Page 1 of All SuperHeroed Out

Looking towards the end of the year, with the exception of a handful of family CGI pictures, the only movies that seem to fall into what I`d call "my" sphere of interest are the summer Superhero blockbusters, such as the recently released Thor, the out-on-Monday Green Lantern, X-Men First Class, Transformers 3 (admittedly not a superhero film but falls into the category), Captain America etc.

I`m simply not enthused by these pictures the way I used to be.  I enjoyed the Iron Man pictures, stumped up for the Superman Blu Box, and even picked up the disappointingly dim Green Hornet.  Are any of these movies worth a watch?  The only one that stirs any curiosity at the moment is the Rocketeer dieselpunk vibe given off by Captain America.

I`d hate to think I`m growing up as I`ve put it off as long as I could.

J Mark Oates

is it maybe because like years ago Superhero films started to get really good again, with the likes of X-men 1 and 2, Spiderman 1 and 2, the 2 Nolan Batman films, then got a bit crap again with X-men 3, Spiderman 3 etc, so after a glut of great superhero films, it`s back to being a few great ones, and some lazy cash cows :(

I loved Iron Man 1, but was disapointed by 2. I haven`t seen Thor, Green Lantern, Captain America or Transformers 3, but did see X-men First Class which i thought was excellent.

After hearing good things about Thor and Captain America I`ll probably wait till they`re less than £10 on Blu Ray to buy. I very rarely buy anything release day now, just add things to my Amazon wishlist in the hope I get them for birthday or Christmas :)

Having just watched Captain America last night I have to agree that superhero movies are really getting quite stale. They all follow the same tired formula and are utterly predictable and cliched from start to finish.

Thor and Captain America are sort-of enjoyable in a sunday hangover, easy watch kind of way, but they are nothing special. Thor blew its load way too early with a massive effects set-piece and the rest of the film never quite managed to live up to that opening. Captain America has the old-school style going for it, but the plot is generic A-B mechanics and Tommy Lee Jones redefines the term "phoning it in".

Green Lantern was one of the most uninspired pieces of trash I`ve seen in a long time, hilariously bad in some places. Green Hornet was rubbish too, although the impossible split-screen camera work was really very cool.

X-Men: First Class was excellent whenever James McAvoy or Michael Fassbender were on screen, but it flatlined as soon as the kids showed up.

The only superhero movie I`m looking forward to is the The Dark Knight Rises (even if it is a rubbish title).

This item was edited on Sunday, 16th October 2011, 11:59

Batman was nicely rebooted by making it very dark. Well even darker than Burton`s vision (let`s forget all the sequels, even Burton`s). Spiderman was good because Sam Raimi did it. The rest are all pretty formulaic, though at times enjoyable, and Hollywood studios cashing in on box office success for other super hero pics.

I suspect now they just lack any sort of originality, and like the constant glut of CGI family movies, I can`t see them stopping anytime soon. At least until another genre appeals to so many grown ups.


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I think I`m suffering from a general malaise about movies in general.  I spent this evening combing through Total Film back to June looking for stuff that even remotely interested me and came to the conclusion that either I or Hollywood is in a real rut.

At the moment, all I have on preorder between now and Christmas is Cars2 and Harry Potter 7b.  Other years I`ve had Christmas lists of twenty movies sorted out by now.

To me the list of pictures from Summer to the present seem almost exclusively composed of shlock horror pictures (which do nothing for me), gross-out or crude comedies, or thud and blunder blockbusters full of impossible camera gyrations and deafening LFE sound effects.  I appreciate there are other movies being made, but (and this definitely is my problem) my movie tastes are becoming steadily more conservative with a small c.

I do enjoy a well-crafted superhero picture, but I`d like them interspersed with other genres rather than turning up like the number nine bus - three of them at a time.  Thor looks interesting purely because Ken Branagh directed and that`s got to be worth something.  X Men: First Class similarly because of Matthew Vaughan and Jane Goldman`s involvement (although Kick-Ass was a disappointment I still class Stardust as an impeccable piece of screen entertainment).  Captain America - as previously mentioned the Rocketeer/ dieselpunk vibe appeals.

Beyond the superhero pictures, Cowboys & Aliens I`m wavering about, but the title`s one of those "what`s not to love?" things. I`m wondering if JJ Abrams` Super 8 will be worth it, ditto Kung Fu Panda 2 and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

You don`t think I could be going off movies, do you???

J Mark Oates

You could try widening your approach a little bit. Of the ones you mentioned that I`ve seen, X-Men First Class and Rise of the Planet of the Apes both surprised me as they`re really solid films, particularly the latter. I really liked Captain America but I`m a fan of the character and never thought I`d see the WW2 origin done so faithfully considering the earnestness of the character and our cynical modern world... but Joe Johnston and co did it (and yes, I love The Rocketeer). Super 8 is pretty good, but there was something missing I can`t quite put my finger on. Thor is good fun. Green Lantern is terrible, unfortunately as I was really looking forward to that one. I really enjoyed Transformers 3 (liked the first one a lot, hated the 2nd) and would say it`s the best of that particular franchise (the action and stunts are insane, easily out-doing any other action film this year... and it tries hard to add some substance... tries...)

Terrence Malick`s latest The Tree of Life is worth a watch just because, well, you could watch all his films in a day and still get a good night of philosophically enriched sleep. I`m a huge Malick fan, but I did have some problems with it (and it had the most walkouts I`ve ever seen at the cinema). But the film is an experience, hypnotic and ambitious on a level that is rarely seen.

A bit safer is The Guard with Brendan Gleeson, very funny Irish comedy (from the brother of the guy who brought you In Bruges).

Submarine is also pretty great, British (or Welsh?) film too so you`re supporting homegrown talent. Has a Wes Anderson influence about it.

If you stick exclusively to blockbusters I can see why you`d start getting bored as very few have anything to engage with. Don`t get me wrong, I love big silly pictures and I`m not bored with the Superhero films simply because I never dreamed we`d get anything approaching this quality (before Blade and X-Men just over 10 years ago, all we had were Burton`s Batman movies, a crappy 1990 Captain America and Spider-Man TV movies from the 70s). Marvel are playing a smart game hiring directors suited to the material.

 

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