Superhero movies – the actual real ones, the ones that had a lot of thought going into them – always serve a double purpose when they are made into movies; and good movies at that! See, when we were young and were introduced to say Batman, we saw him as a cool guy with the utility belt, a smooth car, and oodles of intelligence and mesmerising muscles. Obviously, we never decided to venture into the areas of the vigilante, the social circumstances and the very basic need for a selfless hero. But as adults our horizon increased. We slowly started to realise the importance of Vietnam in the creation of the superhero – the anti-establishment, anti-authority individual, who does not waste his time in speeches, but rather uses his fists to get things done; because the anti-Vietnam individual knows that speeches really get you nowhere, that the word democracy is a farce, used by people who form the superstructure to form your ideology for you and make you believe you are responsible for it. It’s the same thing when politicians here in India ask you to vote. They say that your one vote can make or break a good government. But when they themselves don’t know who they are going to align with after the election results are out, how can the government really be your own? And how did your vote really help?
Anyway, that was just to prove a point, but I think I digressed a little too much. Back to the situation at hand, I was talking about the superhero genre of films and as I have already explained the sociological reasons for the formation of the superhero in the minds of the creator (in most cases our very own beloved Stan Lee), I hope now it can be understood how the Wolverine developed the way he did. And the most surprising thing – the Wolverine was a rather late entrant into the world of the X-Men, but within a few issues he became one of the most popular X-Men ever. Because at the end of the day, people never did like Vietnam, and here you have an individual who had all the qualities that people wanted during the Vietnam era. Who thought that a simple comic book could really be so complicated?
And now, in the new millennia, almost 30 years down the line, the Wolverine is still so popular that look who played him in the motion picture – the sexiest man alive, Hugh Jackman. And he played it with style, with panache. Clearly, the most popular X-Men character, played by the most popular actor of today – a clear indication that even today, the Wolverine has all our votes as the most popular comic book character ever.
And of course there is also Dr. Xavier, Storm, Cyclops, Jean/Phoenix, the Beast – and a host of new entrants like Kitty, Iceman (Bobby) and Colossus (Peter). And this time the problem is greater than ever. A new antidote has been invented, one from a mutant itself, whose special powers allow other mutants to become human again through him. And the government allows mutants to voluntarily take this shot if they want to convert themselves into humans. But Magneto believes that the word ‘voluntary’ is just a play of words – the real intent behind the ‘cure’ is to exterminate the mutant race and therefore he decides to act, creating his ‘brotherhood of mutants’. And to that we now have a class V mutant on the loose – yes, our very own Jean Grey, who now bears the persona of the Phoenix, the evil side to her who had been embedded in her subconscious by Dr. Xavier. Not only does she kill Scott (Cyclops), but also the Professor, leaving the X-Men short-handed. They are now joined once again by Dr. Henry McCoy, Secretary of Mutant Affairs of the US Government, the Beast. And of course the young Turks that Storm has been training – Iceman, Kitty and Colossus. So the six of them now have to decide whose side they are on – the humans or mutants, or between good versus evil.
The movie does not have to be told more beyond this point. It can be seen. It should be seen, because another aspect of the superhero genre is also how to work as a team to get the desired results. The criminals do it as well – be it the Riddler and Two-Face in the legendary Batman Forever, or now in this movie.
Speaking of criminals, the question of where to fit in Magneto is also a rather debatable thought. Yes, he wants a war and he intends to fight it, but is Magneto really a villain – Because he had seen the eradication of Jews at Nazi camps as a child. He lost his parents that way and it is, I feel, perfectly natural for him to suppose that the same will also happen to mutants all over the world. And in this world, it is always ‘better you than me’. Understanding the superhero genre is never easy. Not unless all you are interested in is to see some god SFX and get on with it. But the real fun is in peeling the layers. I have always found comic books to be extremely educative – be it X-Men, Batman or even Tintin.
So grab a DVD, watch the movie, and if you already have watched it earlier, see it again and try to understand it once again. It should allow you to open newer avenues and yet allow you to have fun at the same time.
Superhero genres – good for children and adults. You just need the vision to see it.
Its X-Men, the Last Stand. Whose side will you be on?
Anyway, that was just to prove a point, but I think I digressed a little too much. Back to the situation at hand, I was talking about the superhero genre of films and as I have already explained the sociological reasons for the formation of the superhero in the minds of the creator (in most cases our very own beloved Stan Lee), I hope now it can be understood how the Wolverine developed the way he did. And the most surprising thing – the Wolverine was a rather late entrant into the world of the X-Men, but within a few issues he became one of the most popular X-Men ever. Because at the end of the day, people never did like Vietnam, and here you have an individual who had all the qualities that people wanted during the Vietnam era. Who thought that a simple comic book could really be so complicated?
And now, in the new millennia, almost 30 years down the line, the Wolverine is still so popular that look who played him in the motion picture – the sexiest man alive, Hugh Jackman. And he played it with style, with panache. Clearly, the most popular X-Men character, played by the most popular actor of today – a clear indication that even today, the Wolverine has all our votes as the most popular comic book character ever.
And of course there is also Dr. Xavier, Storm, Cyclops, Jean/Phoenix, the Beast – and a host of new entrants like Kitty, Iceman (Bobby) and Colossus (Peter). And this time the problem is greater than ever. A new antidote has been invented, one from a mutant itself, whose special powers allow other mutants to become human again through him. And the government allows mutants to voluntarily take this shot if they want to convert themselves into humans. But Magneto believes that the word ‘voluntary’ is just a play of words – the real intent behind the ‘cure’ is to exterminate the mutant race and therefore he decides to act, creating his ‘brotherhood of mutants’. And to that we now have a class V mutant on the loose – yes, our very own Jean Grey, who now bears the persona of the Phoenix, the evil side to her who had been embedded in her subconscious by Dr. Xavier. Not only does she kill Scott (Cyclops), but also the Professor, leaving the X-Men short-handed. They are now joined once again by Dr. Henry McCoy, Secretary of Mutant Affairs of the US Government, the Beast. And of course the young Turks that Storm has been training – Iceman, Kitty and Colossus. So the six of them now have to decide whose side they are on – the humans or mutants, or between good versus evil.
The movie does not have to be told more beyond this point. It can be seen. It should be seen, because another aspect of the superhero genre is also how to work as a team to get the desired results. The criminals do it as well – be it the Riddler and Two-Face in the legendary Batman Forever, or now in this movie.
Speaking of criminals, the question of where to fit in Magneto is also a rather debatable thought. Yes, he wants a war and he intends to fight it, but is Magneto really a villain – Because he had seen the eradication of Jews at Nazi camps as a child. He lost his parents that way and it is, I feel, perfectly natural for him to suppose that the same will also happen to mutants all over the world. And in this world, it is always ‘better you than me’. Understanding the superhero genre is never easy. Not unless all you are interested in is to see some god SFX and get on with it. But the real fun is in peeling the layers. I have always found comic books to be extremely educative – be it X-Men, Batman or even Tintin.
So grab a DVD, watch the movie, and if you already have watched it earlier, see it again and try to understand it once again. It should allow you to open newer avenues and yet allow you to have fun at the same time.
Superhero genres – good for children and adults. You just need the vision to see it.
Its X-Men, the Last Stand. Whose side will you be on?
1 comment:
hm.. I really needed that "vision" to see it again. A very well written post indeed. U digressed way too many times but the digressions seemed deliberate as well. A differently written pozt s compared to your usual form of reviewing. good one. fresh.
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