Pop Culture Smackdown!! The Battle of the Superhero Movie Trailer

It's that time of year again. The Blockbuster season is almost upon us. And this year is no different from any other - prepare yourself people - we are about to be inundated with a shitload of superhero movies.

This year there are no less than 5 superhero movies coming our way. But which ones should we be watching? We all know how these things go - the story either follows a normal guy or gal who has some kind of life-changing event and decides to use the opportunity to kick ass and take names, or it's an alien/mutant creature who by some contrived reason is the only person who can save the world. Most of them are derived from comic book lore and have an army of devout fans slaving over their every detail on the internet.

Considering that I have never read any of the source material, have limited prior knowledge to most of these stories and am basing my judgement solely on the trailers released for each of them, I present to you my uneducated guess at which ones look to be worth your time and money.

Which superhero trailer will prevail?

Thor

Director:  Kenneth Branagh

Cast:  Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo, Stellan Skarsgard, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Idris Elba, Clark Gregg.

Part of the Marvel Universe, you might recognise Thor from the post-credit teaser in Iron Man 2.  In fact Thor is part of whole universe of superhero movies that tie into next year's event film The Avengers.  In this particular movie, we get the origin story of the warrior Thor, whose reckless actions on his home planet reignite an ancient war and get him cast down to Earth to live amongst us disgusting humans.  He, of course, then has to save us from the evil aliens.

Pop Culture Smackdown!! The Battle for the Boy Who Lived

So much of popular culture these days is recycled. Books are made into movies; movies are remade into newer movies; then the updated movies end up having four sequels before someone decides to turn the whole concept into a TV show and then write a novelisation based on the TV series.

Are there any original ideas left? With all these differing versions of the same thing, I’m throwing down the gauntlet and declaring a Pop Culture Smackdown!!

Which version is better? Who will ultimately prevail? 

  

In today’s bout we have the cultural juggernaut that is Harry Potter. In the red corner – the book series that started it all; in the blue corner – the world-wide multi-million dollar movie franchise.

The problem in translating book to film is that you have to deal with those that loved the book, and baulk at the thought of any changes. Nobody wants to incur the wrath of those that will potentially come and watch the adaptation, but sometimes changing things is necessary, especially for a new medium where sub-plots vie for attention and the moviemakers have to also think about pleasing the audience ignorant of the book. Unfortunately for fans these differences can make or break their enjoyment. What many fans consider to be key scenes in the books are sometimes marginalised or completely ignored in the film.

With the movies finally coming to an end (if you haven’t already watched the trailer for The Deathly Hallows – DO IT!!) it’s time to finally declare a winner in the actualisation of JK Rowling’s Wizarding World. Do the movies live up to the hype of the book series?? Or do they surpass the expectations of the millions of rabid fans?