the rise of spandex: superheroes are now a thing
I saw the amazing spiderman yesterday and holy shit, it was so good. I honestly went into the cinema not expecting that much - I was never much of the fan of the previous spiderman trilogy (and the train wreck that was spiderman 3 shall never be spoken of again), and I was still in the midst of my avengers-high and batman-anticipation, so I suppose I expected spiderman to not be able to compete with the other two most anticipated superhero films of the year.
boy, was I completely and utterly wrong.
I was never into comic books as a child - I get the feeling comics, especially back in the nineties, were far more of a staple for american children than over here in old blighty - so the whole superhero genre pretty much flew over my head. I watched cartoons like any other child (I especially watched spiderman obsessively from as soon as I was allowed to watch television), and aside from ordinary cartoons I also watched batman and spiderman. my parents were big fans of the new adventures of superman series with dean cain and teri hatcher, which I also watched when it was repeated. but everything else - the avengers and its respective characters, the fantastic four, the green lantern, even the x-men and etc - I pretty much had no clue about.
in fact, aside from christopher nolan's batman reboot, I was pretty clueless about superheroes in general. but then iron man came out, and it caused a buzz. the eventual release of the avengers was announced. then came iron man 2 - and suddenly, all I was seeing was robert downey jr and a giant metal suit. I somehow remained unaffected. up to this point, most superhero films didn't really make any impact - the obvious exception being the spiderman franchise, but was still technically sony rather than marvel - since the x-men films were more cult than mainstream success, and the fantastic four was laughable. only christopher nolan's batman had any kind of repute, being dark, gritty, compelling and stuffed full of talent.
then came 2011. the new prequel to x-men, which threw everyone for a loop by being good and successful. then the next marvel films - captain america and thor - which, along with the wild speculation about the upcoming avengers, turned everyone superhero crazy. (let's forget about the green lantern, shall we.) and lets not forget about the controversial news of a spiderman reboot - less than five years after the third installment of the previous series.
so of course, when 2012 came along, it became the summer of the superhero. the avengers opened to overwhelming anticipation, and was received with not only good reviews, but was the biggest opening weekend in north america, tied the record for the fastest film to gross $1bn worldwide, and became the third highest grossing film in the world. not bad cap and the crew, huh. the avengers established what has been coming for a while now - comic book heroes are no longer the province of nerds. no where near everyone who sees the avengers or spiderman will go and pick up a comic book, but superheroes have become for all intents and purposes, officially cemented as a key part of american culture. and the world is recognising it. but now that the excitement over the avengers has abated somewhat, since the film has all but finished it's run, most of the build up turned to the final part of the batman trilogy, due to be released later this june.
then spiderman came along, and blew most of us out of the water.
it opened to mixed reviews - the general consensus seemed to be that people loved it, or didn't. the first thing that absolutely has to be said about the amazing spiderman is the casting; which I have yet to see anyone who wasn't complaining bitterly about the lack of tobey macguire (and I mean, really, asking a 34 year old married man with children to play a high school student is pushing it somewhat) not agree that it was utterly flawless. emma stone is wonderful as gwen stacy, rhys ifans is gorgeously tortured as dr connors/the lizard, I actually screamed with joy when I found out that martin sheen and sally field were playing uncle ben and aunt may (and boy, was I right to react with such enthusiasm), but the absolute highlight was andrew garfield.
he was peter parker. as someone who grew up with spiderman - in fact, the only point I delved into the world of comics was to read some of my cousin's old battered copies of spiderman - peter is a character that is very dear to me. as a kid, I felt drawn to a hero that was as flawed as the rest of us. and I don't mean in the selfish-rich-playboy-turned-good, bruce wayne/tony stark way. this is an ordinary boy, who has a sad history but lives from day to day like the rest of us, is cheeky and a bit of a dick at times but is generally alright. not a hero, or special - just peter. but then he's bitten by a rather special spider, and his life goes to shit in many ways - a lot of them being his own fault. and suddenly he's confronted with having these powers, and a life that's spiralling out of control.
peter didn't just one day wake up and decide to become a hero - as the famous line goes, with great power comes great responsibility. he didn't have a dream to fix the world, or to defeat evil. but he grows up, he realises that he's responsible for fixing his own mistakes, and that he has to protect people from the events that he's caused. and in learning this lesson, he understands that there is more than one type of responsibility - not just to himself, but to the people he wants to protect. spiderman becomes a point of hope, and peter's burden to bear. peter had to make a choice, and peter had to choose using his power to protect and defend against evil. it wasn't easy route, or even the one he wanted, and he lost things and people along the way. and I think that's why peter is always one of my favourite heroes, why he never really fit properly with the avengers - and why the amazing spiderman was such a good film.
it drew from peter's actual backstory in the comic canon, and is setting up the tragedies of his life and his choices in a heartbreakingly affecting way. it wasn't a superhero film - all action, and battles, and drama. it was a film about a superhero.
also, stan lee being fucking hilarious.
boy, was I completely and utterly wrong.
