Wednesday, February 9, 2011

The Bittersweet Anticipation of the Super Hero Movies

http://captainamerica.marvel.com/
http://thor-marvel.com/


Ok.
I've waited 40 years for this to happen, and I better not be disappointed.  I'm just saying.

2011 and 2012 could possibly present the biggest and most soul-satisfying movie-going summers of my entire life, and I say that with no undo hyperbole, friends and neighbors.  Those of you that know me understand that I am and always have been a certified, dyed in the wool comic book enthusiast. Not a Fan, with pointy ears and a geeky smirk and that "i've-never-seen-a-boobie" look on my acne-smeared face, but an Enthusiast, one who truly appreciates the medium as an art form, a hobby, and an investment to certain extents.  As a teacher, I was always a proporter of the comic as a way to get students reading -- as many curriculum make reading a chore and could take the fun out of sharpening a pencil, I always encouraged my students to read anything they wanted to read, within reason.  Comic books not only encourage students to read with high-interest material, they foster an appreciation of art; drawing; form and structure; writing; sequence of plot; formulaic storytelling; mythology; science; ethics; morality; societal roles; and more.  And during the last 10 years or so, this art form has been adapted with mixed results to a new medium, that of motion pictures.

It has been a rocky road, this love affair between Hollywood and comic books.  And the results have not always been fireworks and fanfare like the first Spider-Man movie.  Many have been crash and burn flops boardering on the insipid, like the uber-shlocky Elektra. Jennifer Garner owes me $8.50.

I was not happy with the Hulk attempts, and felt bad for Ed Norton (the second Mr. Banner, like a smarter, angrier Dick York), who wrote the second movie's script and then had it hacked to pieces once out of his grasp.  The Fantastic Four movies showed promise with Micheal Chicklis, or whatever his name is.  But Jessica Alba was about as convincing a Sue Storm as Martin Lawrence is a an elderly black woman.  The only thing of redeeming quality was the flip and flirty Chris Evans as the Human Torch.  He did a good job in that.  And then Iron Man came along, and revitalized my faith that such collaborations could be created if MovieLand just stuck to the core material to begin with and did not try to "refresh" aspects of the mythologies which they deemed replaceable.  Note: Dr. Doom is not a morphing metal madman. Bruce Banner's dad is not the Absorbing Man. Nick Fury is not Samuel L. Jackson (and I know somebody's not gonna agree with me on that. But the Ultimate Universe is not the Marvel Universe, and the two should never cross. So shut the hell up.). 

Iron Man was such a hit that it fueled the creation of more super-hero movies.  And to my giddy excitement, movies that piece together like a great, four-color puzzle.  See, The Hulk and Iron Man were founding members of one of my favorite comics, The Avengers.  This is a team of heavy-hitters comprised of these two big guns, Thor, some incidental characters I'll mention in a minute, and my all-time favorite comic book character: Captain America.  SO, now we have the new Thor movie set to show in May, and then the new Captain America, all in anticipation of the Avengers movie next year.  The new Cap movie is actually titled "Captain America: The First Avenger" to whet the appetites of the faithful.

And for those who actually thought Seth Rogan was a convincing Green Hornet (you putzes), he's actually slated to play Hank Pym as Ant Man, one of those "incidental characters" I mentioned previously.  If there is a God in Heaven, this movie will never be made.  Seth. Listen, buddy.  Produce, write, make little stoney flicks with crude humor and semi-ad-libbed scripts. But stop with the super hero thing. Some of us care.

So I'm ready. Ready to be amazed and ready to be disgusted. The movies will either meet my extreme expectations or fall ridiculously flat.  And its my own fault. I know too much about movie making and I know too much about comic books and the core subject material is closer to me than most people are to their football teams. 

But I've seen the trailers. Even football fans saw them as they watched the Super Bowl. And I've attached the links at the top for you to see them.  And thus far....I'm amazed.  The Cap trailer has the Red Skull looking fairly cool as he pulls off a rubber-faced disguise (a trade-mark of his in the early books), and tanks with Hydra insignias (a big Cap enemy group), and even Cap leading the Howling Commandos in WWII, which should have been Nick Fury's job, but they had to reboot that to cover for Samuel L. Jackson! [I'm waving my clenched fist in the air here, but you can't see it.] But who plays Cap?  Chris Evans, the aforementioned Human Torch from the FF movies!  Really?  Really, Hollywood?  There was no body else who fit the suit?  Huh.  I'll be damned. Well, let's hope he's the right man to fill Steve Rogers shoes and does an amazing job.  Personally, I think he'd make a better Hawkeye, but I've already lost you I'm sure with too many comic referrences, so let's suffice to say I'm trepidacious, but optimistic.

And the Thor trailer is up there, too.  And it looks pretty damn good, too, except that I have no idea who this bohunk is playing Thor, and Natalie Portman is in it, ensuring her appearances at Sci-Fi Conventions 20 years from now if this Black Swan thing doesn't pan out, and the fact that it's in 3D.  Christ, enough with the 3D already!  We get it!  Stuff looks kinda realish, but not quite.  Got it.  But Sir Anthony Hopkins is in it, which is cool, as Odin, Thor's father. I'm interested in seeing how he does. And they show the Destoyer, too, which flitted my little 10-year-old heart when I saw that classic Thor villian.  And in the trailer, Thor is being questioned by that same robotic SHIELD Agent from the Iron Man movies, so I know there's going to be some good sequences of Thor vs. the Supreme Headquarters International Espionage Law-Enforcement Division.  oh, god...i am a geek, aren't i?

So take a look at the trailers and let me know what you think.  I'll be here, getting the popcorn and the hari-kari sword ready.

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