My reviews may not all be timely, as I plan on looking back at many films from the last decade or so which are critical to evolution of the current fare of sci-fi entertainment. I will try to review things as I see them as well. However, I find that upon first viewing I am usually very excited by many of the movies I see, but my opinion changes over the course of the days and weeks following my first viewing or upon multiple viewings.
This also happens to be my opinion overall concerning the explosion of superhero films of the last decade. At first I was very excited by the growing number of films based on comic books. However, almost without fail, I have been disappointed in the long run by most of these. And, I know I am not alone. Yet the studios keep churning out superhero movies. Why? Because they have finally realized the untapped market of geek culture; those who grew up experiencing the original Star Wars films and all the toys that went along with them, watching the Superfriends on Saturday mornings, and reading comic books, who have fiercer loyalty to childhood heroes than any sports fan has for their favorite team, who not only are now grown up with money to spend, but also have their own children to whom they wish to pass on their lifelong passions to. And, now after thirty or more years of waiting we are finally getting to see the movies we dreamed of as kids. And, as each one comes out, I leave the theater scratching my head, thinking, "What the hell was that?" pinning my hopes on the sequel which is already in pre-production because our desperate desire to see our childhood on the screen equates to box-office success and Hollywood will happily suck us dry as they ruin our heroes one by one.
In 2000, having not died of Y2K, we were treated that summer to a long-awaited screen version of Marvel comics' X-Men, my favorite comic book growing up. I feel this is the genesis of the modern superhero movie and a good starting point for our current situation.
That is not to say there weren't superhero movies prior to this. There were. There was the dying Christopher Reeves "Superman" franchise. There was the terrible 1989 adaption of "The Punisher" and the equally atrocious 1990 "Captain America". There were the appalling live action "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle" movies. There were the Some would say that Tim Burton's 1989 "Batman" could be the start, but I'd start with Bryan Singer's X-Men. The quickly devolving state of the 1990's Batman films which could not retain a consistent cast, director, or designer is what separates it from the modern era of superhero films in my opinion.
Singer's X-Men showed the world the first ensemble superhero film whose characters were not cartoony, were relatable, and (as the X-Men always have) touched upon issues of social inequalities. But most importantly it looked like it could happen in our world. Technology had finally caught up with our imaginations and we saw that any of those characters we grew up reading could now be depicted on the big screen in a believable way. It opened the flood gates for Marvel to get their characters into theaters.
But, there was a problem. Marvel was in such financial dire straits they started selling the rights to their characters to whoever wanted to make a movie and was willing to pay. X-Men had been produced by 20th Century Fox. When Spider-Man came out in 2002, it is produced by Columbia Pictures. In 2003, the sequel to X-men, X2, is released y 20th Century Fox and the Hulk is produced by Universal Studios. Meanwhile Blade, a character from the Spider-Man world is being produced by New Line cinema. Daredevil, Elektra, another Punisher, the Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, 2 more Spider-Man movies all are produced. But, Marvel has no control over them. The quality of most of them are questionable at best.
Meanwhile DC comics simply cannot seem to get anything going what-so-ever. The attempt to reboot Superman is disastrous. But in 2005, DC produced Christopher Nolan's gritty take on Batman "Batman Begins". This very dark film captured what many fans had been hoping to see in a Batman film since the publication of Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" in 1986. Its sequel "The Dark Knight" was in my opinion one of the greatest superhero films in history with an unbelievable acting performance by Heath Ledger as Batman's archnemesis "The Joker". The third and final part of the trilogy was an uneven disappointment that unfortunately made people reconsider the merits of the series. However, its financial success opened the door for a Nolan produced revamp of Superman this year and the recently announced Batman/Superman team-up movie slated for 2015.
Then comes 2008. Marvel and DC put out films that change everything. Marvel regroups and plans an ambitious, never before attempted long range plan using the characters they still own the film rights too, characters who comprise Marvel's other big ensemble superhero team, The Avengers. Beginning with Iron Man, Marvel teams with Paramount to produce a series of loosely connected films (Iron Man 1&2, Thor, Captain America) to introduce their heroes who then join up in one of the biggest blockbuster films of all time "The Avengers". The careful planning of an overarching story through numerous films helps capture the feel of comic book world where all of these characters have been cohabiting for decades in the comics. Currently this ongoing storyline continues with this year's "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" and "Thor 2: The Dark World", next year's "Guardians of the Galaxy", and 2015's "Avenger's 2: Age of Ultron", "Ant Man", and "Dr. Strange". The continuity has also jumped mediums and will crossover into the new television series "S.H.I.E.L.D." this year.
Despite the hopes of fans, DC has not been able or willing to follow in Marvel's footsteps and get a "justice League" series of films produced. 2011's dismal "Green Lantern" was a first tentaive step in that direction but the film's failure seemed to have given DC pause again. At ComicCon this past weekend DC stated that the Batman/Superman team-up would be the first definite step toward a Justice League film possibly slated for 2017.
Back at Marvel, the problem remains that they do not have the film rights to half of their characters. The X-Men franchise at 20th Century Fox continued without SInger following X2. A third X-Men film was made, followed by X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men First Class two films that takes place before the other films. And next year X-Men Days of Futures Past will hit theaters, a film that chronicles my favorite plotline ever, spanning the future, present, and past of the X-Men, unitiong the casts of all the X-films and is supposed to resolve certain continuity issues according to Bryan SInger who is back in the director's chair.
This whole group of films from 2000 to present and beyond is what I intend to use as a jumping off point for my reviews, rants, and philosophical musings as well as many films not mentioned above.
And, I will begin with the movie that is bugging me the most at the moment: "Man of Steel"
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