Sunday 21 February 2016

#SilverLiningsColumn BOTH SIDES OF THE CAPE

Dawn Of War.

Dare I say Season 2 of Marvel and Netflix's 'Daredevil' looks just as good...if not better than 'Captain America-Civil War'?!

Chill!

As-in my own mind at least-the biggest geek going who even with all these comic books and superhero films is not even beginning to get cape fatigue, I believe I'm as excited as Cap 3 as anyone. If you dont believe me check my last 'Silver Linings Column' where I choose to side with the Russo Brothers. #TeamAvengers people! Especially after the 30 second Superbowl spot that featured everything-including Iron Man's coolest bullet time-keeping accessory and Cap and the Winter Soldier taking mark behind his shield-everyone wants to catch, except the Spider. Between that web crawler, the Black Panther of Wakanda and all the Marvels on display in this Avengers 2.5, this movie looks set to have it all and even better the best Avengers movie, the Russo Bros 'Winter Soldier' debut. As Captain America and Iron Man and their respective hash-tag teams face off in a battle seemingly only the gods and monsters could stop you best believe we think the mighty Thor and The Incredible Hulk will make a surprise cameo to break things up too. There's got to be another reason we saw the Hulk Buster in that convention trailer...unless like that Pop Viynl reveal it's to go to battle with Paul Rudd's sky-scraping (Gi)Ant-Man. What more could you ask for?

Yet as the worlds mightiest heroes are hashing out their trending back and forths, there seems to be a much deeper and darker battle between both sides of the gun and good and bad in Hells Kitchen...and we aren't talking about Gordon Ramsey's latest menu change. Now if you thought the surprise of last years 'Daredevil' Season 1 was Marvel's new Kingpin than you aint seen nothing yet...even without the man whose name you don't say. And we're not talking about the one woman who could put fear into the man who supposebly has none...Elektra. Instead we're talking about one of comics biggest and most cult figures outside of even Marvel istelf who is finally getting his own portryal on screen, the most eagerly anticipated since...well Deadpool. But forget the Merc for a second even with that mouth. Because the military American Sniper of The Punisher is about to literally hit town as Jon Bernthal's Frank looks to tear down castle walls and roll heads as he passes out judgement from the only chambers he knows.

Bang!

One batch...two batch. 'The Walking Dead' star of real and raw 'Fury' who also was the only one who could sell you a pen in Leo DiCaprio's 'Wolf Of Wall Street' really is supplying everyones demand. Those bystanders who told him not to "mess this up" as he took that solitary studio stroll from the Brooklyn Bridge to get into character can rest in assured peace. I never doubted him and after all this no one else ever will. From his lights out carousel opening to his crossfire with the devil of Hells Kitchen, Bernthal is brimstone burning with a cocked and unloaded, no longer repressed rage running blood red with soldiering precision. The pressure cooker in this Kitchen really is set to microwave explode in less than 60 seconds as Castle looks to "take care of the scum that killed my family". You just can't help but feel the power and pain as one isolated vigilante meets another on the brick to brick, bruise to bullet rooftop of a bloody encounter. "Why are you doing this" cries Lawyer Matt Murdock out for justice. "Because I think you're a coward" replies the man who rocks the strange, iconic skull black tee as Daredevil proves he's no "half measure", getting the job done in a lights out hallway homage to the first series best one shot. Because lets face it he, me, you and Castle knows he's one bad day away from being Frank.

Penny and dime.

So forget the flag and the billionare battle between Marvel's Cap and Tony Stark and the Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne of D.C.'s 'Batman v Superman-Dawn Of Justice' pulled by the manipulating strings of Supermans Joker, Lex Luthor...and perhaps the Clown Prince himself. Or the big screen vs mobile one of Captain America vs Daredevil because there's much more at stake going on here than the in-house in-fighting that is distracting the embattled supes from the War at hand. This really is all about heroes and villains and choosing a side whether you or anyone else thinks its good or bad, or right or wrong. Superhero stories and comic books have mirrored regular life in all its methaphors from the first time Steve Rodgers picked up the red, white and blue shield in Worlds War 2 and socked Hitler in the face. From the corridors of a young Spider-Man showing High Schoolers how to really stand out from a crowd of bullies, to the violence versus non-violent X-Men protest of Magneto's Malcolm X and Professor X's Martin Luther King Jr. I even read a Fantastic Four classic comic 'The Overthrow Of Doom' that was charged with political conscience last night. So you know when half of the superhero movie coming out this year are about inner conflict (actually one more if you count the 'Apocalypse' of X-Men) they really do have something to say about the worlds we live in right now.

Whether it be the money versus power debate of Captain America and Superman against Iron Man and Batman, or the law and order versus capital punishment being waged in the Devils hell there's really a lot going on here like there is down to earth. Even down to the smallest notion that things fall apart no matter the strength and bond of a relationship. The moral mantra code of 'United We Stand. Divided We Fall'. Even friends and family in this time of crippling conflict from the newspapers to what is brought to our front door. And although the controversial choice of the weapon totting Punisher after all the gun crime terroism going on recently is a concerningly curious one at best, its definitly an issue that needs to be addressed outside the cross-hairs. A lot will be under fire here, but the messages in the heart and art of our entertainment is what gives our real life more scope. Even when we think we are distracting ourselves from all that we can never really escape. That's why the already classic line from the Punisher to Daredevil, "you hit them and they get back up! I hit them and they STAY DOWN" sends all sorts of tense shivers down your spine. Just like the notion that he and other anti-heroes are a product of our creation. There is a connection. Remember what the 'Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.' trended? #ItsAllConnected

Still in this age of ultra violence from Hollywood to the homeland, no matter the turbulent turmoil whether internal or even with the people you love there are more than just two sides to a story being told here. There's a much deeper moral message lieing beneath all the twisting and turning plot points and dramatic premis. And that's the notion that after all the debate and hate...all the fighting. After war...there must come peace! Because at the end of all this and all of these wars maybe no one wins...and that's the point. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

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