Tag: superhero

Pondrings on: The State of the Superhero

I am a geek, and proud of it. I am a fan of the obscure, the weird, the things that lie on the fringe of entertainment. I am also a cinephile: this means i care deeply about the entertainment industry – heck, i even worked in it for a while back in the 2000s. I also make movies with my brother and his little film company. What i’m getting at is that i bloody love movies, and that i seem to deviate towards the ones that are a little more fictional than most.

I’m talking Star Wars, Star Trek, science fiction and fantasy. Thats not to say i don’t absolutely love the others, but having a glance at my Top 10 (drum roll) then you may see what i’m saying.

  1. Jurassic Park 2: Master and Commander 3: LA Confidential 4: Fantastic Mr Fox 5: Sahara 6: Mad Max: Fury Road 7: The Punisher (2004) 8: Krull 9: The Guest 10: Robin Hood (animated)

I should point out if my friends read this that i alter the 5-10 items depending on my mood. So yes, two weeks ago i may have put The Guest before Mad Max but thats because i can either be in the mood for ludicrous action or Dan Stevens – this rotates on a regular basis.

Anyway i digest. With my proclivities laid bare i also adore Superhero movies.

Or rather, past tense. I adored.

We had Superman in the 70s, Batman in the 80s, The X-Men in the 90s, then came the wonderful MCU. What great times to be alive, and a film fan. Yeah, there were duds but we”ve forgotten about them. Because they were released so piece meal we didn’t notice, or didn’t care. Batman And Robin, i’m looking at you.

However, the last few years have been somewhat disheartening. The MCU peaked with Avengers: Endgame and despite there being a few eyebrow-raisers (Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.3), the rest have varied from outright awful (Thor: Love and Thunder) to forgettable (The Eternals) to downright boring (Wakanda Forever).

Then theres the damned DCEU. Jeeezzzz. I mean Man of Steel was okay, Batman v Superman was okay, Justice League was okay, Wonder Woman was okay, Shazam was okay, Aquaman was okay… but WW84, Shazam 2 and Black Adam weren’t up to much and… god. The Flash was quite possibly the worst movie i’ve ever seen. (Now that i’ve thought about it). The best DC films are the OTHER ones: The Batman, Joker.

Have superheroes had their day?

The problem is, the answer is both yes and no. Superman and Lois (about to enter its 4th season) is absolutely brilliant. The upcoming Loki S2 will be great. Secret Invasion wasn’t awful, it was boring.

Blue Beetle looks copy and paste, Kraven: The Hunter will be the same. Am i looking forwards to Aquaman 2? The Marvels? No, i’m not. I’ll see them, but i won’t prioritise them over the likes of Dune Part 2, or The Creator, or i don’t know… Tinkerbell and the Curse of the Clicking Crocodile (not a film but it serves the point as i expect most other movies in existence will be higher on the priority list.)

The problem is not the actors. Heck no. Some of our greatest actors are out there doing their best.

The problem is with everything else. The writing is tired, predictable. The CGI is god-awful. Come on. Its not as if we can’t do better – James Cameron has proved otherwise. Steven Spielberg proved otherwise in 1993, for god’s sake.

The problem is greed (don’t get me started on the SAG strikes, thats a whole other rant) – movies make money, and the faster you churn them out the more money you’ll make. Until of course, all your fans desert you because your cookie-cutter films are terrible. Then who’s laughing.

Not you, you’re losing your audience. Not your audience, they’re losing their films. Not me, i’m losing the will to live.

The Flash (2023)

THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS, AS THEY ARE NECESSARY TO EXPLAIN MY FEELINGS TOWARDS THIS FILM.

I don’t even know where to start. I confess, I was taken in by the hype for this movie. I mean, whats not to love – Michael Keaton is back as Batman, and he, in my eyes, is the definitive Batman. There have been unfortunate goings on with the lead actor, Ezra Miller, but i’m still willing to give it a go.

The only obvious negative I could level at the film before its release is the removal of Henry Cavill;’s Superman cameo, but I might be slightly biased about that.

