You know, in this age of cinematic universes and shameless rehashes, it’s a bit surprising that we haven’t much attention paid to the ‘pre-hero’ age of American pop culture in these modern times. To be specific, those properties that managed to carve out their own following in pulp novels, radio shows, film serials and what not before the march of progress and the rise of comic books ultimately led to their downfall. You’d think that now that time has passed, and most of the original audience for these things have all died off that it would be a perfect time for Hollywood to some exploiting, but so far it’s been pretty quiet on that front. In fact, I don’t think they’ve really bothered to try and do a pre-comic movie since the early 90s, aside from the attempts at Tarzan. Come on guys, where’s that desperate greed that got us a Robocop movie we never wanted, a Total Recall we’ve already forgotten and a Ghostbusters that’s already reviled, you’re telling me you can’t squeeze out a few more shekels from characters almost a century old? You made Sherlock Holmes into an action star, I’m pretty sure you can pull off Mandrake the Magician.
I say this, but already they’re planning to turn Doc Savage into a vehicle for Dwayne Johnson, and there’s supposedly a new Tarzan that’s meant to come out at some point. The point was the general attitude of ‘let sleeping dogs lie’ seemed incredibly off-putting, considering the state of the movie industry these days.
Anyway, like I said, there have been a few attempts at bringing old school characters to the silver screen, with mixed results. There was the Doc Savage movie back in the 70s, which is mostly known for being either shit or forgettable. There was The Shadow, starring Alec Baldwin, the foppish playboy of the Baldwin family. The Phantom, starring Billy Zane, which threatened to undo all the work Prince did for the color purple. Not to mention the pulp inspired movies like Buckaroo Banzai and The Rocketeer, both of which featured in previous Marathons for those interested. The sad truth of it is however, is that very few of these films really ‘got’ it, if you know what I mean. Never really captured the magic of the character, never quite able to replicate the feeling that drove that surge of popularity in the first place. Except one, and he just so happens to be the saviour of the universe.
Flash Gordon, star player of the New York Jets, and Dale Arden, amateur damsel in distress, are taking an airplane ride when the world suddenly starts coming to an end. Earthquakes, unexpected eclipses, whatever the hell ‘hot hail’ is supposed to be, it’s all happening and no one knows what’s causing it. No one but Hans Zarkov, a disgraced former NASA, who knows exactly what’s going on: Something has caused the moon to move out of orbit, and if we don’t manage to move it back, it’s going to crash into the Earth in about 2 weeks. So because there’s no time to waste, Zarkov forces Dale and Flash (who managed to crash land their plane conveniently near Zarkov’s lab) into his homemade rocket and blast off into the great wide open to save the planet. I’m not sure blasting off into a rocket with no clear idea of where you’re going and with no supplies is a bit foolhardy but hey, it was the 80s.
Anyway, the rocket ends up going through a wormhole and eventually ends up in the fantastical world of Mongo, composed of dozens of fantastical floating worlds and equally strange humanoid beings. Hawk Men and Lizard Men and Tree Dudes and weird colorful dwarves, it’s basically ComiCon with less cosplaying. Which would be cool, except Mongo is ruled over by the appropriately named Ming the Merciless, and it is by his hand that the Earth is facing imminent destruction. Ming doesn’t give two shits about Earth or the people who live on it, but he is interested in Dale, and he wouldn’t mind having Flash dead on top of that. Somehow, some way, the world’s most heroic football player must traverse this alien world, rescue his friends and his planet, and defeat Ming and his evil empire all within the span of 14 days. Shouldn’t be too difficult, right?
Might as well point this out first, since it’s probably more well-known than the actual movie. Yes, Queen does the soundtrack for the film, although the orchestral scores are by someone else. However, there are only a few moments I can think of where the music you’re hearing is straight up Freddie Mercury and the guys rocking out. Other than that it’s mostly some synth tones, and maybe a reprise of the Flash theme. It’s certainly not bad, it’s appropriate to the tone of the film, but I figured that I’d throw that out there in case anyone was going in thinking it was 111 minutes of Bohemian Rhapsody.
What is it about Flash Gordon that works, compared to other pulp hero films or even superhero films? Well, the extravagant special effects are definitely a plus; everything is colorful and all the kingdoms are visually distinct with a generous helping of art deco, and I’m no less a fan of streamlines and strong angles than I was before. The cast is also pretty fun. Max von Sydow, Brian Blessed, Timothy Dalton, the only real weak link in the whole thing is probably Sam Jones, who puts on a rather mild performance as our hero Flash Gordon. It kind of works in a weird way though, at least it was never distracting enough that I lost interest in the film. Simple acting that reflects a simpler time, when a protagonist did heroic stuff because he was a hero and no one really pushed for pulps and comic strips to go any deeper than that. I don’t know if that was the intent, but it makes sense.
So again, what is it about Flash Gordon that makes it work, while other films of the same ilk stumble? If I had to explain it, I guess I would say because it manages to present the concept of Flash Gordon about as purely as possible, no unnecessary changes made because the audience might not ‘get it’, while also having some fun doing it. I don’t think anyone is going to deny that Flash Gordon is an inherently silly concept, least of all the people that made this movie, but that doesn’t keep them from making an entertaining movie. In a lot of cases like this, people either tend to push for serious (for fear that people will make fun of them) or irreverent (for fear that people will make fun of them for being too serious), and it ends up negatively affecting the movie. Flash Gordon isn’t about ‘gritty reimaginings’ and it isn’t about mocking its roots. It’s a celebration, not only of Flash Gordon but of an era when the world still had some things left to explore. Maybe there could be ancient underground civilizations, maybe there are entire races of people living on Saturn, maybe the future really will be a utopia of flying cars and dome cities. It’s pure, idealized escapism, and isn’t that what all these comic books and pulp novels are about? To step outside the dreary boundaries of real life into a realm of infinite possibilities and wonder, in the hopes that you’ll forget about that boring mundane world for just a little while? Maybe someone should have told Zack Snyder that before WB gave him a billion dollars.
Anyway, it’s a good movie. Perhaps the most entertaining film of the Marathon so far, for what that’s worth. So take that recommendation and do what you want with it this Halloween. As for me, I’ll be busy exploring the possibility of Hawk Women.
No comments:
Post a Comment