You won’t mind hitting replay for these visually epic comic-book adaptations. In issue 8 Live looks at 4 epic comic book adaptations in the last decade.

 Sin City

2005/ 124 minutes/ Director: Robert Rodriguez/ Origin: Frank Miller’s Sin City Rating: 3

Sin City explores the scandalous lives of the seductive women and rugged men caught up in the violent corruption of “Basin City”. This brilliant adaptation embodies dirty nudity, vulgarity and gripping fight scenes that are simultaneously disturbing and intriguing. Entirely black-and-white, the film pops with certain colour: blond hair, red blood, green eyes. Taming the explicit content, Rodriguez still places you dead inside the fantastical comic-book world.

300

2007/ 117 minutes /Director: Zack Snyder/ Origin: Frank Miller’s 300. Rating: 3

Bad-ass King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) leads 300 buff Spartans into battle against the heavily pierced Xerxes and his army of 300 000. A sepia effect was added to the movie, giving it a washed-out yet brutal feel. Striking colour compositions – the Spartans’ blood-red capes, a gold streak of light in the gloomy sky – set the overall feel of this timeless adaptation. This artistic action film is one for the books.

X-Men First Class

2011/ 132 minutes/ Director: Mathew Vaughn/ Origin: X-Men by Jack Kirby and Stan Lee/ Rating: 3

The prequel to the original X-Men trilogy and set during the peak of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, this chapter focuses on the relationship between Charles Xavier (Professor X) and Erik Lensherr (Magneto). Drifting from the comic’s original outline, Vaughn’s direction focuses on shape-shifting characters, tele-porting and telekinesis, and blends the sci-fi genre with a distinctively retro 1960s feel.

The Dark Knight

2012/ 152 minutes/ Director: Christopher Nolan/ Origin: Bob Kane’s Batman/ Rating: 5

The second instalment in Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight sees Batman’s hopes of handing over his crime fighting duties thwarted by the arrival of the clown prince of crime, the Joker. Nolan’s stylistic choices of low lighting and dramatic shadows – scenes are often dark or lit only by dim street lamp – add to Batman’s mystery. The Dark Knight established a strong visual standard for superhero flicks.