I’m not going to sugarcoat it. I have thought about this film a lot since I saw it and, every time I reconsider it, something else reminds me that I absolutely didn’t like it.

The Flash (2023) takes the story of the Flashpoint Paradox, in which Barry Allan (the Flash) finds out he can run so fast he can travel in time, so obviously he travels back and saves his mother being murdered and his father from being imprisoned for the crime. This creates an alternate future in which Superman is not the defender of the Earth and Batman is an embittered, washed out recluse. Cue Barry getting Batman’s mojo back, finding Superman and putting things right which once went wrong.

The movie takes this story and takes all the best bits from it, adding its own flavour of drama. Not only does the paradox alter the future, but it also threatens to bring about the destruction of the multiverse (the what? Wasn’t that what Across the Spiderverse was about? And the whole arc of the MCU right now?). Also, its not Superman, he was killed – now its Supergirl. And Zod is on the warpath just as he was in the events of Man of Steel.

I genuinely think the Supergirl twist was good. We haven’t had a Supergirl in the DCU yet – Melissa Benoist has her TV show, which is excellent (for the most part), and Helen Slater was perfect in the role in the original movie. This version of Supergirl is sassy, sexy and vulnerable.

Here we go, a complaint. What was with the Supergirl thing? She outright declares shes not going to help Barry and Barry (theres two of them) and Batman but then immediately thereafter crawls back to save Barry’s life as if theres an unbroken, eternal bond between them. Bad storytelling, bad filmaking.

The problem is, because of all the nonsence regarding Superman’s exclusion from the film, it just felt wrong that Supergirl was here instead of him. I truly believe that if Henry Cavill had made appearance then the Supergirl plotline would have landed better. Especially considering that Supergirl is actually a brilliant character, and the actress nails it – I love the outfit too.

The film suffers greatly from a complete lack of skill in the CGI department. With Avatar: Way of Water currently showing what CGI can do, so why is the speed force full of uncanny valley humanoids that are actually worse than The Polar Express?? I have watched numerous reels and tiktoks from the VizFX people saying it wasn’t their fault, it was studio pressure – but that doesn’t forgive CGI that has been likened to “PS2 visuals”, and that particular console was out 23 years ago. My age old argument comes into play. Jurassic Park had better special effects, and that was out 30 years ago. And if you want to talk massive amounts of CGI, then.. well, Starship Troopers was 1997. The Phantom Menace, in 1999 had mind blowing CGI that stands up today. No excuse, DC.

The unfortunate thing about this film is that its about 30mins of awesome. Michael Keaton’s dive out of his Batwing is perfect cinema. Some of Barry’s lines are genuinely hilarious, and, actually, Ezra Miller is perfectly acceptable during his dramatic turns. But the rest of this 2hrs 25mins monstrosity is boring, lifeless dross.

The film TRIES to win back favour with its finale. We witness the crashing multiverses, and glimpse what other versions of our heroes would be / have been. So we get to hear Adam West’s Batman, we get to see George Reeves – the first Superman on TV – then we get to see Jay Garret’s Flash, also seen in the Arrowverse – then we get fricking Christopher Reeve (THE BEST SUPERMAN) and Helen Slater’s Supergirl…

…and then we get Nicolas Cage.

I don’t really know how I reacted. It was a great idea – Cage was so close to becoming Superman in a project written by Kevin Smith and purportedly directed by Tim Burton – so this is a nice acknowledgement of that, but…well. The CGI was so damn bad. Yes, it was recognisably Cage, and of course I was excited to see him… but not his badly animated de-aged face. The whole sequence would look bloody phenomenal on paper, but falls rather flat in the final edit.

Another gripe is that by exclusion they highlighted who wasn’t there. No Christian Bale, no Val Kilmer. No Brandon Routh. No Green Lantern. No Grant Gustin (despite Ezra’s Flash appearance in the CW’s Elseworlds crossover).  Heck, while we’re at it, no Lynda Carter (although we did get a very brief appearance by Gal Gadot). The Justice League were all together at one point – except Superman, because he was off saving a volcano in Honalulu or something.

