so lame… so silly… and I’ll say it… so comic booky, that after a while he just got annoying. Another terrible ending (I’m sorry, but Jackson’s big plan reveal at the end was so ridiculous that it wasted much of the great set up of the film) too. Unbreakable had the makings of being a great movie… had the potential of being a great movie… had all the elements of being a great movie… but in its execution it feel to the floor of being a pretty good movie…. sort of.
4) THE VILLAGE
To me, The Village was the film where the proverbial shoe dropped for M. Night Shyamalan. A movie whose ending I (and many other people) predicted literally almost 2 months before the film opened. An M. Night Shyamalan film without any sense of suspense or surprise becomes a very thin and very empty experience. The Village also lacked any compelling characters like his previous films had and instead relied on character gimmicks to make them appear interesting. The movie seemed to come from a great idea (as most of Shammy’s films do), but didn’t really have a clear idea of how to cultivate that idea into a solid narrative (which to be fair… isn’t easy). The first legitimately “bad” M. Night Shyamalan film… but unfortunately it would not be his last, nor would it be his worst. There was still “Lady In The Water” to come.
5) LADY IN THE WATER
In the months leading up to the release of “Lady In The Water”, I wrote a post called “John’s 5 Most Anticipated Movies Of 2006” in which I acknowledged that Shammy had been losing it, and totally screwed the dog with “The Village”, but that Lady In The Water looked good to me and it made it to the #5 spot on my list. Little did I know that what I was going to get instead was one of the worst motion pictures in history. No really. What was on my most anticipated list ended up ranking at #1 in my “Worst Movies Of 2007” list. Here’s what I said about Lady In The Water in that post:
“Lady in the Water embodies the downfall of M. Night Shyamalan and all the things that led to it. Without a doubt the most self absorbed, self serving and self praising piece of cinematic garbage to dirty the screen this year. What starts off with a promising concept and mythology, quickly gets flushed down the toilet with witless banter, massive logic jumps, poor story telling all of which was almost drowned out by the loud sound of M. Night patting himself on the back. A total mess from start to finish, Lady in the Water shows us what can happen when a director without all that much credits to his name starts believing all his own press. Easily, the worst film of 2006.”
So now we come to “The Happening”. Early word hasn’t been promising and in general we just don’t hear people buzzing about this film like we’re used to seeing before the release of a Shammy movie. We’ll have to see how it turns out. One thing I will say is this… great talent just doesn’t disappear. M. Night Shyamalan has proved he has talent with films like Sixth Sense, Signs and to a lesser degree Unbreakable. So what has happened to him? Personally I think his ego and rejection of studio input are the main culprits… but that’s just speculation on my part. So while I’m not excited to see “The Happeneing” this week, I am nonetheless interested in seeing what that good ol’ ShamHammer has come up with now.
So how about you? How would you rank Shammy’s films? Do you think he’s lost it? Do you still have faith in him? What are you expecting from The Happening? Let us know in the comments section.
The 10 Best Castings In Comic Book Movies
As I was reading through some of my favorite movie sites this morning, I came across a great little article over at Cinematical where they listed what they thought were some of the best Superhero casting decisions in film (you can check their article out over here. I didn’t agree with much of it, so I thought instead of critiquing their list, I’d just give my own.
DON’T FORGET… THIS LIST IS NOT ABOUT THE BEST MOVIES… nor is it about who ended up doing the best job. That’s all 20/20 hindsight. The list for for who was the best casting choices going INTO the movies in question.
Feel free to add your own picks in the comments section below:
1) PATRICK STEWART (Professor X)
This is hands down, without question and without any doubt the single most “perfect” casting decisions in comic book movie history. Patrick Stewart was genetically bread to play professor Charles Xavier. Long before they even thought about doing an X-Men movie, for over 10 years whenever any discussion came up about “dream casting for an X-Men movie”, Patrick Stewart was ALWAYS at the top of the lists. No question, Patrick Stewart as X is the best casting in a Comic Book movie of all time.
