As you are no doubt aware, this seems to be the summer of the super heroes, with a glut of new comic book movie adaptations, and some originals as well. So far it’s been a bit of a mixed bag. Robert Downey Jr stormed it in IRONMAN; THE INCREDIBLE HULK was an improvement on Mr Green’s previous outing; WANTED was as surprising as a curving bullet, and even if it did deviate from its pulp origins it was still great adult entertainment; INDY 4 was a bit of a disappointment and Will Smith as HANCOCK has only just hit the cinemas. Of course the one that everyone is waiting for is THE DARK KNIGHT, and with some key scenes shot with IMAX cameras the Big IMAX screen is going to the place to see it. So to get everyone in the mood the BFI Southbank is running a season of comic book movies starting on July 7 and running until the end of August.
Films in the line-up start with ’60s’ camp MODESTY BLAISE and include other classics such as AKIRA, DICK TRACY, SUPERMAN, Robert Altman’s POPEYE (which really isn’t bad and brilliantly cast), THE ROCKETEER and the great MYSTERY MEN, which also will be showing at an X-MEN all-nighter at the IMAX on July 12. August’s line-up is even better for those of you that like non-superhero graphic novels, with the likes of GHOST WORLD and ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL (by the same writer as GHOST WORLD), which never got a theatrical release in the UK. Anyone who has ever attended art school will really enjoy this. Others include SIN CITY, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE and ROAD TO PERDITION, along with a chance to some of the latest Marvel releases again. There really is something in every flavour of comic book movie. A full list of films and screening times can be found here