You know it, and I know it. Superhero films are fun. They’re fast. Action-packed. Colorful. They feature inspiring journeys, by relatable protagonists—many of whom I love. Yet, even given my fondness for the genre there’s one superhero film which rests deeper in my heart than any other. And that would be… well, what else? The Winter Soldier. Continue reading
She is a trained gymnast with fighting skills honed by years of trading blows with Batman and his associates, a licensed psychiatrist, and somehow she seems able to connect with and communicate on a basic level with animals. And she’s crazy in love… Continue reading
Guillermo del Toro knows how to create a dark but beautiful atmosphere. He played with the Victorian Gothic in Crimson Peak (2015), and almost ten years earlier with the warped fairy tale Pan’s Labyrinth (2006). Who better to take on not one, but two big screen adaptations of Mike Mingola’s iconic comic book creation, Hellboy? Continue reading
The first black big screen hero in the Marvel Avengers franchise to earn his own cinematic origins story, Black Panther is many things—a celebration of African diversity and culture, a grand adventure, a reflection on family dynamics, and about the awakening of its hero to social needs outside himself. It has all the pulses and beats of a hero’s story with echoes of a Messianic tale (loss, betrayal, death, and resurrection, with him extending forgiveness to his attacker and being found by ‘the women’), but at its core is a deeper message about forgiveness of the past and shifting the world toward social betterment, instead of violence. Continue reading
Since the tremendous success of the first all-star Spider-Man over a decade ago, Hollywood has filled theater seats with all kinds of super heroes, from large and green with anger issues to plated in iron or with steel claws. Here, we explore some of our favorite big screen super heroes and their comic book origins. Continue reading
