I Am Iron Man.

So those of you who read my blog regularly may be starting to realise that I am a bit of a fan of Marvel comics.  I would say that it is a bit of a throw over from childhood but that would denigrate the whole comic book experience.  Some of the best social commentary of the last century has been done through the medium of comic books.  The writers and artists who produce much of the Marvel Universe have used this vehicle to produce some magnificent insightful into the human condition.  Some may say that comic books are for kids but they have obviously been reading the Beano.  Perhaps it is time to put aside the milk and move on to solid food.

Whilst I advocate the Marvel Universe on a regular basis, it does sometimes appear a little inconsistent in its quality.  There is no greater example of this than the way in which some of the greatest comic book characters have been translated onto the big screen.  Until recently all attempts were thwarted by the inability to portray super powers in a convincing manner.  We can probably all remember the Spider-man films of the 1980s and the cringe worthy wall climbing escapades worthy of Adam West and Burt Ward.  However, the world changed when technology caught up with the imaginative possibilities of living in a world of the super human.  Finally Spider-man was able to bounce around and swing from walls believably in a live action film where previously this was only possible in cartoons.  However, in spite of this there have been many cinematic let downs.  My previous post about The Hulk is a prime example of something that offers much promise and fails to deliver.  Who can forget the horrific plastic fantastic portrayal of Ben Grimm?  Modern Marvel movies tend to inhabit the extremes of the quality spectrum.  Either we are in for a cinematic treat or a huge disappointment.

It was this in mind that I went to see Iron Man last night.  There were several considerations that made me uneasy about the experience.  Firstly, Robert Downey Jnr had been cast as Tony Stark.  Now Robert Downey Jnr has a list of credits as long as your arm and everything I have seen him in was good… but the last I heard of him in recent times was that he had been thrown off the set of Ally McBeal and into jail for his recreational drug use.  Would he have the screen presence to present Tony Stark in a credible way?  Would he be able to convince us of the depth of character that is needed to portray a personal transformation?  To add to this concern, when characters have been translated from the page to screen we have seen some visual disasters.  Would Iron Man become another foray into the world of dodgy costume design and bad CGI?  My main concern about anything cinematic is always the depth of story.  Will the film speak to us about anything important?  Will it change the way we view ourselves or the world around us?  In short, would the film live up to the great expectations that should come with any Marvel outing?  Of course there was the most important question of all, would Black Sabbath feature in the sound track?  Of course they would!!

I have to say I was greatly impressed by how good the film was.  Robert Downey Jnr gave a great performance as Stark.  His outlandish playboy lifestyle was shown in a truly extravagant manner.  His moral transformation was believable and showed a depth of character develop throughout.  It was obvious that on many levels he had been cast for his looks, being a dead ringer for Stark.  It was good to see that the effects used to bring his alter ego to life were well thought out and allowed him to develop the character without being taken into a purely computer generated world.  One of the best things about the film was the way in which the suit was developed from a rudimentary escape plan to a high tech, hotrod red vehicle for Starks crusade against the illegal arms trade.

The film was great and it would seem that Robert Downey Jnr as Tony Stark is set to become a greater fixture in the Marvel world as individual stories of the films, as with the comics, become intertwined with each other.  He is already credited as appearing in the upcoming Incredible Hulk movie.  S.H.I.E.L.D. appeared in the film and there were allusions to an Avengers movie after the credits in a cameo scene by Samuel L Jackson as Nick Fury.  It looks like we are set for even more of Marvel’s big budget, big screen blockbusters staring all our favourite characters.

On a personal note: Oh the shame that my wife had never heard of Stark Industries or Iron Man!

Advertisement

Hulk Smash!!

The trailer for the new Incredible Hulk movie is out and worryingly I am looking forward to it.  I have to say that the 2003 Ang Lee film left me feeling more than a little let down.  The promises in the press left the film with a lot to live up to.  The rhetoric of ‘amazing CGI’ that perfectly depicts Eric Bana as the Jolly Green Giant contributed to greatly to a truly flat experience when sitting in a cinema staring at an extra from Doom.  To be honest I wasn’t even that convinced by Bana’s ability to convey ‘the inner conflict that goes on inside all of us’. 

