It was not always thus. During the late 70s and early 80s, superheroes were seen as kiddie fare, suitable mostly for TV movies - the Superman franchise briefly looked as though it might take root, but the third entry more or less consigned the entire genre to ridicule for another half-decade. Tim Burton's Batman offered another shot in the arm, but again, the law of diminishing returns quickly began to apply.
If I was going to continue with my potted history of superhero films, I'd identify 2008's Iron Man as the real turning point. I would then probably talk about it at great length, eventually detouring into how, a few years later, the shared genius of Joss Whedon and Mark Ruffalo would almost transform the Hulk into the most compelling, sympathetic, loveable superhero in cinematic history.
You get the important word there? Almost.
That particular honour, however, belongs firmly to Alan Arkin's Captain Invincible, a shabby, shambling shell of a man who wasn't ever even a real Captain. The Return of Captain Invincible is a comedy, a musical, a romance and an unholy mess, and it's every bit as much of a delight as I remember.
The good
Where do I begin? By stating my bias, I suppose. This is a comedy superhero musical, and as such, I'm predisposed to adore it.That said, setting the trappings aside, there's a lot to love, not least Arkin himself. His Invincible is a tired, angry drunk who never forgave himself or the world for failing to live up to his lofty ideals. He performs without a trace of irony, and his confused sincerity lends the film its considerable heart. Balancing this, meanwhile, is Christopher Lee's deliciously hammy Mr. Midnight, who looks to be having the time of his acting life every time he's on screen. His musical numbers in particular are a delight, and I'm sure they set him on the path to his current flourishing career as a nonagenarian heavy metal singer.
The musical numbers in general, in fact, are great, due in no small part to the wise recruitment of Richard O'Brien of Rocky Horror fame. They span a range of genres, with lyrics that are simple but never jarringly obvious. The obvious high spot is Lee's paean to recreational alcoholism, but I was equally charmed by a pie fight that turned into a bloodbath that turned into a full-on Sinatra pastiche, and Arkin singing country about how hard it was to tell the good guys from the bad.
Politically, too, the film has much to recommend it - it takes a defiantly pacifist, inclusionary turn, whilst remaining compassionate towards all its characters. While no attempt is made to justify Midnight's evil, I really enjoyed watching a superhero film where the primary villain didn't meet a sadistically messy end.
The bad
Not a lot, really. Many critics, however, really hated this one, and I can sort of see their reasoning. Captain Invincible is a film of many elements, and they don't all fit neatly together. Beneath the comedy and the songs there lies a surprisingly angry little film with a lot to say, and with so many tonal shifts it isn't surprising that they occasionally jar.The comedy itself is towards the broader end of the spectrum; repeated scenes of female characters being accidentally stripped to their underwear by Invincible's magnetic powers seem rather at odds with the film's defiantly positive humanitarian stance. That said, the set-piece where Kate Fitzpatrick's Detective Patty Patria narrowly avoids tentacle rape at the nozzles of a closet full of mutant vacuum cleaners definitely raised a guilty grin.
The verdict
A delight for the faithful and an interesting curio for everybody else, this one's definitely worth a watch.NB: I've just written 700 words about an Australian film where the hero tries to thwart a white supremacist and I've refrained from using the word irony even once. Thank you, gentle reader, and goodnight.
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