9:14AM, Aug 21, 2009
It’s not all spandex and capes –with Batman’s return premiering this month, the Comic Book Heroes Season also explores the shadowy side of superheroes...
What is it about bad boys? While everyone loves a solid, square-jawed hero, people seem to go positively potty for messed up do-gooders, the anti-heroes with damaged psyches, bruised emotions and fractured personalities.
For example, no matter how much he can lift, no matter how many lives he saves, no matter how high he soars, Superman just isn’t as popular as Batman – a brooding billionaire who wears a mask, lives in a cave and beats up hoodlums for fun.
If we were in any doubt as to the popularity of Batman – with his almost split personality and reliance on scaring the willies out of his enemies – then summer 2008 drove the point home with the subtlety of a bat-fist in the face.
The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan’s sequel to 2005’s caped crusader reboot Batman Begins, rocketed to $1 billion at the global box office off the back of super-real action, modern terror paranoia and a bleak, festering performance from the late, great Heath Ledger as the Joker, chaos incarnate descending on a cleaner, crisper Gotham City. But when it comes to comic book film adaptations, Batman is not alone. A new generation of edgier superheroes has taken flight.
Shadow of the Bat
Since Marvel Studios – makers of Spider- Man, Iron Man and more – announced a Captain America movie, speculation has been rife that Will Smith would don the red, white and blue uniform as the flag-waving Cap.
Smith, it seems, had other plans. As Batman was kicking butt and taking names, Smith dipped his toe into the superhero pond as Hancock, a – you guessed it – messed-up, usually drunk bad boy who also happens to have superpowers. And, like The Dark Knight, Hancock cleaned up at the box office (becoming Smith’s second most-successful film behind 1996’s alien invasion bonanza Independence Day).
When you also consider that Edward Norton was wearing his anger issues on his ripped sleeve in The Incredible Hulk, 2008 was quite the summer for bad-tempered comic book characters. Even Hellboy was back in Guillermo del Toro’s Hellboy II: The Golden Army, lest we forget that Big Red is a demon, originally intended to smite mankind.
The previous summer saw Spider-Man web his biggest success… and his third swing was his darkest yet, as an alien creature joined with Peter Parker’s (Tobey Maguire) body to create a meaner, black-suited Spidey, out only for himself. The fashion for darker heroes must be pretty strong when even righteous Peter succumbs.
And if you want to go really dark, then Spidey’s director, Sam Raimi, has been there before, pretty much hitting the nail on the head with the aptly titled Darkman back in 1990. Darkman (Liam Neeson) is a hideously scarred and mentally unstable scientist who uses his synthetic skin technology to create temporary masks to impersonate and get brutal revenge on the gangsters who made him that way. Yeah, ‘Bleakman’ would’ve fit, but being Raimi, it’s immense comic book fun at the same time.
Keeping it Real
Being bad can be fun, as much as we don’t like to admit it. That’s why we’re drawn to characters who reflect our own flaws and less seemly impulses. When society is perhaps a little “raw”, it’s no surprise that movies go in the same direction.
What The Dark Knight beautifully capitalised on was relevance – Nolan made it feel befitting to our post-9/11 world. But while Batman may be the most obvious, he most certainly wasn’t the first.
Darkness doesn’t always come from inside and when Bryan Singer directed X-Men back in 2000, he not only kickstarted the current multiplex superhero saturation but also used the movie’s mixed-up youngsters to turn a mirror on prejudice and alienation.
The mutants’ struggle to find their place in the world, peace in themselves and human acceptance was certainly a serious one and it gripped and thrilled movie audiences worldwide – not least because Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine was yet another anti-social, begrudging hero.
Even one of the breezier of the recent superheroes occupies a recognisably gritty world, with his own brand of inner demons. Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man fights terrorists. Simple. And when he’s not, he’s indulging his love of the booze and the broads a little too much to be deemed healthy. Yet, his new quest to fight injustice is a compelling one and his tendency to quip his way through any given situation is appealing. His failings simply make him more, well, like one of us.
But we don’t always need to identify with a grizzled hero to enjoy a couple of hours in their company. I doubt many people share the hardcore tough-guy values of the Spartans, as embodied by snarling Gerard Butler in 300, based on Frank Miller’s visceral graphic novel, but we sure do lap up his 300 soldiers’ attempt to fight off thousands of attacking Persians. Making death and war seem glorious and visually stunning, these fearsome warriors come intact with chiselled, rippling bodies and an endless thirst for blood.
Light in the Dark
Don’t worry if all this sounds like doom and gloom, because even the serious comic-book films like The Dark Knight are loaded with spectacular action and amusing asides – The Joker, menacing, sadistic and twisted as he is, is often very funny – and films like Hancock and Iron Man are a riot of gags, special effects and soaring adventure. Dark can still be fun after all.
But if it all seems a bit bleak and you’re hankering for good old-fashioned superhero antics, then you can always turn to Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer or Transformers for some Earth-saving, robots mashing giggles. That’s the beauty of modern Comic Book Heroes – there’s always something for everyone.
“My movies will live on” (Heath Ledger 1979-2008)
Like many of his fellow Antipodean actors, Heath Ledger appeared on Home & Away (1997). He managed to avoid Neighbours (unlike Russell Crowe), hopping to Hollywood a couple of years later in 1999 to set hearts aflutter in Taming Of the Shrew update, 10 Things I Hate About You.
Ledger shunned further heart-throb roles in favour of more quirky fare like A Knight’s Tale (2001) and Monster’s Ball (2001), before truly flexing his acting muscles in Ang Lee’s multi-award-winning cowboy romance Brokeback Mountain (2005), for which he received his first Oscar® nomination.
As Ennis Del Mar, Ledger had to age 20 years as his tortured gay affair with fellow sheepherder Jack twist (Jake Gyllenhaal) stays hidden. Ledger appeared in the film opposite long-time partner and mother of his daughter, Matilda, Michelle Williams.
From there he played Casanova and one of the five incarnations of folk musician Bob Dylan in I’m Not There (2007). The cruel irony is that Ledger’s appearance in The Dark Knight is seen as the turning point that would have propelled him to the heights he deserved to hit.
Of his penultimate Oscar®-winning role he said: “the Joker is definitely the most fun I’ve had with any character. He’s out of control – no empathy, a sociopath, a psychotic, a mass-murdering clown. It’s exceeded any expectations I had.”
His final performance in Terry Gilliam’s The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus is due in cinemas later this year. Ledger sadly died before he completed filming but luckily the fantasy story allowed Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell to step into various ‘transformations’ of his character. he will be fondly remembered for his talent and commitment to his craft.
THE DARK KNIGHT BEGINS ON SKY MOVIES PREMIERE/HD FROM SATURDAY 5th SEPTEMBER AT 8PM
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