CBR Live! Archive
I Like Superheroes, But...* (Part 1 in a possible series; no guarantees)
- by Brad Curran
- in General
*Not to be confused with "I Like Superhero Butts," my 368 page treatise on the work of Ed Benes and other practitioners of camel toe rendering in sequential art. Just wanted to clear that up from the outset.
I like superheroes, but not unconditionally. In fact, my love of the capes 'n' cowels crowd comes with more strings attached than a favor from the mob. Here's one in a possible series, if I feel like it (I don't have the best track record of honoring commitments in that regard;Â I've sort of jumped off of Jumping On Points for the moment):
I like superheroes, but I'm not automatically interested in superheroes in other mediums any more. It occured to me, while watching the 42nd Ghost Rider commerical (give or take a couple) of my evening television viewing, that I haven't seen a superhero movie in a long time. I couldn't muster the enthusiasm to watch either Superman Returns or X3 last summer, and haven't even felt like renting them. I haven't seen Elektra or Catwoman, either, come to think of it (although that's less a lack of interest and more the fact that they screamed "Do not watch me!" at the top of their figurartive lungs. I get the feeling Garner and Berry might even scream that at the top of their lungs if they were being honest). Part of that is because I just don't have the attention span to sit through many movies these days (I blame Tivo; if I can't fast forward through something, my viewing experience feels confinint), but I used to go to any comics related film playing at my local multiplex with bells on. I mean, I paid to see Daredevil, for god's sake! If they ever make a sequel to that one, you'd have to pay me a lot to watch it. Unless the Owl is the villain. Because, c'mon; the Owl is the greatest Marvel villain ever.*
I am eagerly anticipating Spider-Man 3, and I have to admit, I do kind of want to see the aformentioned realization of Nicholas Cage's dream to play a superhero, but I no longer view every new superhero-based film's release as an event. Because they aren't; they're too commonplace for that. Part of the appeal for the original Spider-Man and X-Men movies was that I had waited my whole life to see it, and I was still a teenager when those movies came out; I can only imagine how people who had followed the characters for their entire life spans felt.**Â
But now that Marvel is an actual Hollywood player and superhero movies have gone from flash in the pan to an established genre, who cares? There's nothing special about a new superhero movie release; it's like getting excited about the train schedule. They arrive like clockwork, and are about as exciting and distinguishable as your average Greyhound.
I'm also not onboard with the cultural phenomenon that is Heroes. This is the kind of show I would have eaten up with a spoon a scant few years ago, but I can not muster a single ounce of interest in it. I say that not as a value judgement; it could be a great show for all I know. I just literally can't work up the enthusiasm to watch it. I'I feel the same way about Battlestar Galactica, but that's one for my "I like Sci-Fi, but..." series on a blog to be named later. The premise is new to TV, but given that it's been around in some form since anything from the New Universe to the Lee/Ditko Spider-Man, I genuinely can not care less about normal people with powers. With a cast bereft of actors whose work I like (although I am amused by Milo Ventimigila's* name), and given the fact that I have fatigue over of all of these slowburn adventure shows to come out of Lost's wake, and I just don't care, even if I still feel a nagging obligation to because it's about superheroes. That has yet to outweigh my disinterest, but it's there. It generally goes away when I watch my weekly reginent of six and a half hours of pro wrestling and multiple sitcoms, though, so that's where my heads at regarding the old idiot box.
It strikes me that this may come across as more jaded and cynical than I intended. Maybe I am more jaded and cynical about superheroes than I thought I was. I do like seeing them in other mediums; I like that I can get my epic superhero fix from video games, for instance, since I generally avoid crossovers like a horde of flaming, plague spreading rats who want to talk about how I should watch Heroes. But that's a cynical, jaded story for another time. Maybe.
*I was just testing your sarcasm detectors. Although if they had the balls to not only make a Daredevil sequel but make the Owl the villain, I'd have to watch it out of admiration. Because that's Colbert-worthy ballsiness right there.
