The Comic Book Movie Love In

Last week I saw Batman vs Superman. There’s plenty of reviews online and loads of you have seen it already. From what I hear most people seem to think it's alright. I considered writing a whole blog about my take on it, then I asked myself "do people really want to read a whole page of alternative words for excrement?"

I did not like it. Rather than go on a rant that would give me a husky Batman voice... I’m going to pick my main gripe and then fling a comic-film fanboy love-in your way.

To me the film is built around action set pieces, things that might look cool such as flying fists or exploding buildings. Characterisation comes second.

I absolutely love superheroes. I adore comics and I've been an X-Men fan for as long as I remember. The reason I love them is not because I like seeing folks in spandex punching each other (although I’m not denying that can be fun when done right...) Nope, I get excited about the characters, their motives and their relationships.

X-Men is really a big old soap opera that just uses lightning bolts and metal claws instead of hair pulling. If X-Men 2 had just that Nightcrawler intro or the Deathstrike fight then it'd be an ok film, what makes it great is all the other stuff. Iceman’s family tension, Wolverine as a babysitter and the jewel in the crown... That Jean Grey and Wolverine romance.

Jean Grey "Girls flirt with the dangerous guy, they don't bring him home; they marry the good guy."
Wolverine "I can be the good guy."
Jean Grey "Logan, the good guy sticks around."

Aargh! He loves her! She fancies the sideburns of him! So much brilliance on screen and better than any fight. While I’m talking about love stuff I have to bring up Spider-Man 2. Some people will tell you it's about a kid who shoots webs from his wrists fighting a crazy man. Those people are imbeciles. It's a story about one man's love for a woman and how not being with her makes him a lesser version of himself. Yes really!! Then there’s that end scene and those lines about standing in his doorway, followed by the beauty that is "Go get em tiger." *sniff*

Enough of the word love for now, I’ve got a bunch of other examples to get through featuring these armour clad vigilantes being brilliantly written humans. Think back to Avengers. Did you love Captain America punching those aliens at the end? And Iron Man shooting things? They wee ok-ish. Avengers was great because it was mostly a set of egos having a battle of wits. Oh and Hulk. Hulk was everyone’s favourite. "Puny God," that punch to Thor, Banner saying he's always angry before transforming and punching that giant worm thingy... Punching’s fine when you've got great dialogue and a character with heart to back it up. Take that away and you get, well you get Hulk in Avengers 2. That Hulk sucked.

I’ve written before about my wedding and how there were bits of Nintendo weaved in. Also on that day were a couple of elements from my number one comic book movie. That morning I had a present from the wife to unwrap, it was a baby Groot funko pop. Second dance of the night was ‘Hooked On A Feeling,’ from the soundtrack to the masterpiece that is.. Guardians of the Galaxy. Same theory applies here as what I’m been trying to say all blog. Those characters are brilliant. Every word, every look and every move they make is part of a finely crafted tapestry of personalities and relationships. They shoot things, blow stuff up and move through a whole bunch of weird sci-fi locations, but… everything that happens is just there to give these personalities reason to express themselves on screen. The whole plot about a bad guy and an all-powerful stone is secondary. It’s an excuse to put these five people together, to watch them interact, make quips, hate each other, grow to love each other and find redemption together. And it’s glorious.

Next up on the comic slate: Captain America Civil War. The trailers have me giddy.  Cap and Iron Man punching each other looks cool, but its’ not half as epic as Tony’s “So was I,” line. As long as it doesn’t end with them saying Martha then consider me hyped.