Villains have dug their way into hearts across the world. Despite their malevolence, we all love a vicious villain to counteract our beloved hero. Whether it be Heath Ledger’s infamous portrayal of the Joker, or Anthony Hopkins’ wicked Dr. Hannibal Lecter, villains are the driving force of cinematic excellence. However, for an anti hero to win over the crowd they must have depth, purpose, and most importantly an internal moral struggle. Without justifiable reasoning and ethical conflicts, villains are nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum in the grocery store. The villain that best exhibits this complexity, through his heroic aspirations, yet savage actions, is Michael Fassbender’s Magneto in the 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past. The X-Men series has always been known for its intricacy with its plot, …show more content…
In an instance Magneto went from being a hero, to shooting a beloved X-Men. In this way specifically, his complexity is highlighted. His actions may be perceived as contradictory, however with the reasoning that his violent response would liberate mutants across the globe, his reaction is not only sound, but in its own way, heroic. As discussed in the Miami Herald’s review by Rene Rodriguez, this ability to complete such a villainous act, yet gain support and sympathy from fans, is what makes Magento the “anchor” to such a complicated plot (Rodriguez). Further, Magneto’s internal conflict involving his desire to protect the needs of mutants “by any means necessary”, yet his moral obstacle that prevents him from achieving this (Scott). In particularly, in the scene that Erik has created utter chaos, and is moments away from killing the president, he stops himself. Although, this was initially Xavier’s doing, Magneto, peacefully leaves his self-assembled stadium prison, to join a world that is unaccepting of his life as a
...revolutionize a whole new genre of movie, a genre which is fast becoming more and moe popular. 'As filmmaking technology has made it more and more feasible to bring the worlds of the comics to movie theaters, the comics themselves have begun to provide a broader and richer array of material.. from which films might be made' (Booker 2007: Paul Benton, Lecture notes). All the mentioned arguments throughout this essay on top of; the star performances, unique marketing and special effects, help make The Dark Knight a truly great film. Prior to the movies release it was questioned wether the film could sustain the 'increasing moral weight imposed upon it', the movie to date has more than dealt with this pressure, and has become a focal point for many discussions and essays, and finally it is because of the morals and ethics within the movie that I have written this essay.
Anna Godberson once said, “She should have known that villains often come with pretty faces”. This is regularly the case in the film industry. Hollywood has an abundance of beautiful villains that steal people’s hearts. But, even though physical beauty is a common theme for glamorous Hollywood villains, there are many more means to ploy an audience to love an antihero. In a diversity of films, the audience is manipulated in to liking the bad guys in many divergent ways.
And last but not least is the villain in these movies. Most of the killers in these films are portrayed as mentally deranged and/or has some type of facial or bodily deformation and who have been traumatized at an early age. Even though these characters terrorized and murder people they have taken on the persona of anti-heroes in pop culture. Characters like Halloween’s Michael Myers, A Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger and Friday the 13th’s Jason Voorhees have become the reason to go see these movies. However, over time,”their familiarity and the audience’s ability to identify and sympathize with them over the protagonist made these villains less threatening (Slasher Film (5))”.
We are currently living in the Golden Age of Superheroes. They dominate our cultural life, and have become seemingly permanent fixtures in modern media. Since X-Men burst onto the screen fifteen years ago, we have witnessed the release of over forty superhero movies. By 2020 we will have seen the release of more than twenty-five more. Today, the much anticipated film Superman vs. Batman has come to theaters. Though a plethora of superhero movies have been released, it is to the dissatisfaction of many, having long been exhausted by the stories of the Hulk, Batman, and Spider-man. Although I must agree that it is quite easy to get bored with the constant action, and flashing colors of these films, if one looks deep enough into the story they will discover universal themes and metaphors. Though they may be fighting off alien invasions, these heroes are also battling with their personal challenges, challenges which we can
Madness, as you know, is like gravity. All it takes is a little push!" is an iconic line in a recent superhero film. Signifying irony as well as insanity, this quote demonstrates how easily one may become mentally deranged. Tim Burton’s Batman (1989) and Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight (2008) films tell the account of a fictional American superhero and his mentally ill archenemy, the Joker. The Joker from Batman and the Joker from The Dark Knight share a similar origin story; however, they have very contrasting personalities and appearances.
To conclude, the graphic novel Watchmen presents the non-fantastic representation of a superhero, implying that not all heroes are like Superman. This notion is explored within the novel by mentioning the realistic motives of the characters choosing to become superheroes, by Rorschach’s representation and through the heroic reactions of the New Yorkers to a street crime. These elements all contribute to Watchmen’s uniqueness and complexity as a superhero comic.