The biggest surprise was the final decision, and final twist, of the whole movie. Bruce Wayne emerging from the car…and being George Clooney. A wonderful hark back to the underated silliness that was Batman and Robin – but even that travesty of cinema trumps some of our current comic book translations. (Love and Thunder, i’m looking at you).

This ending is a clear statement that things have changed at DC. Ben Affleck has gone, Henry Cavill has gone. Yet, some things stay the same. Such as…

Jason Mamoa was apparently in a post-credits scene, but to be honest, I didn’t stay for it. I wanted out of there as fast as I could so I could decompress what i’d just been subjected to. I’m not really excited at all for the Aquaman sequel this Christmas, and i’m even less excited for whatever rubbish the universe concocts after that.

Yeah sorry, another Henry Cavill rant. Somebody on some social media channel nailed it with his explanation. Why get rid of Superman but not the Flash, or Wonder Woman? If you were going to recast everyone then announce that! Don’t shove Henry under the bus by himself.

The age of the superhero movie has passed. The age of the multiverses of madness and cinematic disasters is in full flow.

I’m going to go and watch Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Disheartened sigh.

Dr Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

AKA Doctor Strange and the Madness of the Multiverse (2022)

AKA Dr Madness and the Strange Multiverse (2022)

AKA Dr Multiverse 2022 is Strange and Mad (ness)

Without a doubt, this film is batshit crazy. Bonkers. Mind-blowingly silly, beyond a shadow of hesitation an absolute brainfuck of spinning lights, ridiculous creations and cinematography that would make an LSD trip feel like a drive in the Cotswolds.

But its also pretty good.

Oh I’m aware i just pissed off the cynics who probably complained its all flash and no heart, but i disagree. At the very centre of this there lies a strong message about happiness, and this is reflected both in the character of Strange himself, but too the arguably central x-tagonist (is she good or bad, that is the million dollar franchise question?) and yes, don’t you worry fans and geeks i did use that x in there not just as the mathematical symbol of the unknown integer but for THAT other reason too. Sort of. Its tenuous.

Much like the films plot, yes, i agree. But who gives two hoots when its this much fun! These Marvel films know exactly what they’re delivering: reasons to go the cinema and see these things in Kong-sized screens and with speakers that would blow the hind legs off a brontosaurus. Actors you know and love not only because they’re handsome (Cumberbatch) or beautiful (errr…Cumberbatch again but also Rachel McAdams and Elizabeth Olsen), but because they’re talented. Despite talking a load of nonsence they are all believable in the silly characters they inhabit. Making spinning revolving portals using fingers or staring into a vast sky of greenscreen and apparently seeing the whole city collide into itself Inception style…kudos, boys and girls.

Basically, Wanda has not forgiven herself for the events of her TV show and has sought the Book of the Dead – it may as well be, damn it – to give her power over reality, so she can concoct her own family. A kid called America can manipulate the multiverse (coz, reasons) but only when shes scared. Wanda wants kid, Wanda shouldn’t have that level of control, Strange needs to stop her. And…away we go.

Sam Raimi has been given free reign to cram in as many of his own little idiosyncracies as he can – including Bruce Campbell slapping himself in the face with his own hand – and it shows. I mentioned lunatic cinematography – try acrobatic monkeys with go-pros filming the action scenes. Its frenetic, its frantic, and its imminently wild.

Of course, this is Marvel, so we get to see some very surprising cameos – maybe not quite as jaw dropping as in Spiderman: No Way Home, but even so… that guy i was not expecting!

Bombastic and daft, and so worth a watch. Yep – i made my conclusion cleverly relevant.

