Therefore, before the release of "Avengers" I was full of excitement. It is almost certain that with the release of this film, a new wave of superhero movies will surely start. Before I watched this movie, I was already full of love for this movie, just like Bazin suddenly saw the Italian neo-realist movie after establishing his own realist film ontology. It is a kind of The times are confirming their own theoretical feelings.
But movies are sometimes difficult to fully explain with theory, just as the Italian neorealism film completely deviated from Bazin's expectations in the later stages of its own development, just as the evolution of western films subverted its original definition. "Avengers" is not a superhero movie that I expected, even if I use the silver age of superhero comics to explain it, it is difficult to justify it. This both upsets and excites me. Has the superhero movie started its own evolution, as the western movie did? Or maybe this is just an accidental phenomenon, just because of the large-scale advertisement of Surprise Company in order to better promote and promote its heroes (in fact, with the popularity of this film, the Hulk was successfully promoted, and the green The giant did not arouse any repercussions in the previous two films of Ang Lee and Lightrell)?
According to Thomas Schatz’s definition of genre movies, superhero movies have fixed character images (superheroes with dual identities), familiar environments (modern metropolises), and predictable stories (superheroes have to face the general public on the one hand). Cover up his identity, on the other hand, single-handedly confront those super villains who try to destroy the city). "Superman", "Batman", "Spiderman", "Dare Man", "Hulk", "Ghost Rider", "Iron Man", and "Green Lantern" all fall into this category. Another group of superheroes, such as "X-Men", "Blade Warriors", "Hellboy", and "The Punisher", they do not have dual identities, so they are not recognized and allowed by the society and can only hide in dark corners. Continue to fight for justice.
In my opinion, dual identity is the core narrative element of superhero movies. Dual identity is a safety line between superheroes and the general public. As long as there is this safety line, the two can stay in peace. The dramatic conflict and tension brought by the dual identities are brought to the extreme. I think it is Sam Remy’s "Spider-Man" series. I have never seen a superhero like Spider-Man in the movie because of his own Dual identities and so distressed. And every plot setting of "Spider-Man" can be found in the "Superman" series.
The division and opposition revealed by the dual identity is an individual who has the ability to surpass the masses, but has to submit to the conflicts between mass morals and popular ideas. So the opposite of superhero is super villain, super villain is the other side of superhero's spiritual world. What is particularly interesting about Nolan’s "Dark Knight" is that he puts Batman, the Joker, and the two-faced man together. The split image of the two-faced man is just an externalized form of Batman and the Joker. .
Therefore, personal heroism is the core value of superhero movies. Superheroes must be individual heroes and are anti-popular.
Of course, we must mention the silver age and postmodernity of superhero comics. The Silver Age opened up the form of superhero teams. If there is no Fantastic Four, I am afraid that Surprise is still a small company that is being crushed by DC company? The two typical characteristics of the Silver Age, the emergence of team superheroes and the rise of Surprise, are just two things that have a causal relationship.
But after carefully analyzing the characteristics of the comics in the Silver Age, I believe that the team-based superhero comics not only did not weaken the individualistic characteristics of superheroes, but strengthened it. In fact, as early as 1940, the DC company launched the "Justice Association" (JSA), and the "Justice League" (JLA), which is talked about by comic fans today, also appeared in 1960.
But why is Surprise the biggest winner in the Silver Age? In my opinion, the superhero team is actually not the point. It's not that one superman can attract 100 readers. I draw 100 supermen together and beat bad people to attract 10,000 readers. The most attractive part of a superhero team is precisely the chemical reaction that may occur together with a group of heroes with super abilities but different personalities. Marvel’s Fantastic Four makes a big fuss on this point. Each of the four superheroes has its own unique personality. The contradiction between them is far greater than their cooperation. In this tension-filled relationship In, they repeatedly save the world, and this is the real reason why this set of comics makes readers love it.
Looking back at the golden age from the silver age, the superheroes of the golden age are extremely simple and flat. In my opinion, the personalities of Batman and Superman are almost indistinguishable! The Batman at that time was far from being a dark knight with a gloomy character, and he was not as smart as the Batman in the postmodern JLA. In short, the superheroes of the golden age are highly facialized, and what distinguishes them is their unique superpowers. DC's strategy is indeed to continue to work hard on the novelty of superpowers.
So the rise of Surprise in the Silver Age is almost inevitable. Surprise puts its focus on the characterization of characters, rather than the novelty of superpowers. Surprise has endowed superheroes with personality and humanity, which means it has endowed superheroes with independence. Therefore, the team-based superhero model not only does not weaken individual heroism, on the contrary, it is precisely because everyone is gathered together that the characters of different superheroes are highlighted. Batman's character has been greatly revised in the Silver Age, showing more and more contrast with Superman. Superheroes’ actions are no longer just based on the public’s principles of justice, but more dependent on their own character factors. Their character may even cause them to do things that are contrary to the public’s concept of justice.
