I am a huge fan of action movies. If those movies are associated with comic books, I near squealing fan-girldom. The more intense the better. I’m willing to overlook gaping plot holes (the first time through), in favor of pretty, high-action, eye-candy. I grew up loving comics, as well. Not the way most comic fans do. I read Spiderman and Batman. That was it. And then I transitioned to manga. Yeah, I’m a huge manga fan. Other fans recognize it in my writing, but not enough that I worry about it ^_^
Anyway, I’m not sure where this love of such things came from. If I focus, I think I can tie it back to the Batman movies. Not the Adam West ones – though we did used to watch reruns growing up. The Tim Burton ones. And no, I’m not a ‘Michael Keaton is Batman’ person. Val Kilmer, maybe. Christian Bale? Oh, without question.
This new strand of superhero movies raises the bar as far as I’m concerned. XMen started it, but with Bryan Singer gone, XMen 3 was abysmal and made me weep in my coffee. But Batman, Iron Man, they helped resurrect my faith in a struggling genre. A couple of nights ago, we spent half an hour watching all the previews we could find on youtube for summer action movies. Captain America looks epic. Green Lantern doesn’t look bad, though it looks like it’s got a lighter feeling to it. Transformers. Conan. Even Theseus has a movie coming out in November.
But I’ve been terrified of seeing Thor. For anyone who’s new here *waves at new followers, hello!*, I also have a minor obsession with Loki. Loki and Thor go hand in hand, right? Don’t misunderstand. I think he’s one hell of an evil son of a bitch. But he does it differently than most villains. There’s something dangerously sexy about that sly deception. Emphasis on the dangerously.
And that’s why I dreaded seeing Thor. Because no one has the same vision of Loki that I do. I figured — especially after seeing that horrid helmet — that he was pretty much going to be the lamest. villain. ever.
As an aside, The Joker also has the potential to be pretty freaking lame. Dude wears clown makeup and pulls bad practical jokes as a means of committing crimes. Yay.
Two comic book villains who have the potential to be cheesy, one-dimensional representations of evil. Who could have both completely destroyed their respective tales if they’d been such. And instead…
The Joker in The Dark Knight was brilliant. The acting, of course, which everyone focuses on, but the concept as well. A guy who does evil because he can. Not because he wants reward, or to make a name for himself, or power, or money. But because he’s completely bent on chaos.
And Loki in Thor, I was completely prepared to be disappointed. When Thor came on screen, no shirt, jeans barely hanging off his hips, every woman in the theater swooned. I can see why, it wasn’t a bad image.
When Loki leaned over and whispered in Thor’s ear “I agree with you, brother.” I melted. Because it was the first time he spoke as an adult, and I knew none of it was going to be true. I think they pulled off the true nature of the character better than anyone else I’ve ever seen (except me ;-)). And the way it ended…
And while we’re on it (second aside), Tony Stark? My favorite representation of a hero to date. The guy’s an ass. A brilliant, wealthy, womanizing ass. Who makes no apologies for his behavior.
I think I’m rambling a bit. Jumping all over the place. I’m sorry. I have a point. These three characters are real. They’re pulled from the pages of comics made to idealize good and glorify justice. But none of them are strictly good. Or strictly evil. And none of them fit a hero or villain stereotype.
The fiction world needs more of this. I know, it already has some. But this kind of character breathes off a page. He becomes three-dimensional on his own. Because as a good-guy he has flaws that make him not so likable, or as a bad guy he has realistic motivations, and doesn’t spend his time Doctor Evil-ing about sharks and lasers. And even if they grow as individuals through the story, there are still some flaws that are inherent to their being when the tale is done.
Who’s your favorite three-dimensional fictional character (movie or book), and why?