**I'm talking about people old enough to have followed the Silver Age Marvel characters since their inception. Geezers like Greg Hatcher. Who also probably followed the Model T since its inception.***
***I want to let Greg know that I meant no disrespect in calling him a geezer and comically exagerrating his age. Although c'mon Hatcher, you're like totally old! And yet we share a love of Silver and Bronze age comics. Which makes me feel old. Damn you, Hatcher, you geezer!
- Posted on January 30, 2007 @ 09:51 PM
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18 Comments
Johnny Bacardi
January 30, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Elektra was like Citizen Kane compared to that Catwoman flick...
And I'm with you 100% on Heroes. Nothing new under that sun as far as I'm concerned, plus it has the look of one of those series that the writers don't have any idea how they want to end it, (because they didn't expect it to last more than six episodes anyway) so they just keep piling on crap until it becomes a convoluted mess, X-Files being one example...
Grant
January 30, 2007 at 10:16 pm
Yeah I feel like the novelty has worn off a bit. It'd have to be something really big to get my really enthusiastic about a superhero movie. I'm looking forward to Spider-man 3 and cautiously optimistic about Iron Man and the new Fantastic Four moviel but otherwise I'm not eager to see any more properties make it to the big screen.
Unless someone figures out how to make a really bitching Avengers or JLA movies.
And don't get the Heroes love myself. But man Brad you are missing out on BSG. I used to be bored with sci-fi shows but BSG brought me back in.
Evan Waters
January 30, 2007 at 11:12 pm
I find most of the characters on HEROES too shrill. We should all aspire to be more like Super Hiro, but otherwise, everyone's too fucked up to get a grip on. And I like IRREDEEMABLE ANT-MAN.
MarkAndrew
January 31, 2007 at 12:40 am
Yeah, superhero movies just aren't as awesome as they used to be. We need to bring the novelty back, which means superhero product in other media. Like sculptures made out of cheese.
(I haven't Daredevil, Superman, X-men 3, Elektra, or Catwoman either. Or the second half of Spider-man II.)
Paperghost
January 31, 2007 at 2:42 am
I hereby demand a move to force DC into making an Ambush Bug film. Forget Batman or the doofus in the red undies, AB is what we want.
There, I said it.
Zeb Aslam
January 31, 2007 at 8:00 am
Maybe I'm not that jaded or something, but I like Heroes. It isn't exactly anything new, and it certainly isn't mind-blowing (what is these days?) but it's a perfectly well-written show that seems to actually be wrapping up just as many plot-points as it introduces and after Lost I really appreciate that. I agree with the above poster...Elektra was bad but I sat through the dvd rental...Catwoman was so bad that I actually couldn't even muster the will power to finish the dvd (I stopped watching about 10 minutes into it)...and that's saying something.
Also, BSG is one of the best shows, period, I've ever seen much less the best sci-fi show. You not watching that means you lose cool points Curran...just saying.
Tyler
January 31, 2007 at 8:32 am
Not to derail the discussion but, since you mentioned it, those Ghost Rider trailers look like shit sandwich. Of all the ways to play it (straight action, horror, supernatural thriller), I'm a little disappointed they decided on "campy."
John Seavey
January 31, 2007 at 9:03 am
'Heroes' has the Ninth Doctor. Have I mentioned that while I, like you, only like superheroes conditionally, I have an absolute pure and perfect love for 'Doctor Who' and cannot view anything even tangentially associated with it with anything other than a child's adoration?
Um, except for 'Fear Her', from season two of the new series.
As to superhero movies...yeah, I'd agree, I'm not going to see them for their own sake. But I will be seeing 'Ghost Rider', because I really like the core concept of "man sells soul to devil to save foster dad, becomes demon biker, redeemed by love of girlfriend into becoming superhero", and I think that it might be better with a fresh start than with all the baggage of the comics. Plus, flaming skull-headed biker looks freaking awesome with modern FX technology.
