Heroes Welcome

Consider the following dialogue exchanges:

Elizabeth Swann: "There will come a moment when you have the chance to do the right thing."
Jack Sparrow: "I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by."

Lois Lane: "Why are you here? There must be a reason for you to be here.
Superman: "Yes, I'm here to fight for truth and justice and the American way."

Given the fact that the films from which these quotes come were made a generation apart, maybe it shouldn't be so surprising that, although they embody the very essence of the characters who speak them, they represent two very different notions of how a hero should behave. On the one hand we have Captain Jack Sparrow. Three years ago, a highly un-fancied movie called 'Pirates Of The Caribbean: The Curse Of The Black Pearl' was released as part of a packed summer season. Pirate movies never made money, and it was based on, of all things, a theme park ride. It became the third biggest hit of the year at the US box office. The film's enormous success (critical as well as commercial) can largely be attributed to the delicious performance of Johnny Depp as Jack, one that catapulted him from quirky character actor to bona fide megastar.

The Superman franchise, meanwhile, was mired in an extended period of development limbo. After years of false starts, with directors from Tim Burton to Brett Ratner coming and going, the screenplay morphing through various incarnations and the search for the right actor encompassing a list of possibilities too long to mention, Bryan Singer was brought on board. Fresh from his success with 'X Men', his vision of what a modern superhero film should deliver had revitalised the genre. His departure from that franchise left a vacancy ironically filled by Ratner, and the dip in quality hasn't gone unnoticed. There can surely be no denying the fact that the very best big-budget action adventures/comic book adaptations have been helmed by directors who already hold a proven track record, while the difference is plain to see when a hack is hired - check out 'Fantastic Four' or 'Van Helsing' for evidence. The exception that proves the rule is of course Ang Lee's overly murky and cerebral 'Hulk', a bold attempt at a new approach that ultimately collapsed under the weight of its own vision.

Overdoses of dodgy CGI aside, our indomitable duo are now back to stake their claim with probably the two biggest movies of the summer. 'Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' and 'Superman Returns' will battle for the July box office and the affections of a hugely anticipatory public. With a combined budget approaching half a billion dollars, the public had better be affectionate towards them. But which one is the most relevant hero for our times - Superman the boy scout, or Jack Sparrow the outlaw? The Man of Steel represents a very black and white notion of good and evil, something that might have gone out of fashion, but that we may be ready to embrace again. We also like our heroes flawed - would Batman or James Bond be so iconic if they didn't have their darker, more violent sides? So is it the case that we can identify more with the rogue that is Captain Sparrow?

In these cynical, satirical times, maybe we're less inclined to trust the whiter than white character, wondering what they might be hiding. Although the Superman as Christ allegory is a fairly obvious and overused one, in the soulless '70s, the public, particularly the American public, seemed truly to need him to save them from the moral bankruptcy of a decade that had gone to hell. New York City, the real-world counterpart for Metropolis, was plumbing the very depths of crime and social decay and the cinema of the day had been reflecting this for years.

As for Superman's "American way", whatever post-war ideal this represented has long since been tarnished by decades of events in an all too real and irredeemable world - read what you will into the fact that he now fights for "truth, justice and hope." Jack Sparrow, his mythology unencumbered by the spectre of history, makes no such bold statements. There's no doubt of course that he will indeed do the right thing when the moment comes, but in the meantime, he's here to fight for rum, gold and wenches. We may think we want a Captain Jack, but we sure as hell need a Superman.