2008 comic book movies
iron man and dark knight are both top notch films, although iron man more so just as a comic book movie, and the new batman film trancends to the level of gritty crime drama.
i think that the success of both of these films speaks to the collective need for society to see mortal men who can do extraordinary things, note that the new batman is set in a dark fairly realistic world - further confirming my earlier contention that batman begins, the successful reboot of the batman franchise, reflects a more serious, post 9-11 world in which our heros can no longer afford to be campy and silly, here we see directors addressing issues of crime and terror, combating evil and the lengths that we have to go thru in order to do so. america's comic book heroes are perceived by other societies as reflections or icons of america, superman and uncle sam and batman and lady liberty all sitting side by side. stark and wayne both successful superwealthy elites with ties to the defense industry - these movies are fantasies of american military might. and here we can collectively imagine our power and our strength and perceive our role in the world as good and just, but this is not enough for audiences raised on the language of hollywood blockbusters and now we demand complex anti-heroes with faults and doubts like our own, a one dimensionally good savior without flaws seems paperthin to us now, not a good reflection of our own place in the world as american identity.
iron man in particular tackles the current climate of islamic radicalism - and yet here the good guys and the bad guys are not so cut and dry. the twist here is that it is not merely those who would rise up in arms against the west - but those who would supply arms to both sides of the conflict. war profiteers and their corruption are the true enemy behind the thin shell of our biases and superficial readings of world events. unfortunately we are burdened by the start of a franchise here - we have to introduce iron man and his formation and thus in the beginning we are waiting for iron man to make his appearance, and the whole movie sort of becomes a trailer for successive releases in which we can dispense with the origins and get into the real hero drama. iron man leaves us with a battle resolved, a battle that merely introduces us to what ironman is capable of doing.
the dark knight sees a fully formed batman hit the screen, picking up with batman begins' ending question, "what about escalation?" delving strait into the joker when in the last movie we were left with his calling card. batman is past the daddy issues and psychology of where he comes from, now we get into the dilemma of where he must proceed.
heath ledger supposedly locked himself in a room for a month, keeping a diary of the jokers thoughts, while he worked out the mannerisms and mentality of his character and found his own voice to rival jack nicholson's performance. ledger's turn has garnered talk of an oscar, with some critics believing such merit would be earned regardless of his unfortunate passing. i would love to see him awarded as such - and i believe this movie lives up to the hype and serves the cause of legitimizing an artform, the comic book, seriously enough to raise the bar of what the comic book movie can be, certainly redeeming the franchise that "batman and robin" drove into the ground with its toy store promotional feel and campy scenarios and dialog.
there are a lot of gangster movies lately where police corruption is such a big part of the drama- the entire justice system is portrayed as being corrupt, in need of good people to infiltrate what has already been compromised so much that those who stand on the side of the law are in the minority and must fear for their lives because of their idealism. these are serious themes, and the questions that the audience encounters in them are valid ones to be asking in these uncertain times. and the new batman movie moves into similar terrain, following the setup of the previous movie's dark reading of how far society has sunk.
these are smart movies. the joker's usage of the prisoner's dilemma, and the question of what happens when the irresistible force enacts upon the immovable object, these are philosophical constructs and remind me of how "the matrix" wrapped up relatively advanced notions in the pop formula of action movie.
the dark knight plays on our paranoia of surveillance, cell phones being monitored like the national security agency. here our worst fears of civil liberties eroding are allegorically addressed in the guise of the batman, with some right wing commentators reading the movie as a justification of the current administrations actions. i think the movie doesn't so squarely cast bush as batman so much as american power as batman, and doesn't let bush off the hook so much as questions the abuse of that power. questions of, "does the public need to know the truth?" are asked not to apologize for our own government's lies, but to give batman the kind of depth that reflects the complexity of our own society. batman is on the side of good, and so should america be, and yet even an elected official like dent can be corrupted by the anarchy of a politik of fear - of giving in to our worst impulses. batman stands against that policy and appeals to our need to strive for the greater good, even when society is divided as to what that good is.
i also enjoyed the new hulk movie, although this is more forgetable than the others. ang lee's earlier version was enjoyable for me as well, although the pop psychology of bruce banner's formation and father figure issues left most of the audience for the earlier film wanting for more of a straight forward plot. i think rightly the studios reboot the hulk with a more basic formula, dealing more directly with questions of weaponizing biological terrors, and the whole notion of "what has science done" and the classic "we've created a monster" themes. american might again, and power is explored in terms of falling into the wrong hands, the good man with power is the underdog, he doesn't even want the power that he has and this is why he is the good man. the bad man desires the power to destroy for its own sake, the good man is burdened by destructive power and uses it only to protect virtue.
i also enjoyed speed racer. i think its a great kids movie and its nice to see the wachowski brothers produce a PG rated movie. speed racer and the racer family represent classic family values and "the little guy" standing up to corporate might. craftsmanship and hard work over selling out are valued here, american ingenuity is celebrated over transnational domination.
indian jones was also great, playing to the new age mentality of precolumbian mysticism, 2012 and so forth. the political climate is addressed with communism and mccarthyism standing in for terrorism and the patriot act. indy's patriotism is questioned by government powers, and we know to trust our hero more than our government. indy has a family and good family values are confirmed, this is an intergenerational indiana jones that the parents who grew up with can share with their own families. my father and i share this view.
all of these leading heroes speak to our need to innovate as americans, they are ingenious men who are not gods, but men of will who are capable of great things because of their intelligence and their desire to do what is right. this is the kind of hero that dwells in each of us and i think the directors making these movies are addressing the needs of the public by celebrating these values.
this is a decent summary of my thoughts on these films.
what do you think?
robotson
posted by lance robotson at
12:53 PM
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