The best of the comic book films

Even the greatest comic book heroes are not immune to terrible movie adaptations. Most comic book movies, and there are several, are terrible. Another one comes out in the next two weeks, the Ben Affleck vehicle Daredevil. Not to judge prematurely, but I think the smart money will not be spent on a ticket. However, things were not always that way.

True, most comic book films tank big time, like Spawn, From Hell and every Crow and Superman film except the first one. But there have been some big successes. Blade I and II were both very effective as comic book films in different ways. Batman remains the most successful and popular comic book film, even if all three sequels were all spectacular failures in various ways (Batman and Robin deserves a very special place in bad movie hell).

Forgotten in this fold, however, is Dick Tracy, a very funny, visually bold, surprisingly musical comic book film that has only gotten better in this age of pixels and green-screen.

The criticisms of the film still sting years later: Warren Beatty as Tracy has the right look, but zero character depth; there is little plot to speak of, other than a teeter-tottering between the forces of law and crime; some of the cameos are distracting, as stars inhabit characters with little purpose other than "Hey! That guy's in the movie!" (Dustin Hoffman is a noticeable exception as the hilariously incomprehensible Mumbles.) In fact, you could say most of the movie is simply an excuse for the visuals.

But what visuals! Dick Tracy paints an urban cityscape on film that we are likely to never see again. There have been more sprawling cities in other movies, yes, but most of them fail to break out of the Metropolis/Blade Runner sci-fi urban nightmare. Even Batman, with its towering Gotham city, is essentially another city of the damned seeking a hero. The city in Dick Tracy is the "Big City," like the Metropolis of Superman's world. It is unnamed, nostalgic, sprawling and filled with neon signs as far as the eye can see.

In one of the first shots, the camera scans the city looking for a warehouse starting from an apartment window. The shot is comprised of clear computer effects, paintings, models, real locations and lighting tricks. Yet even with the scale models and digital buildings, the details suck you in: there is a train plowing through the streets, there is real smoke coming out of that smokestack, and that is a real actor standing in front of the club, not some digital extra. We know the world is fake, but the different elements gel together giving us a world we want to believe.

The designers of the film stuck to six colors: red, blue, yellow, green, orange, purple, plus black and white. So what, you might say, but watch the movie again and you will realize how specific the world looks. Every gangster at one point wears a coat in a specific bright color, and the cars and buildings all obey this color code. The end result is a world and film as striking as anything a comic book artist could create.

Yet, the most important question is: is the movie any good? Many films are visually amazing, but to a certain end, without character and story. In that respect, I'm happy to report that the film remains hilarious, high-energy entertainment. It has five original songs by Stephen Sondheim (sung by Madonna), a career-highlight performance by Al Pacino, and a boggling list of cameos and excellent action sequences. As a movie, it's a lot of fun. As a visual experience, it is unforgettable.