Everyone's A Critic

Movie critics A.O. Scott and Manohla Dargis of The New York Times discuss the current state of the superhero cinema. While they manage to touch on a few key points (i.e. corporate merchandising, a lack of female protagonists), they overlook two aspects relevant to the topic.

First, iconic characters such as Batman, Superman, and Spider-Man have been appearing in numerous live-action and animated adaptations on both the big screen and television for more than a half-century. It’s only recently that the likes of Iron Man, Green Lantern, and the X-Men managed to break away from the printed page. And while not all of these outings were warmly received upon release, there was often a great deal of anticipation  beforehand simply because audiences would finally be seeing a different crop of heroes brought to life. In addition, directors like Bryan Singer, Jon Favreau, and Joss Whedon all came of age along with some of these newer comic book stars and their understanding and appreciaton for them comes through in their films.

Second, Scott and Dargis limit their overview mainly to the current round of Marvel and DC-related movies. But the last decade has also showcased heroes such as Hellboy, the Watchmen, and Kick-Ass that tend to be more familiar to regular comic book readers and less so to the general public. And neither critic mentions that in many ways the genre, along with comics, has become less centered around capes, masks, and spandex and more encompassing of dramatic narratives like those found in Sin City and A History of Violence.

(Image: Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans as Thor and Captain America in The Avengers, Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Pictures)