Comic Book: The Movie
Comic Book: The Movie
| 27 January 2004 (USA)
Comic Book: The Movie Trailers

Hugh Hefner, Stan Lee, Mark Hamill and Kevin Smith journey into the world of comic book fandom! Documentary filmmaker Donald Swan heads to the world's largest comic book convention where he encounters a culture of craziness that he's totally unprepared for.

Reviews
ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.
Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.
Neive Bellamy Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.
Kirandeep Yoder The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
Herbest8 The voice artists and comic book nerds strike back at the critics and studio CEOs in "Comic Book: The Movie" which is a bright and inventive mockumentary from first time director Mark Hamill.The story concerns Don Swan (played by Hamill) as he travels to the San Diego Comic-Con convention in order to make a documentary about his favorite superhero, soon to be rebooted as a modern day anti-terrorist.What can you say about such a superb film? Well, it's very well-made (you almost feel as if your there) and the acting is just great with Tom Kenny as the stand-out but that's not to slight this great cast which also includes Jess Harnell, David Prowse and Jim Cmmings. The cast is just unbeatable. The scenery also adds a nice, surreal tone to the whole thing. I had fun just gazing at all the pop culture icons walking around Hamill and his fellow actors.However, it does lose steam in it's last eight minutes. I can't help but feel that they lost confidence and abandoned the format that had served them so well for the bulk of the film. But that minor quibble barely puts a dent in this light and funny film. This is a winner above and beyond.
WrathChld After I finished watching "Comic Book: The Movie", I would have to say it was enjoyable. With that said, this movie was nothing spectacular. I think people will enjoy it more for the people who collaborated on it, rather than the story itself. There are quit a few funny parts, but not laugh out loud funny ... more like amusing funny. I liked seeing allot of people who are in the comic book/ animation world. The fact that there are so many Icons in this movie makes it a good watch. I especially like how it is a double disc DVD, so you get allot of extras to enjoy. There are people in the movie, you wouldn't even know are big stars because maybe they had a career along time ago or our voice actors. Speaking of voice actors, it seems this movie is busting with them. I love that. It's cool to see them. Then there is Jess Harnell who plays Ricky the Camera Guy. He is pretty funny. Good character and one of the many voice actors who partakes in this featured film.As a Kevin Smith fan, I have to give him a shout out. It was cool to see him in this and a new sight to see him watch his tongue. Although he managed to still bring that edge, we have all come to love. Inclosing, if you are a comic book fan, I would recommend checking this out. If not for the movie, do it for the extras.
ScoopNYC I don't understand -- I like comic books, but I don't love them. I know some of the players in the industry (Stan Lee, Paul Dini, etc.), but not personally and not all of them. But this movie just SUCKED. The female and male studio execs were annoying, the cameraman was lame and even Billy West pulls out some stupid, creepy performance. Mark Hamill is best when he's excited about comics and the rest of it plays out terribly. I paid for this and will be going to the store to return it. Jeers, Hamill, jeers.
Beowulf-8 As a "lapsed" convention-going comic and s-f fan, I was interested in seeing how fans were portrayed in this film when I picked up the DVD. It turns out that they are portrayed very well, with as much dignity as they bring with them (and keep) at any convention. "Comic Book: The Movie" is a cross between a scripted mockumentary and an actors' workshop, where the players are given their characters and a goal to achieve, then turned loose in an environment to play out their roles. In this case the setting is the 2003 San Diego ComiCon. The general plot is that a Hollywood production company is making a film based on an updated version of the Golden Age comic book hero Commander Courage, and are planning to announce the film at the ComiCon. They've hired schoolteacher/comic expert Don Swan (Hamill) as a "technical consultant," meaning that they need him to lend credibility in the fan world to their travesty of an updated character. Swan immediately begins a campaign to convince the producers to retain as much of the original concept as possible. The true gift of this film is the use of some of the top voice-over talent in the business as principle players, and they more than do justice to their roles. Hamill's direction pulls together this untapped talent with actual fans and celebrity convention attendees to give credibility to the existence of Commander Courage in a series of celebrity "interviews" similar to those in "Zoolander." The only point for me in which the belief system of the film was broken was in the use of well-known actors (Sid Caesar, Jonathan Winters, and Hamill himself) to portray characters other than themselves. Hamill seems unaware of his popularity and "recognition factor," though his portrayal of the increasingly frustrated Don Swan helps to restore some of the magic. The movie is good, make no mistake. But for this old cartoon aficionado the DVD bonus material--particularly the long panel session featuring the voice actors--alone made the DVD well worth the price.