Although Victor claims his intent is to better humanity, his motivation is for power, and in doing so, he violates morality and manipulates human nature. Victor expresses his personality through creating the monster. Victor broke the boundaries of life and death by creating the monster. Victor changed nature and the idea...
During those ages when we are just a little kid, we dreamt to be a superhero that could protect the world from being attacked or destroyed by enemies. We always worship to the superheroes that we liked when we watch the superheroes movies. Not only that, we also even act as them by using a scarf, tie on our necks and crazy around with our friends. Recently, I adored with two kinds of superhero movies after I watched them. Those movies are The Kick-Ass 2 and The X-Men 2 which mainly attract teenager’s attention nowadays when they plan to watch a movie. However, there are many differences between these two superheroes movie that we could see from their abilities, costume, and even their operation when they fight criminal.
Heroic movies typically portrays the main characters as strong, kind, and positive. This helps as when a person watching projects themselves onto those characters they experience those emotions and feelings. After watching a superhero movie people feel empowered and strengthened. On the contrast, horror movies encompass the opposite emotions. Typically the main characters are portrayed to be weaker and vulnerable. Their characteristics consist of irrationality and stubbornness. They are also shown to be weak in comparison to their environment. When movie watchers put themselves in these characters shoes, they can relate those emotions and faulty character traits to how they sometimes feel. They then feel as weak as the characters on screen, they also feel as vulnerable, as scared, and as irrational as them. This is a mental exercise that acts as a substitute for a real life experience. The differences between the two genres of films can show how different types of films can be attractive depending on the type of emotions people are looking to
In contemporary storytelling, there has been a noticeable shift away from the traditional hero archetype towards the emergence of a new breed of character—the anti-hero. Walter White, the central figure in Breaking Bad, serves as a prime example of this evolution, illustrating how the anti-hero's journey diverges from the conventional Hero's Journey. By exploring the trials and transformations experienced by characters like Walter White, we gain valuable insights into the complexities of navigating moral ambiguity and societal expectations. The genesis of the modern anti-hero journey often involves a departure from their homeland and the normal life they lived. Walter White's transformation from a mild-mannered chemistry teacher to a formidable drug lord represents
Looking in this day and age, movie heroes are taking the law into their own hands, creating the anti-hero in the long run. Defined by wikipedia, the anti-hero is a villain or an outsider, but is nevertheless portrayed somewhat sympathetically. In particular, an anti-hero may have enough heroic qualities and intentions to align them with the heroes in the readers' mind ("Anti-hero"). A film that depicts the classic vigilante is Man on Fire by Tony Scott. The film takes on the idea of revenge with a blend of disturbingly sentimental seriousness and harsh reality.
IMDb.com - "The X-Men" IMDb.com - n.d. Web. The Web. The Web. 7 Feb. 2014. Aceshowbiz.com -.
Among the highest-grossing movies of all time are numerous landmark films, such as Titanic, Avatar, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Taking their place alongside these cultural touchstones are mammoth blockbusters of a new breed: action-packed superhero epics. Each year, the number of superhero movies due for release seems to grow exponentially. One glance at a list of upcoming movies for this year reveals that the box office is absolutely saturated with superhero films. Some highly-anticipated installments feature heroes already well-acquainted with the big screen, such as Captain America and the X-Men, while others are introducing relatively unfamiliar characters to contemporary movie-going audiences, as in the cases of Doctor Strange and
The decision to pretend madness is a decision by the avenger to adopt the machiavellian nature of the villains. It is this decision above that irredeemably compromises the revenger. The compromisation of interacting with the vile and corrupt world is a necessary part of the revenge tragedy, as without it, there could be no dilemma about the legality and morality of revenge. In addition, the decision on the part of the avenger to take up the tools of the machiavel, to become mad, represents the dilemma faced by the renaissance that not all things can be solved solely through the application of reason
“You’ve only got three choices in life: give up, give in or give it your all you’ve got” is the motto of the phenomenal superhero, Iron Man. Iron Man is the ultimate superhero due to his unique personality, hilarious charisma and incredible armored suits, which protects him at all times. He is able to fly at supersonic speeds and can even survive a bomb explosion. Not only that, Iron Man is able to shut down any electronic devices around him while using his dominant electromagnet force shields. During the day, he is simply known as Anthony Edward ‘Tony’ Stark, technology and math genius as well as current owner of Stark Industries. When trouble is near, the armor suit parts and arc reactor in his chest instantly transform him into a legendary fighting machine. Keep your eyes out because he is one of the most wisest and well built superheroes in the world of Marvel, it’s Iron Man! Iron Man isn’t just all about the suit and flash though. He is capable of unleashing intense super powers that are able to aid him when needed.