Therefore, the superhero's personal abilities and individual heroism that surpass the masses form a kind of opposition and conflict with the masses and popular civilization. This conflict of confrontation runs through the Bronze Age and Dark Iron Age of superhero comics. If we find comics from this period, such as Alan Moore’s "Watchmen" and Frank Miller’s "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" ", Todd McFarlane's "Rebirth", and the corresponding film works, can confirm that in the Bronze Age and the Dark Iron Age, the relationship between superheroes and the public has been strained to an unsustainable state. As a result, from the Bronze Age and the Black Iron Age to the post-modern era, the myths and models of superheroes were broken, just as Western films entered the 1960s and 1970s.
So, back to the movie "The Avengers" itself, how should we classify this movie? The Avengers itself is a product of the Silver Age. Surprise officially launched this organization in 1963 as a response to the Justice League of DC Corporation.
However, the nature of the movie "The Avengers" cannot be fully defined according to the laws of the Silver Age. The biggest difference is that the Avengers became a semi-official organization in the movie. In the comics of the Silver Age, the establishment of the Avengers was basically nothing to do with S.H.I.E.L.D., it was the four superheroes Ant-Man, Wasp, Thor, and Hulk that were built on their own with a bit of gameplay until The Avengers found Captain America, and Captain America will be the leader of the Avengers. This organization really looks like this. Then Iron Man joined. Because of the relationship between Iron Man and the government, the Avengers were officially recognized.
The whole Avengers in the movie was established by SHIELD. From the perspective of the story, this setting is of course more reasonable and reasonable, and it can also enter the narrative conflict faster. But I also wonder if the copyrights of Wasp and Ant-Man are still in other film companies (by the way, the image of Spider-Man was bought out by Columbia, and the image of X-Men was bought out by 20th Century Fox. Yes, so unless Disney cooperates with these major companies, don’t expect them to join the Avengers for a while).
Not only that, whether it is Nick or S.H.I.E.L.D., the image in the film is a bit too polished. It is not like the spy king in Marvel comics. The whole group is the nanny of those ignorant superheroes. . He knows the identity of every superhero well, and he protects these heroes and urges their unity and growth.
As the producer of this film, Kevin Feige, said, "The Avengers" is more like a disaster film than a superhero movie. The contradiction of dual identities does not exist in this movie, and the contradiction between superheroes and the public does not exist in this movie. This movie is different from the X-Men. They don’t need to hide. They have an official organization to protect them. Although it is also emphasized in the film that regimes other than Aegis seem to be opposed to the Avengers, what else can these regimes say besides saying a few words in the video? Nick can even easily negate their resolution and get the support of S.H.I.E.L.D. (these leaders can actually not remove Nick from his post and ban S.H.I.E.L.D.
The Avengers in the movie are more like an army, which is how I feel, rather than a team of superheroes. What is the core conflict in the narrative of "The Avengers"? It is running-in and unity. Once the individual is run into a collective, the story comes to an end, and the rest is to resolve an incident, and then the film ends. This is the routine of war or disaster movies, not the routine of superhero movies.
So I think this movie has nothing to do with the laws of the Silver Age, but a new way of dealing with superhero subjects in Hollywood. In the film "Watchmen" directed by Zach Schneider, I admit that the director is as faithful to the original comic as possible, but I still think that the director has introduced a realistic cinematic approach in addition to the superhero theme. . Similarly, Nolan’s "Dark Knight" is not just a simple adaptation of a superhero comic book. He retains the core conflicts of superheroes-the splitting of dual identities, and the opposition between superheroes and the public. On the basis of this, a lot of narrative and visual elements of bandit films have been introduced into this film (you see the director’s portrayal of the character image of the clown is completely a bandit film routine). Today, during the production of "The Avengers", this film is combined with war films or disaster films.
But I find it awkward that the theme conflicts of superhero movies and bandit movies can coexist, but they are opposed to war movies and disaster movies. Because superhero movies talk about individual heroism, while war movies and disaster movies emphasize collective power.
However, at the end of "Avengers", when all the superheroes left S.H.I.E.L.D. and hide again, I felt more or less the theme of the superhero movie. They are like cowboys in Western movies. After solving the conflicts in the town, they must leave the town. The same goes for superheroes. When they solve the problems in the city, they should take off their uniforms and masks, and pretend to be ordinary people and continue to live, instead of becoming another spy organization under the government.
So, is "Avengers" an exception to superhero movies, or will it open up a brand new mode, a superhero team mode completely different from the X-Men? The relationship between this organization and the government and the public will be easier than ever before? They will become a secret army of the government, show great power when there is a crisis, and hide quietly after the crisis is lifted? Still, in the next "Avengers", this harmonious relationship will become tense, the public will oppose this organization, and the government will try to hunt them down, just like the X-Men (to some extent) The above is back to the theme of the superhero movie I summarized)?
Comparing "Avengers" with "X-Men: First Class" some time ago, this feeling will be particularly obvious. No matter how it will develop in the end, I feel extremely excited. This is the Western movie of our time. We are fortunate to witness how it will change and how it will interact with us in the next ten to twenty years. The trend of thought and ideology of the times echoed. The future of superhero movies is full of infinite possibilities. It will not be limited by any theory, but it can inspire countless theoretical thinking.
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