SUPERHERO FILM

'Superhero film' is a fantasy, science fiction or horror genre film that is focused on the actions of one or more superheroes, which are individuals, who possess superhuman abilities relative to a normal person. These films are almost always action-oriented, and the first film of a particular character often includes a focus on the origin of the special powers including the first fight against the character's most famous supervillain enemy. The plot typically revolves the efforts of the superheroes to thwart some dire peril of significant consequence.
Although the majority of superhero movies are adapted from comic books, there are a number of notable exceptions like ''RoboCop''.

Contents

History

Early years

Batman revival

2000's new golden era

Upcoming projects

Parody

Attractions of the genre

See also

Notes and citations

External links

History

Early years

Almost immediately after superheroes rose to prominence in comic books, they were adapted into Saturday movie serials aimed at children, starting with 1941's ''The Adventures of Captain Marvel'', which has been hailed as the best example of the film format. Serials featuring ''The Phantom, Batman, Superman'' and ''Captain America'' followed. These films were successful despite their limited budgets, primitive special effects, silly plotlines and dialogues.
In the coming decades, the decline of Saturday serials and turmoil in the comic book industry put an end to superhero motion pictures, with exception of edited together episodes of the television series ''Adventures of Superman'' starring George Reeves that were released theatrically and 1966's ''Batman,'' a big-screen extension of the television series.
In 1978, Richard Donner directed ''Superman'', which is considered the first modern superhero film. Almost a biopic of the character instead of an action movie, the film won praises for its lavish production values, state-of-the-art special effects followed by Christopher Reeve's sincere performance as Superman and John Williams's majestic and often imitated film score. In 1980, ''Superman II'' was extraordinarily successful and set a new artistic standard for the genre. The Superman movies had begun a new era of superhero films.
The ''Superman'' franchise continued, but declined in profitability and critical respect until ''Superman IV'' flopped in 1987. However, that year also saw the debut of ''RoboCop'', a highly successful original superhero film inspired by Toei's ''Metal Hero Series'', and ''Uchuu Keiji Gavan''. It was praised for its intelligent satire, exciting action and a touching feel of humanity in the title character.

Batman revival

In 1989, the film ''Batman'' directed by Tim Burton, was the first attempt to create a superhero film with the darker mood of recent comic books. Praised set designs by Anton Furst, and acclaimed performances from Michael Keaton as Batman and Jack Nicholson as The Joker made the film a model for later superhero movies. It was then followed by Batman Returns, a much darker ''Batman'' film again starring Michael Keaton. One of the immediate influences was the first ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' movie. It surpassed comic book fans' expectations with a story based more on the original comics than the animated television series.
The ''Batman'' series continued throughout the 1990s, grossing millions and drawing several star actors, until the fourth film ''Batman and Robin'' became a critical and commercial failure. However, many consider it influential since its failure discredited the mocking tone of the 1960s television series and encouraged film makers to treat the source material more seriously. Nevertheless, in the short term, the underperformance of this film, along with unsuccessful movies based on ''The Shadow'', ''The Phantom'' and ''The Rocketeer'' (all three period pieces, inspired by the sense of fun and adventure from the ''Indiana Jones'' movies), made movie studios nervous about superhero movies.

