Yes, it was just 10+ years ago that Marvel was licensing out their comic book properties rather than making the movies themselves. Sony was making some very successful Spider-Man films. Fox got the rights to make X-Men and Fantastic Four movies. New Line Cinema really were the ones to get the ball rolling with Blade. And Lions Gate Films were able to nab a couple Marvel characters in The Punisher and Man-Thing. Now while Punisher is a pretty big deal for LGF, one has to wonder how or why they went after Man-Thing. It's almost as if Marvel threw in the rights to Man-Thing to sweeten the deal a bit. Was there anyone really excited to see a Man-Thing movie? I'd wager that most people have never even heard of Man-Thing. You mean Swamp Thing don't you? No, apparently Marvel unveiled Man-Thing in May of 1971. Two months before Swamp Thing. And if you do a little more research on these two strangely similar comic book characters, you'll find that their humble origins have a lot in common, in and out of the comic books. Seems that there may or may not have been some DC writers rooming with some Marvel writers at the time and with everyone running in the same social circles and what not, comic book fans sort of ended up with the same character in both Marvel and DC. As the years went by, the characters would do more to separate themselves from their rival comic counterpart and Swamp Thing would become the more popularized of the two. Though, that may have a lot to do with the fact that the Swamp Thing movie directed by Wes Craven came out in 1982, while we waited another 23 years for Man-Thing to get a movie. I confess that as a kid, I knew who Swamp Thing was while not learning about Man-Thing for another 12 years or so. And even thing, thinking that Man-Thing must have been the clone and not the other way around.
Ok, so what about the movie???? Man-Thing is one of those high end, low budget films. It's not a major production, but it's not so small a production either. Filmed mainly in Australia with Australian actors/actresses, Man-Thing actually does a pretty good job of keeping you interested. And it's pretty atmospheric too. One of the main things that I look for in a movie is the atmosphere or mood of the film. Man-Thing really does a great job of putting you in the swamp and leaving you there at times. Just a sound stage you say? That may be the case for a good part of the film, but it works. The lighting of the swamp is eerie and a bit unsettling. I loved the mixture of greens, browns and yellows that we get. How someone didn't even encounter a gator, much less get eaten by one remains a mystery though.
I'm sure that a lot of people disagree with me. I've seen the low ratings and bad reviews this movie got. I don't care. I like this film. Yes, it got its debut on the Syfy Channel and not in theaters. Yes, there is some bad acting. No, it's not one of the greatest movies that I've ever seen. Plot you ask? Newly appointed Sherriff of Bywater, Mississippi encounters missing people, oil tycoons, native American terrorists, hot blonde school teachers, redneck locals and one massive man like thing.
GRADE: B
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