The Shadow 1994, The Phantom 1996, The Green Hornet 2011, Daredevil Directors Cut 2003, Man of Steel 2013, and Batman Begins 2005
Some of the great and underrated superhero origin stories are presented here. These heroes all experienced loss and pain but through that pain, their anger turns to power and the will to fight back at evil. Many parallels run throughout each of these films binding them all together and giving off a supernatural feel. For example, The Shadow parallels Batman Begins in many similar ways with a hero learning about his true destiny abroad and returning to America to make their mark as a symbol of fighting crime. The first movie of the evening is The Shadow starring Alec Baldwin, Penelope Anne Miller, Tim Curry, and Ian McKellen. Based on the popular radio show of the 1930's, Alec Baldwin plays Lamont Cranston, a rich playboy like Bruce Wayne who begins his journey towards becoming a superhero in Tibet. Beginning as a brutal warlord whose brought to a temple where he meets a holy man who tells him that he will begin his resurrection as a force of fighting for good, Cranston barely survives a battle against the mystical flying dagger that belongs to the temple. When Cranston recovers from his defeat, he returns to America seven years later as The Shadow, a crime fighting superhero draped in cloak, a cowboy hat, red scarf, and a pair of guns who fights crime in New York City in the 1930's. He uses his invisible and mind controlling powers to battle an enemy from the past whose a descendant of Ganghis Khan. His mission is to bring a new order to the world through the use of an atomic bomb. The second movie of the marathon is the 1996 superhero film titled The Phantom starring Billy Zane, Kirsty Swanson, Treat Williams, and Catherine Zeta Jones. Much like The Shadow, this comic book origin story also takes place in 1930's New York City where a superhero named The Phantom, a descendant of a line of African heroes travels from the jungle to New York City where he battles a criminal genius on a quest for supernatural power in order to control the world. Whereas The Shadow introduces the theme of a man being reborn from being evil into a person who fights crime, The Phantom introduces the theme of a hero being transformed through the death of a loved one and seeking vengeance. The third movie of the marathon is the 2004 directors cut of Daredevil starring Ben Affleck, Jennifer Garner, Michael Clarke Duncan, and Colin Ferrall. The story of Daredevil centers around a young boy losing his vision due to a toxic waste spill which enhances his remaining senses such as hearing and seeing shadows. After discovering the death of his father by the mob, the boy named Matt Murdock uses his remaining senses to fight crime as a blind martial arts superhero in the quest to bring down crime boss named The Kingpin. The Shadow, The Phantom, and Daredevil were not necessarily critically acclaimed films but are the only representations of these iconic characters on films with the first two becoming cult classics within their respective fanbase's. The Directors Cut of Daredevil which runs 30 minutes longer than the theatrical cut and is R rated is generally considered a much better films by audiences. The fourth movie of the marathon is the 2011 superhero film based on the popular 1960's show which costarred Bruce Lee titled The Green Hornet staring Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Cameron Diez, Tom Wilkinson, and Christoph Waltz. The story centers around the death of Britt Reids father, whose the heir to his large company. Using all the resources available to him through his families wealth, Reid teams up with his late dad's assistant Kato to form a masked crime fighting team with Reid taking the superhero name The Green Hornet. Much like The Phantom, and Daredevil, the character of The Green Hornet is driven by the loss of his father and goes from being a spoiled rich kid into becoming a crime fighter. He embodies the traits of Lamont Cranston from The Shadow, and Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins using his wealth as a means to fight injustice. The fifth movie of the marathon is Zack Snyders 2013 reboot of the Superman origin story titled Man of Steel. In this tale, Clark Kent played by Henry Cavill is sent to Earth by his parents after their planet Krypton is destroyed. While on Earth he is raised by Jonathan and Martha Kent and grows up to become a superhero named Superman. While beginning his journey towards fighting injustice, he is summoned by an arch enemy of his parents titled General Zod whose bent on destroying planet Earth to ensure the survival of the Kryptonian race. Man of Steel also stars Kevin Costner, Russell Crowe, Diane Lane, Laurence Fishburne, Amy Adams, and Michael Shannon in the supporting roles. The film proved to be a much bigger success than 2006 Superman Returns which didn't reboot the franchise the way it was intended to do so. Man of Steel proved to be such a huge success that it has a much anticipated sequel due for release in 2016 titled Batman and Superman, uniting the two DC comic titans together for the first time on film. The sixth and final movie of the evening is the one that all the movies have been building up towards with it's similarities and parallels. Christopher Nolan's 2005 blockbuster titled Batman Begins is the film that resurrected the Batman franchise after being temporarily destroyed after the disastrous release of Batman And Robin. Batman Begins was not only a successful reimagining of the comic book story but also was the film that invented the term Reboot. Starring Christian Bale in the title role with Morgan Freeman, Katie Holmes, Michael Caine, Tom Wilkinson, Cillian Murphy, Ken Watanabe and Liam Neeson, Begins tells the origin story of a young boy named Bruce Wayne who witnessed the murder of his parents at a young age, and flees America after his parents murderer is killed after being acquitted by a corrupt judge. While living abroad for a total of seven years like Lamont Cranston in The Shadow, Bruce Wayne is shown a path that leads him towards becoming a crime fighter through the training of Ras Al Ghoul. Once Wayne makes his return to Gotham City, he forms a partnership with sergeant Commissionar Gordon and through the help of his butler Alfred Pennyworth, begins his legacy as a crime fighter known to the criminal underworld as The Batman. Batman Begins is the first film in the popular and epic The Dark Knight trilogy.
So what's the message behind all of these films when they are all combined into one marathon. The message is simply that one who begins their life as a corrupt individual can change their life for better and use their resources to fight injustice and stand up to crime. What may come off as one's grief or pain over the death of a loved one can be turned into something else, something greater. Another message that this marathon delivers is that you don't truly know your destiny until its revealed to you in the most unusual circumstances. It is not who you are underneath the mask but what you do that defines who you are.
Our heroes for this evening:
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