The Nostalgia Critic reviewed The Phantom a few months ago, and if you want to go watch the video, I recommend it. It's very funny. One of the things I really like about Nostalgia Critic is that he can make me laugh even when I don't agree with what he says. 'Cause I didn't really agree with his review. He spent most of it nitpicking the logic of the movie and making fun of The Phantom's bright purple costume (and he completely ignored the fact that Patrick McGoohan was in the movie at all, an oversight that annoyed me even when I wasn't smack in the middle of a McGoohan phase. He did focus a lot on the fact that Catherine Zeta-Jones is in the movie, though, which is probably the Nostalgia Critic equivalent of me focusing on the Patrick McGoohan aspect).
I loved The Phantom. It's a fun, silly action movie with an affably evil villain, Billy Zane before he shaved his head and started getting cast as bad guys, ancient magic, a lot of chase scenes and some explosions. The first and last voice you hear in the movie is Patrick McGoohan's (a definite plus!) and, probably most refreshing, it's not a modern comic book action movie. Especially since The Phantom was a comic strip. But the comparison still stands!
Yeah, I love the Iron Man movies and the Pirates Of The Caribbean movies (not based on a comic book, but I'm including them anyway. I know it's "uncool" of me, but I'm really looking forward to On Stranger Tides. Five more days!) and if they released a cut of The Dark Knight that consisted solely of Gary Oldman's and Heath Ledger's scenes I'd totally buy it. But I have had a problem with action movies lately. They're all trying too hard to either be serious or over the top.
A lot of action movies these days are all about one-upping the action movies of those days. Everything's bigger and violenter and louder. Fight scenes are often incomprehensible (regardless of what editors think, movies are more exciting when the audience can actually tell what's going on), chase scenes go on so long they become boring and everything is extreme! Wanted had that whole "bullet bending" thing, Live Free Or Die Hard exploded a helicopter with a car, the most recent Indiana Jones was about aliens for some stupid reason, Rambo killed a million billion people (or at least a few dozen) with a giant machine gun mounted on a car and in general action movies aren't content to just be action movies anymore. They have to have at least one setpiece that is bigger and greater than any other setpiece in any movie ever, and they have to do it while cramming a bunch of obnoxious CGI down our throats. It's annoying.
I will point out that it's hypocritical of me to complain about over the top action movies, though, seeing as I own and love both Crank movies and Shoot 'Em Up. But it was refreshing to watch something as fun and goofy and innocent as The Phantom.
What's more refreshing was that every character really seemed to be having a good time. The Phantom loved running around and fighting bad guys while wearing a silly purple costume, just as the bad guy loved talking about his evil plans, having an evil 1930s mustache and ordering cronies to do his dirty work. Billy Zane never seems to stop smiling through the whole movie; this is a superhero who loves what he does.
And that is awesome.
I'm sick of "darker and edgier" superhero movies. I know everybody thinks it's cinematic brilliance, but Christopher Nolan's Batman movies can fucking bite me. I don't want to hear about Bruce Wayne's inner struggles! I want to see good guys beat up bad guys!
Nobody cares about that anymore. Everything has to be character driven, and the characters driving have to be murky and angsty and filled with turmoil. It's bullshit and I'm over it.
No more, I say! The time to hesitate is through. I call for a simpler time in moviedom when action movies are full of action, chatty villains, mild cursing and heroes who are totally cool with the fact that they're heroes.
Batman and his angst can go to Bat-Hell. Spiderman and his turmoil will be squished by my giant newspaper of fun action movies. That new Superman movie they're planning is also probably going to have some sort of seriousness that makes Superman brood, so let's just bury the whole thing right now in a Kryptonite grave of true entertainment.
I demand more movies like The Phantom!
End of line.
-Sally
3 comments:
I agree. I like seeing my superheroes tough and good guy and not agonizing over their superheroness. Also, The Phantom has a stunt that had never been done before. No one had ever jumped onto a horse from a helicopter before the Phantom.
It was a little airplane, not a helicopter. Good point, either way. At least the movie wasn't rubbing my nose in the fact that it was something I hadn't seen before. And it was a cool stunt.
Hear hear!!!
proffy
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