Superhero Week: Man of Steel Premiere and more favourites
Yesterday team Gollancz hit up the Man of Steel premiere in Leicester Square, armed with Geeks t-shirts and and our awesome Steelheart postcards. We reckon we got a few new recruits to Join the Resistance, and it’s not too late for you either. Plenty of time to win £100 of Forbidden PLanet vouchers still in the lead up to Steelheart’s publication later in the year with our awesome competition.
Look at us go!
But on with our favourite comic book adaptations…
I’ve always been a fan of Batman. Even when the films were dreadful they were a must-see for the gravelly-voiced caped crusader. So I was rather surprised to find that, despite the rather fabulous reboot, I would rather talk about The Amazing Spiderman.
I wasn’t a fan of Sam Raimi’s trilogy and, on the whole, I’m not a fan of Peter Parker. He’s too sweet, too wholesome and too much of a nice guy facing misfortunes that somehow I’ve never really warmed to him. More, I’ve never felt there was something special about him. He’s bitten by a spider and uses his abilities for good when I want a superhero who is driven by something – anger, revenge, love or whatever else.
With this collection of superhero baggage, I didn’t expect to like The Amazing Spiderman at all and only saw it in the cinema when I was made to. And then I loved it.
I’d thought Andrew Garfield did a good job in The Social Network but I wasn’t expecting the quiet strength and nuance he brought to the part. The humour and in-jokes built into the action very neatly, there was a strong enough balance of warmth and pathos to give the story depth – and strong enough characterisation that although I felt my suspension of disbelief strained at times, never to breaking point.
There’s action, romance, a good creation myth and a villain with a sense of purpose. But most importantly for me, this is a film with a warm heart set in a dark world, lifted by a few really strong performances. Great stuff. I am a convert.