Never Mind Pop Film

This past decade saw an explosion in superhero films. With comic mainstays such as Batman, Spider-man and Superman, even lesser known ones like Daredevil, The Punisher, and Ghost Rider, seeing their films released in a span of time that needed heroes more than ever.

Spider-man centered around a teenager in Queens, who, after receiving a bite from a radioactive spider, rose to meet the pressures of doing the right thing in a tumultuous time. For many New Yorkers it was too easy to relate to a character like that. Bruce Wayne becomes a vigilante after seeing his parents shot down and Tony Stark see his business turned against him as the weapons his company manufactures are used to hold him ransom. The X-Men are a group of societal outcasts who are fighting simply for the right to exist. All of these heroes compartmentalized what we wanted to believe about ourselves. Forced into rigid circumstances we can do what's best.

For many these films represented a zeitgeist. Those who experie…

It has been almost four years since Bryan Singer's Superman Returns hit theatres and for the most part it has remained maligned by the community. Superman is a huge part of the collective consciousness of the pop culture lexicon. The story of a man who leaps tall buildings in a single bound is well known and all those familiar with Superman/Clark Kent's origin can find something to relate to.
Superman Returns arrived at theatres with the excitement of seeing the Man of Steel returning to celluloid for the first time in nineteen years. Unfortunately, the return was met with stunted optimism in the midst of two wars, diminished prestige of the United States, and the beginnings of an economic downturn. The spectacle of Returns never seemed to really captivate with all of the action sequences requiring Superman/Clark Kent (Brandon Routh) to only catch a plane, carry an island out of the ocean, and getting shot in the eye. The film seemed like the reel was dragged through a sepia t…