Starting tonight (February 3), M-Net Showcase DStv Channel
108 will host a series of Superhero movies.
February 3 at 20h00: The Mask. Comedy directed by Charles
Russell in 1994 and starring Jim Carrey, Cameron Diaz and Peter Riegert. Stanley’s
fellow bank employees make fun of him, and his future looks bleak ... until he
stumbles upon an ancient mask, which instantly transforms him into a
green-faced trickster who can manipulate his surroundings at will. But he must
employ his new powers with great care.
February 4 at 20h00: Superman. Science fiction, action
and adventure film directed by Richard Donner in 1978 and starring Christopher
Reeve, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman. Kal-El is a boy who barely escaped the
destruction of his planet, Krypton, and is deposited unscathed and endowed with
super strength on planet Earth. As a grownup, he will need all of this to halt
evil genius Lex Luther’s plans to send California and everyone who lives there
to an ocean grave.
February 5 at 20h00: Superman
II: The Richard Donner Cut starring Gene Hackman, Christopher Reeve and
Marlon Brando. Director Richard Donner was dumped midway through the shooting
of the 1980 Superman II after a
creative dispute with the film’s producers, and it was completed by a stand-in.
In 2006, the recovery of lost footage made a re-edited version possible, which
is now regarded as the definitive version. Love conquers all... even Superman.
After falling in love with Lois Lane, Clark Kent (Superman’s alter ego)
realises he has to give up his superpowers before he can pursue a romantic
relationship. This neatly plays into the hands of three loathsome crooks.
February 6 at 20h00: Superman
III. Directed by Richard Lester in 1983 and starring Christopher Reeve,
Richard Pryor and Jackie Cooper. Director
Richard Lester’s biggest contribution to the Superman film series is the addition of humour, which made it
accessible to a broader audience. Lead actor Christopher Reeve puts in one of
the best performances of his a career as the conflicted superhero battling his
inner demons. Superman corrupted and acting selfishly, causing harm and posing
a threat to humanity? Indeed. It comes about as a result of contact with a
synthetic form of Kryptonite. A battle looms between the contaminated Superman
and his squeaky-clean alter ego, Clark Kent.
February 7 at 20h10. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Directed
by Sidney J Furie in 1987 and starring Christopher Reeve, Gene Hackman and
Jackie Cooper. The fourth and final instalment of the original Superman film series sees the return of
Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, the villain who was twice defeated by Superman
earlier in the story, and Christopher Reeve portrays the hero for the last
time. Lex Luther uses a scrap of Superman’s DNA to create a fearsome creature
that goes by the name Nuclear Man. His mission? To kill Superman, of course.
Superman is up to the challenge, and seeks a way to rid the world of every
nuclear warhead ever created.
February 9 at 20:00: Batman. Starring Michael Keaton,
Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger. Director Tim Burton, the king of macabre tales
for the screen, virtually reinvented Batman – with greater focus on his dark
side – in his 1989 retelling of the secret vigilante’s battles for justice,
just as actor Jack Nicholson projected his own gift for fear-inducing menace to
the persona of The Joker. Gotham City is descending into chaos and criminals
seem to be the real rulers of the streets. In the shadows, a crime fighter like
no other is preparing a battle with the commanders of the underworld. His prime
target is the disfigured homicidal maniac who calls himself The Joker.
February 12 at 20h00:
Batman & Robin. Directed by Joel Schumacher in 1997. Three of
Hollywood’s leading drawcards, George Clooney, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Uma
Thurman, top a glittering cast in the fourth and final instalment of the
initial Batman film franchise.
Director Joel Schumacher was the first to explore the dark humour that laces
the Batman comics. Batman knows he cannot stop the evil forces that rule Gotham
City on his own, and tackles two fearsome criminals, the irresistibly gorgeous
lady who calls herself Poison Ivy, and Mr Freeze, whose mission is to turn the
city into an icy, uninhabitable ghost town with the help of Robin.
February 13 at 20:00:
Batman Begins. Directed by Christopher Nolan, the film stars Christian
Bale, Michael Caine and Liam Neeson. The 2005 movie that rebooted the Batman film series received wide
critical acclaim and struck gold with audiences the world over. A fear of bats
– the result of a horror experience by the creatures of the night in his
childhood – is source of Bruce Wayne’s obsession with them. When criminals
threaten Gotham City, he harnesses that fear into a powerful tool to subdue the
forces of evil.
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