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A Marvel-ous Trend in Movies
A cinematic critique by Des Nnochiri copyright © Des Nnochiri 2003-2005
Remember those Marvel Comics-based television series of the 1970s?
If the sight of Nicholas Hammond clomping around in thick-soled boots as Spiderman, firing hunks of white rope from a clunky mechanism on his wrist didn't make you groan with anguish, then maybe the thought of big Lou Ferrigno, in fright wig and green body paint as The Incredible Hulk, did.
As if this weren't enough, the TV studios also gave us Peter Hooten as Doctor Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts (Remember him? No?), and a laughable attempt to turn Captain America into a cut-rate Evel Knievel (Remember him, then?).
Colourful, extraordinary characters were taken from the comic book page, set down in the real world and, through a combination of unimaginative storylines, insipid dialogue, and mechanistic special effects made, well.... ordinary.
And yet...
Go to any video shop or multiplex cinema today, and you will hardly be able to move for all the X-Men, Spidermen, and Daredevils on offer. What was once considered kids' stuff (or, at best, food for geeks) is now big- no, huge- business.
What turned the tide?
In my view, the seminal moment came with the release of Mark Kamen's vision of "The Punisher". Forget for a moment that it starred Dolph Lundgren, an actor not noted for his overwhelming charisma.
Kamen's tale of Frank Castle, a police detective emotionally scarred by a Mafia bombing that killed his family, was dark, violent, slick, and just "over the top" enough to remain true to its comic book origins. Here at last was an anti-hero whose unending quest for vengeance could be taken seriously. And- in a trend firmly established by the Warner Bros version of DC's Batman character (and followed by many a superhero since)- this good guy wore black.