I was never into comic books as a child - I get the feeling comics, especially back in the nineties, were far more of a staple for american children than over here in old blighty - so the whole superhero genre pretty much flew over my head. I watched cartoons like any other child (I especially watched spiderman obsessively from as soon as I was allowed to watch television), and aside from ordinary cartoons I also watched batman and spiderman. my parents were big fans of the new adventures of superman series with dean cain and teri hatcher, which I also watched when it was repeated. but everything else - the avengers and its respective characters, the fantastic four, the green lantern, even the x-men and etc - I pretty much had no clue about.
in fact, aside from christopher nolan's batman reboot, I was pretty clueless about superheroes in general. but then iron man came out, and it caused a buzz. the eventual release of the avengers was announced. then came iron man 2 - and suddenly, all I was seeing was robert downey jr and a giant metal suit. I somehow remained unaffected. up to this point, most superhero films didn't really make any impact - the obvious exception being the spiderman franchise, but was still technically sony rather than marvel - since the x-men films were more cult than mainstream success, and the fantastic four was laughable. only christopher nolan's batman had any kind of repute, being dark, gritty, compelling and stuffed full of talent.
then came 2011. the new prequel to x-men, which threw everyone for a loop by being good and successful. then the next marvel films - captain america and thor - which, along with the wild speculation about the upcoming avengers, turned everyone superhero crazy. (let's forget about the green lantern, shall we.) and lets not forget about the controversial news of a spiderman reboot - less than five years after the third installment of the previous series.
so of course, when 2012 came along, it became the summer of the superhero. the avengers opened to overwhelming anticipation, and was received with not only good reviews, but was the biggest opening weekend in north america, tied the record for the fastest film to gross $1bn worldwide, and became the third highest grossing film in the world. not bad cap and the crew, huh. the avengers established what has been coming for a while now - comic book heroes are no longer the province of nerds. no where near everyone who sees the avengers or spiderman will go and pick up a comic book, but superheroes have become for all intents and purposes, officially cemented as a key part of american culture. and the world is recognising it. but now that the excitement over the avengers has abated somewhat, since the film has all but finished it's run, most of the build up turned to the final part of the batman trilogy, due to be released later this june.
then spiderman came along, and blew most of us out of the water.
it opened to mixed reviews - the general consensus seemed to be that people loved it, or didn't. the first thing that absolutely has to be said about the amazing spiderman is the casting; which I have yet to see anyone who wasn't complaining bitterly about the lack of tobey macguire (and I mean, really, asking a 34 year old married man with children to play a high school student is pushing it somewhat) not agree that it was utterly flawless. emma stone is wonderful as gwen stacy, rhys ifans is gorgeously tortured as dr connors/the lizard, I actually screamed with joy when I found out that martin sheen and sally field were playing uncle ben and aunt may (and boy, was I right to react with such enthusiasm), but the absolute highlight was andrew garfield.
he was peter parker. as someone who grew up with spiderman - in fact, the only point I delved into the world of comics was to read some of my cousin's old battered copies of spiderman - peter is a character that is very dear to me. as a kid, I felt drawn to a hero that was as flawed as the rest of us. and I don't mean in the selfish-rich-playboy-turned-good, bruce wayne/tony stark way. this is an ordinary boy, who has a sad history but lives from day to day like the rest of us, is cheeky and a bit of a dick at times but is generally alright. not a hero, or special - just peter. but then he's bitten by a rather special spider, and his life goes to shit in many ways - a lot of them being his own fault. and suddenly he's confronted with having these powers, and a life that's spiralling out of control.
peter didn't just one day wake up and decide to become a hero - as the famous line goes, with great power comes great responsibility. he didn't have a dream to fix the world, or to defeat evil. but he grows up, he realises that he's responsible for fixing his own mistakes, and that he has to protect people from the events that he's caused. and in learning this lesson, he understands that there is more than one type of responsibility - not just to himself, but to the people he wants to protect. spiderman becomes a point of hope, and peter's burden to bear. peter had to make a choice, and peter had to choose using his power to protect and defend against evil. it wasn't easy route, or even the one he wanted, and he lost things and people along the way. and I think that's why peter is always one of my favourite heroes, why he never really fit properly with the avengers - and why the amazing spiderman was such a good film.
it drew from peter's actual backstory in the comic canon, and is setting up the tragedies of his life and his choices in a heartbreakingly affecting way. it wasn't a superhero film - all action, and battles, and drama. it was a film about a superhero.
also, stan lee being fucking hilarious.