The Batman (2022)

Harangued by a rise in crime figures and now at the end of his tether following the brutal murder of a mayoral candidate, police lieutenant Gordon is finally forced into revealing his secret weapon; he is in league with the masked vigilante known as Batman. Of course, its no coincidence that the murder victim came with a note addressed to the Batman himself. And not just a note, but a Riddle…

And so here we are; all the hype, all the delays, all the press, and we’re finally seeing Matt Reeves’ “The Batman”, starring controversial casting Robert Pattinson (quickly dubbed Battinson, because the worlds media couldn’t let Batffleck go unanswered), in a story involving…presumably, the Riddler; a villain unseen in the Bale trilogy, or indeed in the Battfleckiverse. Oh and we’ve all seen Colin Farell in makeup as Oswald Cobblepot, aka The Penguin. And Zoe Kravitz looking amazing on her motorbike in leather as Catwoman / Selina Kyle.

Spoiler free. The film is dark, brooding and murky, full of lots of bleak, shadowy dioramas and encroaching blackness. In the first few moments (alongside a gripping narrative POV of the Batman himself, we are introduced to the concept of Fear as a weapon. Batman can’t be everywhere at once, but he can be ANYWHERE. And that has to be enough, for now. Its an excellent, new way of playing the Bat as yet not seen – a shadowy figure of the imagination, punctuated by odd moments of physical presence, meaning the bad guys are never entirely sure that this night isn’t their night for Vengeance.

Battinson is brilliant in the role, but to try and answer the inevitable…no, its not comparable. He is a very different Bat to Ben Affleck / Christian Bale / George Clooney / Val Kilmer / Michael Keaton / Adam West. Each of the above have their own ways of doing it, this is his. He owns the role, makes it his own in a way the others couldn’t. But similarly, the others do it differently too. Like Dr Who or James Bond, this is just the current representation of the character and has its ups and downs as any other.

We do see Bruce Wayne in a different light this time; a rather disinterested, almost boring billionairre; a man with no interest in the public arena, despite Alfred (Andy Serkis)’s encouragment. His long unwashed emo-hair and darkened eye makeup (is this the first time we see the Batman eyes makeup controversy approached??) give his Bruce a trashy, grungy look that’ll no doubt grab the attention of fans.

The Bat’s relationship with Catwoman is once again more protagonist than anti-hero – and by that i mean more Anne Hathaway than Michelle Pfieffer. Then we come to Colin Farrell’s Penguin and i couldn’t help but think…did it have to be Colin Farrell? I mean, did he audition for it and just nail it, because he is so utterly unrecognisable under the makeup. The Riddler is, although welcome as a cinematic villain…i mean he just doesn’t really light up the screen like Batvillains of old. True, he’s far more true to reality bad and a whole degree away from Jim Carrey’s previous incarnation of the role…but…a bit more campiness wouldn’t have gone amiss, ie Heath’s Joker or even Hardy’s Bane.

Some of the set pieces are spectacular; in particular the obligatory Batmobile scene in the middle. And the villain is terrifying…but at the same time, really really annoying. He’s that person that just squeals with an annoying tone of voice and refuses to listen to you when you’re negotiating. And to be honest, his motive was a little bit boring… i mean, who doesn’t want to punish a corrupt government and police force, this is nothing new. The finale, however, despite the rather boring build up, is sudden, comic-genius cinema.

Conclusion then; its good, gripping, but as it appears with every other Batfilm of the new era, bloody long. Long periods of nothing except murder investigations and long, moody staring…then patchwork, exceptional action.

Oh and i have to say, as a local, some of Glasgow looked stunning in the film. Dark, fucked up and pouring with rain. True to life, then…

So now i can talk about the huge letdown of Penguin’s inclusion, and the open-ended conclusion. Yep, Catwoman is away off going her own way, so its down to being moody and lonely again for the time being. But now Gotham is a flooded holocaust city, leading us to feel this was written as a trilogy starter (also considering we are introduced to another villain in the closing moments), which i think spoils the satisfaction in a movie. Why do films now do this? None of Bale’s trilogy did. Granted, Batman Begins ends with the Joker, but the film has by that point ended. If we’d never seen The Dark Knight we wouldn’t have mourned its loss, but now, if we don’t see the next Battinson we’ll feel shortchanged, because we’ve been promised the next part of the ongoing story. Not, crucially, another story with the same protagonist.