Comic-Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope is a documentary created by the dream team of Morgan Spurlock, Joss Whedon, and Stan Lee. It follows five separate groups of people during their trip to the San Diego Comic Con and it also features a plethora of individual commentaries by both stars and commoners alike. On to the review!
Let me just start off by saying that THIS MOVIE IS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! So far, this is the best depiction and description of what Comic Con truly means to all us geeks. Comic Con is not just a big "building full of weirdos in costumes" like all the news stations like to say, but it is essentially the closest thing to heaven on Earth for its hardcore attendees (such as me). And Morgan Spurlock makes sure that this fact is known. This film describes how there is a feeling of "something greater", the Spirit of the Con if you will, and that these hallowed four days mean so much to its attendees. Comic Con is a place where people of any facet of geekdom can come together and celebrate how awesome they really are. If you already are a regular Comic Con-goer than this movie will reestablish why you love it so much, and if you are one of the millions of people that simply don't understand all the hubbub then hopefully this documentary will help to pry open your ignorant eyes.
The reasoning behind showing five different attendees is to show that people attend the Con for a wide number of reasons. The costume designer wants to go win the Masquerade to gain some recognition to possibly break into the industry, two aspiring comic book artists also seek a job in the industry, a young man plans to propose to his girlfriend whom he MET at Comic Con, and one of the largest comic vendors in America plans to make his biggest profit of the year. As you can see, there are many facets of Comic Con, and a lot of them are not so obviously seen from the outside. One of the things that I never really knew about Comic Con was that it is basically a job fair for the comic industry. This movie showed me that if a company likes your portfolio enough they can essentially offer you a job on the spot. Even a so-called Comic Con expert (something that I like to consider myself to be) has something they can learn from Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope.
Another positive note about this film is how funny it is. It really caught me by surprise. Not only are there commentaries by well known comedians such as Kevin Smith and Seth Rogen, but much of the quip comes from the five followed attendees because when it comes down to it they really are the focal points of the film.
As a matter of fact, I really can't come up with anything negative about this film other than one thing: distribution. I understand that independent films are quite hard to widely distribute, and that's not the problem, because it can be viewed on-demand and on iTunes all across the country. My main issue is that of all cities there is not a single theater in San Diego that is showing this film as of now. It's showing in other random cities like Salina, KS and Washington, DC but not in San Diego! The movie is practically about San Diego! How can you not show it here?
The bottom line is that this movie is a must see film. It is highly enjoyable to both sides of the proverbial coin of society, and the more publicity it gets the better chance you can view it in theaters in a city near you.
You can find more information here: http://comicconmovie.com
-Mitch
Let me just start off by saying that THIS MOVIE IS ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC! So far, this is the best depiction and description of what Comic Con truly means to all us geeks. Comic Con is not just a big "building full of weirdos in costumes" like all the news stations like to say, but it is essentially the closest thing to heaven on Earth for its hardcore attendees (such as me). And Morgan Spurlock makes sure that this fact is known. This film describes how there is a feeling of "something greater", the Spirit of the Con if you will, and that these hallowed four days mean so much to its attendees. Comic Con is a place where people of any facet of geekdom can come together and celebrate how awesome they really are. If you already are a regular Comic Con-goer than this movie will reestablish why you love it so much, and if you are one of the millions of people that simply don't understand all the hubbub then hopefully this documentary will help to pry open your ignorant eyes.
The reasoning behind showing five different attendees is to show that people attend the Con for a wide number of reasons. The costume designer wants to go win the Masquerade to gain some recognition to possibly break into the industry, two aspiring comic book artists also seek a job in the industry, a young man plans to propose to his girlfriend whom he MET at Comic Con, and one of the largest comic vendors in America plans to make his biggest profit of the year. As you can see, there are many facets of Comic Con, and a lot of them are not so obviously seen from the outside. One of the things that I never really knew about Comic Con was that it is basically a job fair for the comic industry. This movie showed me that if a company likes your portfolio enough they can essentially offer you a job on the spot. Even a so-called Comic Con expert (something that I like to consider myself to be) has something they can learn from Comic Con Episode IV: A Fan's Hope.
Another positive note about this film is how funny it is. It really caught me by surprise. Not only are there commentaries by well known comedians such as Kevin Smith and Seth Rogen, but much of the quip comes from the five followed attendees because when it comes down to it they really are the focal points of the film.
As a matter of fact, I really can't come up with anything negative about this film other than one thing: distribution. I understand that independent films are quite hard to widely distribute, and that's not the problem, because it can be viewed on-demand and on iTunes all across the country. My main issue is that of all cities there is not a single theater in San Diego that is showing this film as of now. It's showing in other random cities like Salina, KS and Washington, DC but not in San Diego! The movie is practically about San Diego! How can you not show it here?
The bottom line is that this movie is a must see film. It is highly enjoyable to both sides of the proverbial coin of society, and the more publicity it gets the better chance you can view it in theaters in a city near you.
You can find more information here: http://comicconmovie.com
-Mitch