2000's new golden era

Several movies based on Marvel Comics characters began production in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The company had a minor success with 1998's ''Blade'', (which was styled more along the lines of a horror or martial arts film than a full superhero film), but 2000's blockbuster ''X-Men'' opened the door once again to highly successful superhero movies and 2002's ''Spider-Man'' broke the record for money grossed in a film's opening five days thanks in part to Tobey Maguire's acclaimed performance in the title role.
''X-Men'' and ''Spider-Man'' led to a widespread revival, which included 2003's ''Daredevil'', ''Hulk'' and ''; 2004's ''Punisher,'' ''Hellboy'' and ''Spider-Man 2;'' and 2005’s ''Batman Begins'' (a reboot of the Batman franchise) and ''Fantastic Four'', which met with varying degrees of critical and commercial success.
Some original films took an unusual look at the superhero genre. 2000’s ''Unbreakable'' is a dark tale about a man, who learns from a mysterious comic book dealer that he is destined to become a modern day superhero. Pixar's digitally-animated ''The Incredibles'' combined a more comedic, but affectionate approach with commentary on the superhero genre and its history, while ''Sky High'' successfully created a fusion of the superhero and teen comedy genres.
In 2006, the success of the genre continued with '', the third installment of the ''X-Men'' films, opening with tremendous financial, if mixed critical success while ''Superman Returns,'' a follow-up to ''Superman II'' (retconning films three and four) was more critically successful, although not as financially successful. Likewise, the 2007 success of the film adaptation of ''Ghost Rider'' starring Nicolas Cage, despite critical dismissal, has led to suggestions that the numerous minor superhero properties could have similar commercial potential if presented and marketed skillfully while the ''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'' film franchise was successfully revived with the release of ''TMNT''. ''Spider-Man 3'' was released in May 2007, toppling box-office records, but receiving a critical response much less warm than the previous two films while '' was considered marginally better than its predecessor.

Upcoming projects

As of 2007, many superhero films are in development. Upcoming sequels include ''The Incredible Hulk'' from Marvel Comics' roster; DC Comics characters will be appearing in the highly anticipated Batman film, ''The Dark Knight'', and a possible Superman Returns sequel.^[1] .
New franchises include the eponymous adaptations of Iron Man – ''Iron Man'' – and Wonder Woman – ''Wonder Woman'', to be produced by Joel Silver – as well as ''The Ghost Who Walks'', based on The Phantom, and adaptations of The Shadow and Mandrake the Magician.
Numerous other relatively obscure properties such as the Doom Patrol are also in undergoing adaptation. There have been rumors of film adaptations of characters such as Iron Fist (said to star Ray Park) and Deadpool (in which David S. Goyer and, according to Goyer, Christopher Nolan are interested), although they have not been confirmed.

Parody

As superhero films have increasingly become more prevalent in the film industry, they have become targets for parody. Kevin Smith's 2001 Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back, parody film companies seemingly compulsive purchase of comic book film rights, like the fictional comic book "Bluntman and Chronic"; one character in the film rather accurately, if bluntly, describes the process: "After X-Men hit at the box office, the movie companies started buying out all the comic books they could get their dirty little hands on". Mark Hammil's 2004 parody '', about a comic book fan and a film adaptation of his favorite character, was released direct-to-video and achieved mild success, garnering a cult following among comic book readers. David Zucker is directing the more direct parody ''Superhero!'', set for release in 2008, which will parody several superhero films. Filmmakers are wary, however, of mixing farce with serious superhero films, the technique which was disastrous with late-1990s superhero films such as ''Batman & Robin''.

Attractions of the genre

Despite critics' and fans' complaints about Hollywood milking an idea dry, the comic book superhero has become a promising subject for blockbuster filmmaking. Even without highly expensive stars, the film is likely to get some level of attention with its distinctive visual style. Furthermore the serial nature of their source material makes story material for sequels easy to come by with major characters often having decades of stories to use for adaptations. The producers of the ''Daredevil'' and ''Sin City'' film adaptations took that source further and used the pages themselves as preliminary storyboards to help establish the films' visuals and action.

See also

★ List of films based on comics

★ List of films based on DC Comics

★ List of films based on Marvel Comics

★ Fantasy film

★ Horror film

★ Science fiction film

★ Superhero live-action television series

★ List of superheroes

Notes and citations

1. Superman Sequel Has A Working Title

External links

★ Comic Book Movie, a news website devoted to movies adapted from comics

★ Superhero Hype, a news website devoted to any media adapted from superheroes

★ Agent DVD, Contains a discussion about superhero movies with comic book creators, and a poll to choose the best film.