While watching the movie - 'Spider-man: Far from home' - over the weekend, I was thinking of the way the entire 'Avengers' series has changed the childhood of my kids. I mean, we were all excited the moment the movie opened with the tribute to the dead Avengers (excited as in like J whistling like no tomorrow, the moment Robert Downey Jr. is shown!).
We remember childhood with specific instances of special moments and I was wondering how these moments are being shaped by these movies. I remember vividly the visits to the only comics shop in Sivakasi - along with my grandfather - and buy in bulk.
Whereas Sibi and Vanathy will remember the times we watched these movies in the first weekends and the endless discussions on the origins and thereafters of the characters ,the infinite pop-culture references and Easter eggs in these movies. And how the movies differ from the books and all. These movies have become part of the childhood of so many kids around, including mine.
In fact, we were watching 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' over the weekend and both Sibi and I were surprised to see the (fictional) Ezekiel 25:17 quote from 'The Pulp Fiction' in Nick Fury's grave scene.
Be that as it may be, Spider Man remains a favorite comic character from the days of the book buying from Sivakasi. The books tick everything needed for a wholesome comic character - an unknown super power, a closed one's death, an unrequited love - Spider man goes through all of that by that he finishes high school. And the love angle with MJ is the kind of romance I get reeled in. So even before setting the foot in the theater, I was determined to 'not hate' it.
The challenge is that the first part 'Spider Man -Homecoming' never felt like a complete movie - it felt more like a continuation of the Avengers. Whereas 'Far from Home' feels like a walk away from the Avengers path and more of how Spidey explores the world by himself.
The entire Avengers series - starting with 'Iron Man' about 10 years ago - is all about exploring our fantasies at some level and also about the mindless excitement of watching some of our (read, my) childhood heroes come alive on big screens. The added incentive is that almost all of these movies are well-made and have the right people for the characters albeit the contrived stories may seem a little predictable. However, if you are ever interested in reading comics, you would've figured that anyway.
I still read a lot of comics - both in English and Tamil - not just the ones that become movies but a lot of those never get made into any other visual medium. So, watching the MCU movies makes me wonder about some of these fantastic heroes - Tex Willer or Night Eagle or Modesty Blaise - and the Phantom (who had a badly made movie!) and whether there will ever be movies around them.
We remember childhood with specific instances of special moments and I was wondering how these moments are being shaped by these movies. I remember vividly the visits to the only comics shop in Sivakasi - along with my grandfather - and buy in bulk.
Whereas Sibi and Vanathy will remember the times we watched these movies in the first weekends and the endless discussions on the origins and thereafters of the characters ,the infinite pop-culture references and Easter eggs in these movies. And how the movies differ from the books and all. These movies have become part of the childhood of so many kids around, including mine.
In fact, we were watching 'Captain America: The Winter Soldier' over the weekend and both Sibi and I were surprised to see the (fictional) Ezekiel 25:17 quote from 'The Pulp Fiction' in Nick Fury's grave scene.
 |
| Of course, MJ Kisses an upside down Spidey!! |
Be that as it may be, Spider Man remains a favorite comic character from the days of the book buying from Sivakasi. The books tick everything needed for a wholesome comic character - an unknown super power, a closed one's death, an unrequited love - Spider man goes through all of that by that he finishes high school. And the love angle with MJ is the kind of romance I get reeled in. So even before setting the foot in the theater, I was determined to 'not hate' it.
The challenge is that the first part 'Spider Man -Homecoming' never felt like a complete movie - it felt more like a continuation of the Avengers. Whereas 'Far from Home' feels like a walk away from the Avengers path and more of how Spidey explores the world by himself.
I still read a lot of comics - both in English and Tamil - not just the ones that become movies but a lot of those never get made into any other visual medium. So, watching the MCU movies makes me wonder about some of these fantastic heroes - Tex Willer or Night Eagle or Modesty Blaise - and the Phantom (who had a badly made movie!) and whether there will ever be movies around them.
No comments:
Post a Comment