Sometimes you tune into a programme and are not sure of the tone: is 'Torchwood' supposed to be serious or comedic? Is 'Coronation Street' supposed to be that crap? Is 'Come Dine With Me' a cooking show or a mental evaluation of its contestants?
One such show was 'Superheroes of Suburbia', a show I'd never planned on watching but my parents had Sky plussed it and, at ten at night, there's little else to do when you're tired and at your parents. For those of you who didn't see it, it was basically a real-life 'Kick Ass', with three ordinary people donning lycra, masks and, in one case, a full Roman Centurion costume, and heading out onto the streets to battle unruly behaviour, solve crimes and, er, attempt to kick some ass.
Now, I was under the impression that this was a spoof show, ala 'Look Around You', made to look real but actually fake. How else would you explain someone walking around drunken clubbers dressed like Maximum Idiotus the third; a teenage superhero who suffers from panic attacks when dealing with people, and a man with smoke bombs whose hero tactic is to scare off teenagers from riding their bikes around a local car park. It's hardly undermining the criminal belly of Gotham City.
When the wife of one of them has to place an advert in a paper for a sidekick as she's worried her husband will be attacked whilst out hero-ing, and a man dressed as a jester-version of Spider-man turns up to audition, giving him defence lessons with a walking stick that he carries with him 'for medical reasons', you wonder if someone has spiked your drink or that it's not really that truthful.
Granted, the three individuals featured suffered from some level of mental problem, so it went from a harmless documentary to a Channel 5-style "hey, look at these weirdos", but there's something that didn't quite fit. There are lots of have-a-go-heroes and reports of people dressing up as superheroes in the paper, but I'm not sure how true this one was. It was more surreal than if your gran turned up at your house dressed as one of the members of KISS. With a warthog. Wearing a tutu.
And it speaks.
Anyway, the people in it were all harmless and maybe doing some good, even at the detriment to their safety. I'm just not sure if the documentry was an amusing look at their achievements or a voyeristic finger-pointing at people with disabilities. One of them suffered from aspergers and his love of comics has translated into what he wants to do in real life. Is that observing a harmless fantasy or highlighting his lack of grasp on reality?
Or, in fact, whether they were any good as superheroes; for a start off, through captions, they revealed their identities. And where they lived. And the chap who had lots of samurai swords kept them in a weakly locked shed at the end of the house. Hardly the bat cave, just as one's method of transport - a pushbike - was hardly the batmobile. I was disappointed though that the Dark Spartan, the aforementioned Centurion superhero, didn't ride around on a chariot. Or at least a Segway with spokes on, pulled by two hobby-horses.
Overall it was an unusual half an hour, but was undoubtedly entertaining, even if the line between observation and mickey-taking was blurred throughout it. I still think someone had spiked my drink though. Where's a superhero when you need one?
The episode did remind me, though, of that great joke by Stewart Francis from "Mock The Week". "Hello... I'm Procrastination Man... hey, wait, where is everybody? And why is there blood everywhere?"
I think the show has inspired me to be a superhero, though. I'm going to become the invincible 'Mothman'... and here I am to save you all... ooh, bright light...
Saturday, 6 August 2011
Saturday, 16 July 2011
REVIEW: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
And finally, we are here, the final film of the Harry Potter series. Ten years after the first one, we have followed Harry Potter from being the boy who lived, to THE BOY WHO IS SO ANGRY HE SPEAKS IN CAPITAL LETTERS (at least in the books), to the boy who has to defeat he-who-shall-not-be-named, presumably because Voldermort has had a superinjunction taking out to stop everyone knowing about his dodgy nose job.
Following the excellent part one, which stands up with films three and five as the best in the set of eight, Deathly Hallows part 2 starts much slower and a bit tediously. I would have liked a quick re-cap at the start but it's straight into goblins and swords and wands and beaches, but it's not long before the story kicks in with a witty performance by Helen Bonham-Carter as she pretends to be Hermione pretending to be her character. Yes. It's easier to follow than you think.
It's then onto Gringott's bank for a thrilling break-in and break-out, before returning finally to a dismally lit Hogwarts for the battle against Voldermort that takes up the rest of the film.
DH2 - as I'll call it from now on for ease, don't think it's some sort of form for applying for job seekers allowance - is a super adaptation of the second half of the book. From the scenes inside the wizarding bank to the battle of Hogwarts, the action scenes and CGI are flawless throughout but it's the emotional impact of the film that will stand the test of time. Whether it's the kiss between Hermione and Ron, the beautifully shot and edited memories of Snape, to the thought of characters we've been with for fifteen years appearing on screen for the last time, you'll be one of only a few if you're not wiping tears away from under your 3D specs a couple of times throughout the film.
DH2 has been adapted from the book very well. With much of the exposition and slower scenes dispensed with in part one, it's down to a lot of action in this one. The only issue I have with the film - as I had with the book four years ago - is that the 19-years-later epilogue tagged onto the end is not enough explanation of what happened to a lot of the characters. Either let's see everyone and where they are or leave it open ended.
Where the epilogue does work, though, is the make-up and clothing that really works in making the characters look nineteen years older.
Though not as good as part one - mainly thanks to the humour of the Polyjuice scene and the beauty of the story animation near the close in the first part - you couldn't ask for much of a better send off for the film series as you get with DH2. It's a touching film that ties everything up neatly and delivers a pleasant mix of action, CGI, drama and emotive backstory that means the two hours speeds by, even if the bolted on 3D is not as impressive as it could be, though seeing it in IMAX as I did certainly adds to the power.
8/10
Following the excellent part one, which stands up with films three and five as the best in the set of eight, Deathly Hallows part 2 starts much slower and a bit tediously. I would have liked a quick re-cap at the start but it's straight into goblins and swords and wands and beaches, but it's not long before the story kicks in with a witty performance by Helen Bonham-Carter as she pretends to be Hermione pretending to be her character. Yes. It's easier to follow than you think.
It's then onto Gringott's bank for a thrilling break-in and break-out, before returning finally to a dismally lit Hogwarts for the battle against Voldermort that takes up the rest of the film.
DH2 - as I'll call it from now on for ease, don't think it's some sort of form for applying for job seekers allowance - is a super adaptation of the second half of the book. From the scenes inside the wizarding bank to the battle of Hogwarts, the action scenes and CGI are flawless throughout but it's the emotional impact of the film that will stand the test of time. Whether it's the kiss between Hermione and Ron, the beautifully shot and edited memories of Snape, to the thought of characters we've been with for fifteen years appearing on screen for the last time, you'll be one of only a few if you're not wiping tears away from under your 3D specs a couple of times throughout the film.
DH2 has been adapted from the book very well. With much of the exposition and slower scenes dispensed with in part one, it's down to a lot of action in this one. The only issue I have with the film - as I had with the book four years ago - is that the 19-years-later epilogue tagged onto the end is not enough explanation of what happened to a lot of the characters. Either let's see everyone and where they are or leave it open ended.
Where the epilogue does work, though, is the make-up and clothing that really works in making the characters look nineteen years older.
Though not as good as part one - mainly thanks to the humour of the Polyjuice scene and the beauty of the story animation near the close in the first part - you couldn't ask for much of a better send off for the film series as you get with DH2. It's a touching film that ties everything up neatly and delivers a pleasant mix of action, CGI, drama and emotive backstory that means the two hours speeds by, even if the bolted on 3D is not as impressive as it could be, though seeing it in IMAX as I did certainly adds to the power.
8/10
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