With this in mind it was with much trepidation that I saw the trailer for The Incredible Hulk.  I was prepared for another disappointment in the somewhat inconsistent Marvel movie universe.  I have to say, 21 days before the film is released that I was quite impressed by the 3 minutes of footage as it flashed across the cinema screen.  Edward Norton looks to have been a good choice for Banner.  His ability as a character actor is clear from roles as diverse as the dark and brooding Fight Club to the coming of age romantic comedy of a priest in Keeping the Faith.  His internal monologue is always fantastic and he is good at conveying the inner turmoil through subtly facial expressions.  Finally perhaps we will see the real struggle within Bruce Banner brought to life on the big screen.  It will be interesting to see how the CGI has improved over the course of the last 5 years to allow the other elements of this narrative to speak of the human condition.

Emerging Cities

Interesting comments by Sir John Sorrell about our attitudes towards the environment.  It would seem to resonate quite strongly with the ethos of the Emerging Church.

Some people think that cutting carbon means denying ourselves the things that make life enjoyable – no shopping, no fun – but I see it differently.

Tackling climate change isn’t about self-denial, it’s about reinvention; reinventing towns and cities, redesigning the way they work, and changing the way we all manage our lives.

For the full article, check out the BBC.

Big Brother is Watching You

Kester at Signs of Emergence: The Complex Christ has spotted a rather worrying article in The Times about the UK goverment ‘tapping every phone call and intercepting every email and monitor every page view’.  Check out the BBC article.  Looks like George Orwell was right.

Ancient and Modern

It always surprises me when the traditional church does something sensible and modern.  Here is a site called church finder that will take your post code and point you in the direction of a church and the events going on in it!

Spirited Exchanges UK

I have stumbled across a group called Spirited Exchanges UK that aims to develop “links for people with a shared interest in spiritual journeys on the edge of or outside churches and other religious groups, and the issues this raises”.

The group has developed out of a group in New Zealand.  By recognising that faith and spirituality are not in decline and yet the church is, spirited exchanges aims to foster this faith.  It is certainly worth checking out.

Inspire // An Alternative Worship Gathering near Leeds

There is a new alternative worship gathering starting in Morley near Leeds.  The new venture is to be called In-Spire and will kick off at 7.30PM on the 12th June at St Peters Church.  If you want to go along, St Pters Church is on the corner of Victoria Road and Rooms Lane.

Church of Scotland Embraces Emerging Church?

It would appear that this is hug the emerging church week.  It looks like the Church of Scotland is planning to put 1.5 million pounds into ’emerging ministries’.  Article is here.

Methodist Church Embraces Emerging Church?

I have been surfing the news and stumbled upon this article.  The reposrt is concerning a recent speech by the upcoming general secretary of the Methodist Church Revd Dr Martyn Atkins.

A report in The Times last week cited controversial forecasts from think tank Christian Research predicting that the number of Sunday churchgoers would drop to below 900,000 by 2050 if current rates of decline continue.

Dr Atkins said, however, that he was not alarmed in the face of such statistics, saying that they failed to take into account the growing numbers of Christians who are worshipping outside the traditional Sunday service model.

It would seem that the Methodist church is set to embrace moves into the emerging church.  Interestingly this article was written today in the times and has some interesting thoughts on the matter.  The article highlights that the largest factor influencing church attendance has been ease of access. 

Fewer than half of people in isolated rural areas went to church, until John Wesley’s Methodist movement built chapels closer to them.

The climate has changed considerably since the mid nineteenth century.  No longer is worship prohibited by physical distance.  The post modern culture we inhabit makes worship increasingly difficult to access because of form and format.  It would seem fitting that the response of ‘John Wesley’s Methodist movement’ is to make access to worship in these circumstances a priority. 

The Boro Savage Man City

For some reason this didn’t even make it into BBC news this morning.  Yesterday I went to the Riverside and watched the finest team in football the world has ever seen savagely rip apart Manchester City with a whopping 8-1 victory!!  So badly beaten were the Svenians that the city goalie Andreas Isaksson took his top off as he walked off the pitch and threw it onto the ground rather than swapping it and stormed off in  huff.

A good day was had by all.  Well, us 😀