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:

Continuity: In the closing scene Archie is standing with the Sagrada Familia (Cathedral) behind him. Then he turns to a girl to light her cigarette and the Sagrada Familia is still behind him, even though he is now facing in a different direction.

Quotes:

[The cops arrive]
Raymond: My ride's here.

Movie Connections:

References Clerks. (1994)

Mediocrity at its Most Mediocre

Here's a great cast, with a good concept for a plot, how can it go wrong?

It can, if there's no writing! OK, that's not fair, if there's CONSISTENT writing. Like so many SNL skits, the first half is well developed, then, well, they have to end it somehow.

I had the same problem with this movie that I had with Monster's Ball. Now how could I mention those two movies together? One is the great academy award winning darling, one is a straight to video farce.

But both suffer from the fatal flaw: failing to convince me of the characters' motivations, and changes. In Comic Book Villains, we get a basic greed motive, but I didn't care what happened to any of the characters except Archie. That may have been intentional, so we wouldn't feel horrified by their bad behavior, but that just goes to show how de-sensitized we are to violence. It's a plot device to end a movie, not a logical or understandable part of the plot.

I guess if you feel you have to see all movies with references to comic books, go for it. But otherwise, use your 90minutes for something else.