I've watched a lot of Netflix of late as I'm starting to hibernate. Loads of films and a series called Midnight Mass... maybe more on this later.
What I want to mention are 2 films, which have both excelled and disappointed.
Thor Ragnorak was simply ace. I loved every minute of it. The fire demon was a stand-out and the first born daughter was equally impressive [was it Kate Blanchett?]. Jeff Goldblum was a hoot as the boss of the trash planet and Hemsworth Thor'd it up good and proper. The Hulk was the green icing with Loki specks. All very very good and a credit to Marvel Studios.
Do you agree?
Shazam was the opposite. I was so excited and so very disappointed by this DC mess that I could hardly contain myself. In fact I fell asleep half way through when the titular boy-man-hero tapdanced on a large keyboard in a toyshop. This was clearly a nod to Tom Hank's Big, where he does the same with Karl Marlden I think. Shazam is Big with muscles and a cape. I loved Big but Shazam is something else. Now I usually adore DC films, I like the longevity of their old roster of characters and I have always been attracted to Shazam after seeing one of those glorious Alex Ross paintings of the thunderbolted red-suited figure. The film so far is dire and I'm only half way through. To be honest I'm unsure if I can cope with any more Billy Batson and his annoying 'manager', not to mention the unconvincing Mark Strong [he looked daft in Green Lantern].
Am I being harsh or have I missed the Shazam bus?
Ragnarok is a classic combination of drama and comedy - the Thor franchise is one of the best realised in the Marvel Canon, especially as it deals - quite literally - with god-level powers, which presumably must trump any superhero status. It also leads very neatly into the Infinity Saga and the incursions of the mad god Thanos. What I loved about it though was the colour and imagination, the costumes and characters are real Jack Kirby style realisations. It also fleshes out The Hulk persona, rather than depicting him as a rage fuelled monster, It shows that he is an entirely separate persona from Banner, not just Bruce on a bad day.
ReplyDeleteShazam ? Nah. Even the original comic was just a poor attempt at cashing in on the Superman franchise, the film is a weak attempt to tie in to the idea of the everyday superhero.
Whilst on the subject of Superman, I heard on the news that the next iteration of the Man of Steel will be bisexual. Why does this matter ? Its about a god-like alien being amongst humanity - why does his sexuality have to feature so prominently? What next, Superperson with gender identity issues ? Superhero comics are pure escapism, weighting them down with real life issues is ridiculous.
I've never read the original Shazam but I know its an old character. The orign story has to be better than what was shown in the film. I suppose I wanted another Man of Steel truth be told.
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