※ [本文转录自 Theater 看板] 作者: sampsonlu919 (山普森 吕) 看板: Theater 标题: [外电]超级英雄电影浮滥 何时现疲态？ 时间: Sun Aug 10 00:03:29 2008 http://city.udn.com/50132/2971929?tpno=0&cate_no=0 How Many Superheroes Does It Take to Tire a Genre? 超级英雄电影浮滥 何时现疲态？ By A. O. Scott “Batman has no limits,” says Bruce Wayne to his manservant, Alfred, early in “The Dark Knight,” and the accountants at Warner Brothers, which released the movie, are likely to agree. I’m not so sure. 「蝙蝠侠没有极限，」布鲁斯韦恩在「黑暗骑士」前段告诉男仆阿福，负责发行的 华纳公司会计人员可能有同感。我可没这麽有把握。 “The Dark Knight,” praised by critics for its somber themes and grand ambitions, has proven to be a mighty box office force in a summer already dominated by superheroes of various kinds. 「黑暗骑士」阴郁的主题和宏伟的企图普获影评赞赏，并在各式各样超级英雄精锐 尽出的暑假成为票房强档。 But any comic book fan knows that a hero at the height of his powers is a few panels removed from mortal danger, and that hubris has a way of summoning new enemies out of the shadows. Are the Caped Crusader and his colleagues basking in an endless summer of triumph, or are they already on their way out? 但任何漫画迷都知道，英雄能力极盛时距致命危险只有几格之遥，狂妄自大将从 幽暗处召来新的敌人。蝙蝠侠和其他超级英雄是沉浸在接连不断的夏季大捷中志得 意满，还是正走上败亡之途？ The season began with “Iron Man” back in May, which anticipated “The Dark Knight” in striking many reviewers as a pleasant surprise. The first weekend in July belonged to “Hancock,” which played with the superhero archetype by making him a grouchy, slovenly drunk rather than a brilliant scientist, a dashing billionaire or some combination of the two. In that case, the reviews were mixed, but the money flowed in anyway. Even the lackluster “Incredible Hulk,” back in June, managed a reasonably robust opening, as did “Hellboy II,” a somewhat more esoteric comic-book movie. 暑假档由「钢铁人」在五月揭开序幕，抢在「黑暗骑士」前，让许多影评人感到惊喜。 七月第一个周末是「全民超人」的天下，修饰超级英雄的原型，将其变成一个爱抱怨、 不修边幅的醉汉，而非聪明的科学家，潇洒的亿万富翁，或两者的综合体。 「全民超人」虽然影评褒贬不一，但反正财源滚滚。甚至乏味的「无敌浩克」 也在六月交出算得上强劲的首演票房，有点难懂的漫画电影「地狱怪客II： 金甲军团」亦然。 The commercial strength of the superhero genre is hardly news, of course. Ever since the success of “Spider-Man” back in 2002, this decade has been something of a golden age for large-scale action movies featuring guys in high-tech bodysuits battling garishly costumed, ruthless criminal masterminds. Some of them – the “Fantastic Four” pictures, most notably – are content to be entertaining pop-culture throwaways. But most aspire to be something more, to be taken as seriously as their heroes and villains take themselves. 当然，超级英雄类型的商业片卖座已经不算是新闻。从「蜘蛛人」早在2002年奏捷， 这十年是大排场动作片的黄金年代，穿高科技紧身衣的男人对抗穿着花稍俗丽，冷酷 无情的犯罪首脑。某些这类型影片，尤其是「惊奇四超人」系列，自甘为看过即忘的 娱乐流行文化商品。但绝大多数企图不仅於此，它们渴望被认真看待，如同电影里的 英雄与恶棍那样正视自己。 There have been disappointments – Ang Lee’s 2003 “Hulk”; Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns”; the third installment of the “X-Men” series, directed by Brett Ratner – but these have hardly dented the power of the genre. 令人失望的作品一直都有，像李安2003年的「绿巨人浩克」，布莱恩辛格的「超人再起」 ，及布莱特雷特纳执导的「X战警」系列第三集，但都难以削弱这类影片的威力。 Still, I have a hunch, and perhaps a hope, that “Iron Man,” “Hancock” and “Dark Knight” together represent a peak, by which I mean not only a previously unattained level of quality and interest, but also the beginning of a decline. In their very different ways, these films discover the limits built into the superhero genre as it currently exists. 尽管如此，我有个预感，或许是希望，「钢铁人」、「全民超人」和「黑暗骑士」 共创一个颠峰，我的意思不只是品质和趣味达到前所未有的水准，也是衰退的开始。 这些影片各自以迥然不同的方式，找到现有超级英雄片类型的内在极限。 