Wonderfully written review! I enjoyed reading it almost as much as watching the movie! I have little patience for the "but what if it was REAL?" take when it comes to superheroes, so this movie seemed to hit the perfect tone, for me. Grant Morrison was right about kids not caring where Batman got the tires for the Batmobile, and pulling that thread too hard on any superhero story inevitably causes the whole concept to unravel.
Exactly! Some concepts, I think, can only freight a limited amount of realism before they either break or become something else. Like, the original 1977 Star Wars wasn't designed to carry any kind of moral ambiguity. Now we have Andor, and 'Star Wars' as a whole has evolved into something else, more like a genre unto itself in which you can tell different kinds of stories. Thanks so much for the kind words, Matthew. I hope Steamroller Man is going well!
I liked Deborah Joy Levine's take on the character in the first season of Lois & Clark. She'd been told Superman wasn't interesting because he was too powerful, and she saw that was exactly what would be interesting -- because he wanted to connect with people and his powers got in the way. She also remembered that the character is super-intelligent as well as super-strong, something missing from all the over-angsty versions.
I agree. It all comes down to turning an icon into a character. The more you do that, the more entry points you find into potential stories. I'm sure you find the same...
Wonderfully written review! I enjoyed reading it almost as much as watching the movie! I have little patience for the "but what if it was REAL?" take when it comes to superheroes, so this movie seemed to hit the perfect tone, for me. Grant Morrison was right about kids not caring where Batman got the tires for the Batmobile, and pulling that thread too hard on any superhero story inevitably causes the whole concept to unravel.
Exactly! Some concepts, I think, can only freight a limited amount of realism before they either break or become something else. Like, the original 1977 Star Wars wasn't designed to carry any kind of moral ambiguity. Now we have Andor, and 'Star Wars' as a whole has evolved into something else, more like a genre unto itself in which you can tell different kinds of stories. Thanks so much for the kind words, Matthew. I hope Steamroller Man is going well!
I liked Deborah Joy Levine's take on the character in the first season of Lois & Clark. She'd been told Superman wasn't interesting because he was too powerful, and she saw that was exactly what would be interesting -- because he wanted to connect with people and his powers got in the way. She also remembered that the character is super-intelligent as well as super-strong, something missing from all the over-angsty versions.
I agree. It all comes down to turning an icon into a character. The more you do that, the more entry points you find into potential stories. I'm sure you find the same...