Review of Comic Book: The Movie (2004) by David P — 21 Feb 2010

Don't lament for Mark Hamill. A lot of people unfairly compare his career arch to that of Harrison Ford. Although he hasn't remained at the apex of super-stardom he still has a legacy and a career that most people in their right minds would kill for and a level of anonymity and privacy that even Ford would covet.

He's been triumphant on Broadway in productions as varied as "The Elephant Man" and "Amadeus". He's garnered critical acclaim in the fantastic World War II film "The Big Red One".

He's one of the most valued voice talents on the planet today and his take on "The Joker" is still unsurpassed. And finally, he's a living, breathing cultural icon having appeared in a certain little-known, indie movie series about a certain War amongst the Stars.

He's also a guy who's not shy about his passions, as "Comic Book -The Movie" will attest. Growing up an army brat, Hamill was often uprooted as a child and ventured into a passionate love affair with comics as a way to assuage his periodic isolation.

His sole directorial effort is a loving nod to the medium but after watching this I really wish he'd taken a different approach. I know comedic "mockumentaries" like "Waiting for Guffman" have been popular in the past but I'm afraid "Comic Book - The Movie" just doesn't measure up.

The set up is actually pretty relevant to comic fans but waaaaay too insular and geeky for most of the population. Hamill plays Don Swan, a rabid comic book geek who learns that his favorite Golden-Age superhero "Captain Courage" is about to get a big-scale Hollywood makeover.

Unfortunately the production company that purchased the rights doesn't give a rat's ass about the character's origins and is looking to repackage him as an ultra-violent, terrorist-killing vigilante redubbed "Commander Courage".

Swan manages to weasel his way into the production as a consultant while secretly trying to steer the film in a direction that won't compromise the spirit of the super hero he loves so much. Most of the film is shot like a future EPK piece/hypothetical DVD extra, which can account somewhat for the complete lack of a budget here.

What gives the film it's limited appeal is the length to which Hamill goes to sell us that "Captain Courage" is actually real. For fans of the genre, this is a real treat since we get appearances and interviews with a fleet of industry stars like Stan Lee, Peter David, Matt Groening, and Mark Evanier.

We also get a lot of walk-on's by movie types like Kevin Smith, Bruce Campbell and J.J. Abrams and cultural icons such as Hugh Hefner and legendary comedians Jonathan Winters and Sid Caesar. It's clear Hamill knows a lot of people who don't mind doing him a favor but most of the time we're forced to sit through a lot of painfully unfunny, unscripted inside jokes and performances from voice actors in underwritten roles.

For example, Jess Harnell (who's perhaps best known as Wakko Warner on Animaniacs) plays Ricky, the studio-retained cameraman who's tasked to follow Don Swan around. Here he's forced to play a character who makes Otto from "The Simpsons" look like Charles Foster Kane.

Bless his heart, he tries his best, but he often comes off as gratingly annoying. Even more irksome is Billy West who's voice is instantly recognizable as Fry in "Futurama" and Stimpy from "Ren and Stimpy".

Here he's cast as an oblivious relative of the creator of "Captain Courage". He's meant to be awkward and a tad creepy but you get the impression that his discomfort in front of the camera is painful to witness mainly do to a complete lack of guidance and structure.

Perhaps the most agonizing thing to witness is an impromptu method acting throw-down that occurs during a A-list "party" in the Hollywood Hills between Daran Norris and Donna D'Errico in which they impersonate woodland creatures.

It's literally sweat inducing and a real shame. With Hamill's access to industry vets and his encyclopedic knowledge of comic books I really wish he's just made a straight documentary instead of this exercise.

As a fan of comics, movies and all things sci-fi, I kinda dug the fake interview segments between Don Swan and his co-conspirators. It's amazing the conviction they were able to generate for essentially an elaborate MacGuffin.

Mark Hamill also gives it his own personal all, engaging in a fun performance and trying to be game for any masochistic humiliation he decides to trowel upon himself. There is one genuinely funny scene when he claims not to be wearing rose-colored glasses about the chances of a reverential "Captain Courage" film while he's actually physically wearing a pair of rose-colored glasses during the interview! The film does have it's heart in the right place in attempting to encapsulate the protective fear that any fan reserves for their beloved favorites.

I just wish more of the run time could have been dedicated to the point rather than subjecting the audience to scenes that are either so geeky as to carry a whiff of body odor or embarrassing to the point of wanting to stop watching.

Tilt: down.