I’m willing to grant that “The Dark Knight” is as good as a movie of its kind can be. There is no doubt that Batman provided Christopher Nolan with a platform for his artistic ambitions. You can’t set out to make a psychological thriller and expect to command anything like the $185 million budget Mr. Nolan had at his disposal in “The Dark Knight.” And that money allowed Mr. Nolan and his team to create a seamless and evocative visual atmosphere. 我乐於承认，「黑暗骑士」是同类型影片中的佼佼者。蝙蝠侠无疑提供克里斯多夫‧ 诺兰一个发挥艺术企图心的舞台。你拍一部心理惊悚片，无法期望能像诺兰执导 「黑暗骑士」那样编列1.85亿美元预算。这笔钱让诺兰和他的团队营造出天衣无缝， 勾引兴趣的视觉艺术氛围。 But to paraphrase something the Joker says to Batman, “The Dark Knight” has rules, and they are the conventions that no movie of this kind can escape. The climax must be a fight with the villain, during which the symbiosis of good guy and bad guy, implicit throughout, must be articulated. The end must point forward to a sequel, and an aura of moral consequence must be sustained even as the killings, explosions and chases multiply. 但诠释小丑对蝙蝠侠说的话，「黑暗骑士」有其规则，而且这类型电影无一能够免俗。 电影高潮必然善恶大战，一直只用暗示来呈现的好人与坏人共生关系，在此决战中 必须清楚表达。结局必然指出另有续集，杀戮、爆破、追逐场面加倍，但善有善报、 恶有恶报的道德原则必须确立。 Every movie genre is governed by conventions, and every decent genre movie explores the zones of freedom within those parameters. Thus “Iron Man” loosens the reins to give Robert Downey Jr. room to explore the kinks and idiosyncrasies of Tony Stark, the playboy billionaire engineering genius who grows up and builds himself a metal suit. And “Hancock” takes the conceit of a dissipated, semi-competent hero and turns it into the occasion for some sharp satire on race, celebrity and the supposedly universal likability of its star, Will Smith. 所有电影类型都受限於成规，每一部好的类型电影都在界限内探索自由的范围。 所以「钢铁人」给小劳勃道尼空间，探索东尼‧史塔克的奇想与怪癖，这位放荡 不羁的亿万富翁和工程天才成长，给自己打造了一件金属衣。「全民超人」则是 将耽溺於饮酒作乐、半吊子英雄的自负，转换成对种族、名流、主角威尔史密斯 万人迷气质的尖锐讽刺。 But in both cases, as soon as the main character is ready to do battle, the originality drains out of the picture, and the commercial imperatives – the big fight, the overscaled action extravaganza – take over. 但是在这两个例子里，主角一准备战斗，创意立刻枯竭，商业规律：大战、超大 规模的动作展示开始主导。 The disappointment comes from the way the picture spells out lofty, serious themes and then ... spells them out again. What kind of hero do we need? Where is the line between justice and vengeance? 片子阐析崇高严肃的主题，然後呢，换个讲法又说一遍，令人失望。我们需要 哪种英雄？正义和复仇的界线何在？ And yet stating such themes is as far as the current wave of superhero movies seems able or willing to go. 但陈述这样的主题似乎已是现在这波超级英雄电影所能或所愿去做的极限。 The masked and caped poor crusaders must turn big profits on a global scale and satisfy an audience hungry for the thrill of novelty and the comforts of the familiar. 戴面具、披斗篷的正义使者必须在全球缔造巨大利益，满足观众对新奇兴奋的渴望 和熟悉事物的舒适感。 Is it just me, or is the strain starting to show? 这只是作者自己的问题吗，还是要满足期待的压力开始显现？ ============================================================================== 关键字句 “All the children say/We don't need another hero”蒂娜透纳主唱电影 「冲锋飞车队第二集」主题曲We Don't Need Another Hero。人们或许不需要 英雄，但暑假强档均以超级英雄（superhero）为主角，而且是有瑕疵、半吊子 （semi-competent）的超级英雄。 超级英雄的问题不是超能力不够，而是自大妄为（hubris）。文学中有此倾向的 主角通常都以毁灭收场，商场也不例外：He has watched dozens of his competitors' businesses killed by hubris born of success rather than by unsound business decisions or adverse market conditions. 原文参照： http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/movies/24supe.html http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/24/arts/24supe.php 2008-08-05/联合报/G9版/UNITED DAILY NEWS 张佑生 原文请见8月5日纽时周报十一版上 -- LA NY Ｂ　 Ｄ　　 NY SD Ｓ　 α ＳｔＬ Λ ˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙ ˙˙ ０ ０ ０ ０ ０ ０ ０ ０ ０ 　 ０ 郭泓志 郭维拉 郭冈岛 郭马雅 郭格纳 郭夫曼 郭JJ 郭莫兹 郭四零 郭-Rod 郭德华 郭宝贝 郭德琼斯 --

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