Steven Spielberg recently predicted that the superhero movie (and presumably the superhero TV show) will eventually go the way of the Western, by which he means it will almost completely disappear. He is, of course, completely correct as we will inevitably get tired of dudes in costumes saving the world, but judging by their popularity (and massive box-office receipts) I think that day is a long, long ways in the future.
We are completely, utterly over-saturated in superheroes. From the Avengers (and all of their solo films) to X-Men, Batman and about 15 different versions of Spider-Man you can hardly go to the cineplex or turn on a television without seeing some masked hero. I’ve written before in these pages that I’ve had a rather tumultuous relationship with turning comic books into film. Mostly, I’ve given up on avoiding them and have learned to let their spider-bitten, cosmic-ray-obtaining super powers wash right over me.
Gotham brings an interesting spin on the genre. We’re used to getting the origin stories to our heroes, but here they are showing us how Commissioner Gordon rose the ranks from being a normal officer. It’s set just after the murder of Bruce Wayne’s parents and before he has become Batman. It also plots the origins of several from his Rogues Gallery of villains.
I’ve only seen bits and pieces of a couple of episodes but what I saw looked interesting. Having just finished the first season of Daredevil, I’m ready to give Gotham a full shot, even if the reviews have not always been spectacular (our own Luigi Bastardo had mixed feelings).
Also out this week that looks interesting:
Dressed to Kill: I saw this when I was maybe 15-years-old. To be honest, I saw the cover photo, which featured a pair of lovely legs, and took the “Dressed” of the title to mean getting undressed and my hormones took it from there. If memory serves, there was a long shower scene that gave me all the nudity I needed, but mostly it was full of Brian DePalma’s typical post-Hitchcockian neo-noir mystery that he used to do so well. I suspect my pubescent brain didn’t like that nearly as much as the legs, but what can you do? With Criterion bringing it back in their usual deluxe packaging, I’m much more interested now in the mystery than the nudity.
The Age of Adeline: The only thing I know about this film is that it clogged up my Twitter feed when it hit theaters.
Homeland: The Complete Fourth Season: I gave up on this show after the second season, but they’ve apparently rebooted it bit after the third, so I might give it another chance.