2) ROBERT DOWNEY JR (Tony Stark/Iron Man)
There was a lot of speculation floating around regarding who would play Iron Man once they announced they were moving ahead with the movie (as there always is with these Comic Book films), but one name that no one really thought about was Robert Downey Jr. until they announced that he would indeed play Tony Stark. It caught everyone by surprise… but once his name was announced everyone stood up and said “Holy crap that’s PERFECT!” And indeed it was perfect. The key to pulling off Iron Man was pulling off Tony Stark… and if Tony Stark really was alive in the real world… his name would be Robert Downey Jr.
3) RON PERLMAN (Hellboy)
Not a lot of people in the mainstream movie going audience were familiar with who or what Hellboy was before the movie version came out. But for those who DID know who and what Hellboy was, the announcement of Ron Perlman as big Red seemed as obvious as the answer to the question “excuse me sir, would you like a blow job?” YES! The voice, the mannerisms and to some degree even the physical stature all screamed Hellboy. Brilliant casting.
4) GENE HACKMAN (Lex Luthor)
Really, what can be said about Gene Hackman that hasn’t been said a thousand times before? Already a world renowned actor having won the Oscar for best actor in 1972, Hackman brought credibility to a very risky film in 1978… Superman. he made being the bad guy in a comic book movie a cool thing. Well… let’s be honest… anything that Gene Hackman does automatically becomes “the cool thing”. The guy could masturbate in a children’s playground and it would suddenly become socially acceptable.
5) CHRISTIAN BALE (Bruce Wayne/Batman)
There is no more coveted role in the comic book genre than that of the Batman. However, the role also became one of the biggest risks ever since it had been practically ruined by the George Clooney effort and to some degree the Val Kilmer one too (Don’t get me wrong, I thought they were both good castings too… but the last movie was SOOOO bad it almost single andedly killed the comic book genre of movies all together until X-Men resurrected it). Again, like Downey, Bale’s name was not one of the top one’s being thrown around at all… but when they announced him, people who knew Bale’s work stood and cheered. It was a bit of a gamble, but we knew it was a great choice.
6) EDWARD NORTON (Bruce Banner/The Hulk)
Ok, so we’ve got this character… he’s an almost middle aged, skinny but cerebral and intense character… any ideas? Yeah… how about Edward god damn Norton! in casting the lead character for The Incredible Hulk, you don’t cast for the Hulk… you cast for Dr. David Banner, and if you can make it one of the best actors in the business today, then that’s a bonus. Getting Edward Norton on board brought some instant and much needed credibility to the new Hulk film that so many people thought was a bad idea. An excellent choice and a bold risk for Norton to take.
7) KEVIN SPACEY (Lex Luthor)
Lex makes a second appearance on this list. No one, and I mean no one wasn’t excited and pumped when the word came out that Kevin Spacey was going to play Lex Luthor. But unlike Robert Downey Jr in Iron Man… Spacey’s casting came as no surprise. People had been calling out for Spacey to play the iconic villain for years ever since they saw him as the fake Dr. Evil in Austin Powers 2 (how weird is that?). Getting him on board to play the antagonist was a no brainer.
8) THOMAS JANE (Frank Castle/The Punisher)
This was one of those situations where I really couldn’t properly see anyone playing the main character… until they said it was going to be Thomas Jane. The dude (in my opinion) was the perfect guy to bring The Punisher to flash and bone life. No offense intended to Dolph Lungren fans (hehe). Great decision for a not so familiar comic book character to main stream audiences.
9) TOBEY MAGUIRE (Peter Parker/Spider-Man)
This one falls much into the same category as the Hulk casting. When getting your guy, you don’t think about Spider-Man per se. You focus on getting your Peter Parker. Someone who could still pull off a screen presence and could act… but he has to be Peter Parker. Getting Tobey Maguire in the role fulfilled that mission VERY well. Maguire brought name recognition with him as well to the part which is always something studios want with their multi-million dollar investments in a comic franchise if they can get it.
10) JENNIFER GARNER (Elektra)
What’s that you say? You need an absolutely beautiful and stunning woman who will look great in tight leather, but can also kick insane amounts of ass? Hmmmm… sounds like a job for Sydney Bristow from Alias, Jennifer Garner became famous for traveling around the world as Bristow, beating the living hell out of evil agents and super spies… and holy crap he’s in INSANE shape too. She also was a big name at the time which helped. You may not like how Daredevil turned out (personally I liked it) but you’ve got to admit she was THE choice to play that role.
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