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The school newspaper of Oakville High School

myOHSonline

The school newspaper of Oakville High School

myOHSonline

Summer 2012: The season of the hero

Summer 2012: The season of the hero

This summer, audiences were entertained by the idea of a hero. With it being prime season for superhero films, moviegoers flocked to the theatres. Whether it was a group of people with a special set of skills, an awkward teenage boy, or a rich billionaire, there was a movie for everyone to see.

The Avengers was the very first film of the summer to be released. This film ties together Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, the Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye as played by Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, and Jeremy Renner. The film, directed by Joss Whedon, follows the six heroes as they try to defeat Thor’s brother, Loki, whom we first saw in Thor (2011). With its endless amounts of action, teamwork, and humor, this was a movie for the whole family to see.  The Avengers did extremely well at the box office, earning $207.4 million in its first weekend alone. It also ended up #3 on the list of the top grossing movies of all time behind Avatar and Titanic. Whedon is set to direct the sequel, The Avengers 2, with a May 1, 2015 release date following Iron Man 3 (May 3, 2013), Thor: The Dark World (Nov. 8, 2013), and Captain America: The Winter Soldier (April 4, 2014).

The Amazing Spider-Man, directed by Marc Webb, was the next superhero film to come out, telling a whole different side of Spider-Man than was told in the Sam Raimi film trilogy starring Tobey Maguire. This time around, Spidey is played by Andrew Garfield (The Social Network). The film also stars Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy and Rhys Ifans as Dr. Curt Connors/The Lizard. Peter finds out that around the time his father went away, he was working on a scientific breakthrough. Soon Peter finds himself trying to save the city from Dr. Connors’ evil plans. The film focuses more on the characters than it does the action. It is the characters who drive the story and make the film a must-see. I liked this installment of Spider-Man better than the previous trilogy because this film is more character driven and I feel that Andrew Garfield was better suited for the role of Peter Parker. The film earned $65 million in its first weekend and $140 million over six days. There are talks of a sequel, but no information has been revealed.

The final superhero film of the summer was the very highly anticipated conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. Christian Bale reprises his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Michael Caine, Marion Cotillard, Morgan Freeman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, and Gary Oldman. The film takes place 8 years after its predecessor, The Dark Knight. We see a withered Bruce Wayne, whom we then learn has gone into hiding. Around this time we are introduced to Bane (Hardy), a terrorist set out to destroy Gotham. Bruce decides to make a comeback, but now everyone is after his true identity. The film made $160 million at the box office its first weekend. Although it did top the box office charts and break a record, the movie was expected to make around $175 million. This film was definitely my favorite of the summer. Not only did the film have great acting, but it was also very well put together. It kept you glued to the screen, making you not even realize you had been sitting in the same chair for almost 3 hours. The credit goes to director Christopher Nolan, who directed my favorite movie Inception. He tied up the end of the trilogy extremely well, giving us closure for one of our favorite heroes. While audiences are eager for more of Nolan’s Batman, he has repeatedly said it is the end for him.

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Summer 2012: The season of the hero