Oh, and X3 was pretty good, BTW; it was just that it wasn't great like the other two so the fans kinda dissed it. But it's worth a rental. (Like you, though, I couldn't be bothered to see 'Superman Returns'. And I thought 'Batman Begins' kinda sucked.)
Lamson
January 31, 2007 at 11:25 am
Based on the previews, Ghost Rider looks like it will make Catwoman look like Citizen Kane. Talk about bad - and that's just the look of Nic Cage's hair!
I think that what really needs to happen is somebody needs to tell Marvel to SLOW down. Just because they have a bazillion characters does not mean they all deserve a movie. Seriously, how many people are going to plunk down 10 bucks for an Ant Man flick?
Rebis
January 31, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Well, it isn't really fair to judge superhero depictions in other media by the hilariously bad Catwoman. As a metaphor, "car wreck of a film" doesn't begin to describe it. "Exploding Zeppelin" is more like it. (But hey, unlike most of the other unfortunates who saw it, I did get paid to sit through it.)
Superman Returns wasn't flawless by any means but it was overall enjoyable and waaaay better than X-3. But the first two Spidey films and Batman Begins are easily the best of the recent crop.
Ian
January 31, 2007 at 12:38 pm
Seriously, how many people are going to plunk down 10 bucks for an Ant Man flick?
That depends on a lot of things, the least of which being the character.
Bry
January 31, 2007 at 5:27 pm
I do agree with a lot you said here. Then again, I can barely get excited about super heroes in actual comic books these days. (Aside from All-Star Superman, of course, which is mind-blowingly awesome in every way.)
I watched about 20-25 minutes of the first "Heroes" episode before I turned it off out of boredom, and I haven't bothered tuning in again.
On the flipside, I am excited for Spider-Man 3 and TMNT, and will definitely watch Iron Man - Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark is goddamn inspired casting.
Bill Reed
January 31, 2007 at 8:18 pm
If Edgar Wright is still the director when it comes out, then I probably will.
Anyway, I love superheroes. They're just rarely done *right.*
Heroes looks like crap. Ghost Rider looks like all the bits with dialogue will be crap. I'm even tentative with my excitement for Spidey 3, because of the huge plot it seems to have, and I love Sam Raimi.
As for comics... yeah. The good ones are good, the bad ones are spectacularly awful, and the mediocre ones are not worth looking at. I demand excellence.
StocDred
January 31, 2007 at 10:38 pm
What drives me crazy about Heroes is all the people watching/loving it who would never ever deign to pick up an actual comic book.
Our beloved medium is, physically, its own worst enemy.
stealthwise
February 1, 2007 at 12:38 am
Holy crap, your post is almost word for word what I've been thinking since having a conversation with my wife about why I don't care much to see superhero stuff anymore. I don't care about the stuff coming out, I don't care about Heroes, and I just don't care just because something's a superhero movie.
Though I did see Spider-man 7 times in the theatre, despite how crappy it was.
ninjawookie
February 1, 2007 at 5:43 am
so you didn't see batman begins then?
Also Catwoman was better than Elektra, because it divorced itself from having anything to do with the comic book.
Apodaca
February 2, 2007 at 4:27 pm
"It isn’t exactly anything new, and it certainly isn’t mind-blowing (what is these days?)"
The Venture Brothers
Tom Goes to the Mayor
John Hefner
February 9, 2007 at 11:51 am
I urge you to check out the DAREDEVIL Director's Cut. It is utterly amazing what a few cut scenes and thirty minutes extra footage can do to a movie. The uncut version of DD is easily, *easily* as good as the first SPIDER-MAN movie.
Of course, I say that as someone who thinks the first SPIDER-MAN movie is great but flawed like crazy.
Seriously, check out the DD Director's Cut. It actually made me happy to buy and own. That's no small thing, especially considering the version that reached theatres.