Avenged

That's right. I am a big time comic book fan. Anything that bends, distorts, challenges reality - i am a fan. and the dream of all comic/fantasy geeks? to see their beloved stories on the silver screen. So it was a real hard time for me when i was growing up. The Batman movie phenomenon in the 90s? i had to live through it. Have to say though, the first Batman film in 1989 was a decent one. It wasn't a Batman film per se, but it was a good film about the mythos of Batman. Through the 'vison' of Tim Burton. And therein lies the  problem. Who the fuck is Tim fucking Burton to come and impose his vison on a decades old beloved fan property? Who is he to say, "THIS is how Batman should be"? No, no, i want the director of a Batman film to say "This is how the FANS want Batman to be". Respect for source material is paramount. not a slavish respect, where every tiny detail should be adhered to, but a healthy respect for the spirit of the stories.

I remember i used to tell my other geek friends that things would change. People like us, geeks, were growing up all over the world, and they would take over. they would reject the so called "visions" of hollywood directors and they would make movies that THEY want to see, movies that WE want to see.   And it happened. With Spider-man. With Batman Begins. With X-men. and then came orgasm time when Marvel finally owned their own production studio and started making a movie about a b-list character called Iron Man.

Really, there is 'before Iron Man' and 'after Iron Man'. Before, we never really knew what to expect from a superhero movie, unless it was Nolan doing Batman. Spider-Man was a surprise. So was X-men. we never assumed, or took for granted, that an upcoming superhero movie would be good. And we were right to be skeptics...remember Daredevil? the Ang-Lee Hulk ("Don't make me Ang-Lee, you won't like me when i am Ang-Lee")? the Punisher movies? Elektra? Catwoman? It was mostly shit.

But then came Marvel and Iron Man. Iron Man was literally marvel's knight in shining armor for us starving comics fans. We couldn't get enough, and we were ecstatic to see that the whole world was with us on this one! no one could get enough! And then marvel made their master plan. Then came Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and some were excellent, some sort of average but you knew, you just KNEW that the guys making these movies are doing it from the heart. It felt right.

Suddenly you had people who never even knew comics existed being as excited about watching super-hero movies as a typical geek. And thats how it should be. i always wondered if you can make movies like Predator, Terminator 2 or Robocop, why not good comic movies? These movies are essentially fantasy/sci-fi stories, exactly what superhero comics are. you didn't need to read 30 years of back stories to enjoy the Robocop movie. And the Marvel guys understood this. and they did it right. And it all came to a head this summer with the release of what to my very biased opinion is the greatest movie of all time, The Avengers. The Avengers is a defiant challenge, a rousing call, that superhero movies are good, superhero movies are fun, and superhero movies are here to stay.

What a wonderful time to be alive!