Day 10- of the 30 Day Film Meme

[shadowkat]

Day 10 of the 30 Day Film Meme - " Favorite Superhero Film"

This is easy.

Watch on YouTube

When it was first announced and I was invited by an acquaintance to special preview - I was kind of ...ambivalent about it.

But then I saw it - with a mostly black audience, I think myself and one other person was white, and in 3D, and then I went to see it again.

Folks? This film blew me away. It was a game changer. It flipped all the preconceptions of a superhero film on its head. Not only that, it flipped the token racial roles - instead of having a token black sidekick and black minor villain, it had a token white guy sidekick and white villain. And having seen basically every superhero film made, with a few exceptions, I was blown away.

Women who were stronger then men and not superheroes? Black women? Plus a variety of roles for women - in a movie with a male lead? Whoa.

Comments

[cactuswatcher]

My favorite: Superman (1978)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bv17aj5GU1Y

[shadowkat]

That was a very charming film - and quite good for its time. It actually proved that you could do a good superhero film.

(Now, if only the sequels didn't suck. Although I did enjoy Superman II. And yes, I think I've seen all of them --- even the one with nuclear boy. It was Superman VI, I think? I saw it with friends in England - we were bored one night and saw it - and well..)

But the first film - was quite good.

[cjlasky7]

Well, yeah.

We went to Black Panther together; and even though I was irritated by the (minor) flaws more than you were, there's no question that the movie was a groundbreaker, and a titanic feat of world building.

Chadwick Boseman could have bored us to death as a one-dimensional Noble King, or tried to match Michael B. Jordan's testosterone level. That he did neither--and carried the movie as a complex man with real flaws--makes his premature death all the more painful. How can Marvel possibly replace him?

But if I can't choose T'Challa, let's go with another groundbreaking superhero of color: Miles Morales. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse was a prodigious feat of imagination and just one hell of a lot of fun. What other movie could have Liev Schrieber as a deadly serious Kingpin and John Mulaney as a Looney Toon-ish Spider-Pig and have the audience say, "Sure, why not?"

https://youtu.be/FU0i0eg6qak

[shadowkat]

Yeah, Into the Spiderverse would have been my second choice too. I love that movie.

Best animated superhero film ever.

[rose_griffes]

Such a good movie! One of the very few that I've actually bought on blu-ray in the last few years.

[wendelah1]

Wonder Woman. The fight scenes were overlong but the cast was great.

[atpo_onm]

Top pick among recent films would be Wonder Woman. But there is still great fondness for this semi-oldie:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlbtLfWvFbo

There is a distinct art to taking it over-the-top, and still somehow making it work perfectly. There are so many delicious moments in this flick, where you're just sitting there in the dark theater and going hee... hee... hee..

One very memorable scene in its elegant simplicity, certainly as far as the dialog goes!

Selina/Catwoman: Meow.

(Two seconds later, Shreck's Department Store blows up.)

We film lovers* owe a special debt of gratitude to the many talented and dedicated actors and writers and production people who bring these largely silly but enjoyable fantasies to life, and then, when they're this good-- make them mean far more than just silly fantasies.

* And TV viewers, for that matter. There are superhero TV shows that have changed real people's lives. Not silly at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yujoAT5rQcQ

[petzipellepingo]

OK, since I don't think there's a specific definition of "superhero" and I don't care for the Marvel type films, I'm going for this one .