2012: Year of the Superheroes

2012 is certainly gearing up to be a showcase for Superhero films with both Marvel and DC set to unleash their characters onto the big screen. We have The Dark Knight Rises, The Amazing Spiderman and the upcoming Avengers film to look forward to. It's certainly an exciting time when it comes to Superhero films as Hollywood have the capability to produce some awesome effects, however good effects alone don't make a decent film. With Batman, Spiderman and Avengers all vying for audience attention which one will do the job of impressing the critics and general film goers. Lets weigh up the pros and cons of each film.
The Dark Knight Rises
Release date: 20th July 2012
The follow up to the highly successful Dark Knight seems like a sure thing however there are some elements of the film that could go against it.
The pros
Batman has mass appeal among comic book fans and film goers alike which almost guarantees that this film will be a success. Bane seems like a formidable foe for Batman and with the Nolan brothers pulling the strings we should be in for a roller coaster ride of a story.
Bane has the potential to be a good villain. He has the intelligence and the strength to give Batman a heck of a lot of trouble and thankfully Nolan is taking the character down a much different path compared with the Batman and Robin version. This time he's going to have brains as well as brawn so it will be interesting to see how things pan out.
Potential bad points
Hathaway just doesn't seem like the right choice to play a villain judging by her previous film roles. She tried her hand at something challenging with Havoc, and failed judging from many reviews of the film. I haven't seen that particular film so I can't comment.  At least Heath Ledger had played the odd serious character (Ned Kelly, Brokeback Mountian) before he stretched his acting ability with the Joker. Hathaway has played plenty of drippy characters which makes me a bit skeptical of her ability to pull off Catwoman however I'm willing to give her the benefit of the doubt. Besides, TDKR could be a turning point in her career especially since she's going to play a pretty big part in Les Miserables at the end of the year.
Bane is not exactly the Joker. He doesn't have the appeal or the popularity of that particular villain. He looks like he could be a big threat to Batman, certainly a worth foe. The problem is, will people care?  Here's hoping that Chris Nolan has a well written script on his side. As it is the grand finale to the Batman legend I bloody well hope so.
The Avengers (not the camp 90s films)
Release date: 26th April (UK) 4th May (US) 2012
Several films have preceded the run up to this film which have helped to introduce us to the characters so we pretty much know what to expect from them. The film looks pretty good from what I've seen so far but that's not saying much as trailers tend to have a habit of bunging in all the best moments of the film.
The pros
The Avengers is shaping up to be a decent action flick with some awesome characters that managed to hold up well in their respective films. For me the icing on the cake is the inclusion of the Hulk. It will be interesting to see how he interacts with the other characters especially since we've never really seen the Hulk interact with any characters other than when he's pounding them into the ground.
The main villain of the piece is Loki, the crafty half brother of Thor, however it has become obvious that he's not the only bad boy on the block. But who the other bad guys are is anybody's guess. We'll just have to wait until the end of April to find out.
Potential bad points 
Thor and Captain America didn't really impress me. They just felt a bit weak on the story front although the action and effects were good. It'd be nice to sink my teeth into an interesting plot, something worthy of those found in Marvels comics of ages past, but I don't think that will happen somehow.
The Amazing Spiderman
Release date: 4th July 2012
The Amazing Spiderman is to be released just two weeks before The Dark Knight Rises which might give it just enough time to prove its worth before Batman enters the arena. But it will need to deliver a new take on the Spiderman universe to stand a chance of competing with TDKR.
The Pros
This version of Spiderman is being advertised as the untold story so we could be in for a fresh take on the web head universe. The untold story of his parents will play a big part in the film. This sounds pretty interesting as we've never seen that side of things before. Also the main love interest is Gwen Stacey, as opposed to Mary Jane which is something that we haven't seen before.
For the first time in Spiderman film history (live action) the villian will be non other than the Lizard, aka Dr Kurt Conners. It will be interesting to see his transformation from man to lizard. Hopefully the effects will do the character justice.
Potential bad points
We've been here before haven't we? How different can this film be compared with the Sam Raimi/Tobey Maguire incarnation. This new version will have to give us something different, something that we haven't seen before. So far the trailers haven't sold it to me as it looks too similar to the Spiderman we left behind only five years ago albeit with a slightly darker tone.
Conclusion
The Avengers is looking good with a great mix of characters, some witty dialog and lots of cool action scenes. But will the story be any good? The Dark Knight Rises on the other hand should deliver the goods in terms of a decent story but it will have to go a long way to match the excellent Dark Knight. The Amazing Spiderman certainly has its work cut out and I'm not inspired by what I've seen so far mainly because it doesn't seem long since the Tobey Maguire Spidey films and it all feels a bit too familiar.