FILM 2 - Captain America

Captain America, the worlds first avenger is a superhero film about Steve Rogers, who gets rejected from joining the army as he is deemed unfit for military service. When a top secret research project is held he volunteers, resulting in him becoming Captain America, a superhero dedicated to helping the USA, with the strength of the army, in just one man. Rogers joins forces with Bucky Barnes and Peggy Carter to wage war on the evil HYDRA organisation, led by Red Skull.

The genre conventions present in this film include:

Ordinary person gaining their powers - Steve Rogers starts out as an ordinary person, however after being denied the opportunity to fight in war he volunteers to be a part of a project to become a super soldier. He is injected with serum, causing him to develop super powers such as; super strength and an indestructible shield.

Secret Identity - Steve Rogers' superhero name is Captain America, which is his secret identity. America doesn't know exactly who he is, however a small amount of people do.

Moral - From the very start we can see that Steve Rogers is someone who stands up for what he believes in. Being rejected doesn't stop him and even though he goes through some tough times he always gets back up and becomes a stronger person and never gives up.

Back story - The back story gives us an indication into why Steve Rogers becomes Captain America. As he is always being rejected the chance to join the army as he is too weak and small, this drives him into volunteering for the project and becoming this super soldier.

Costume - Captain America wears a blue outfit and has a silver star positioned on his chest as well as a silver A on his head. The top half of his face is covered to protect his identity. He also carried a blue and red shield which also sports a star on it.


Rogues Gallery - The organisation HYDRA have the tesseract which has caused the leader of their organisation to change appearance, causing him to be called the Red Devil. Captain America has to break into their headquarters in order to stop them.

The rating for the film is a 12A, indicating that the target audience is mainly teenagers. However, another general target audience is said to be males aged around 25, because they would have grown up reading the comic books, and would likely want to go to see the film version. The female audience have been drawn to the film by the actor who plays Captain America, due to his toned body and good looks.

Many binary oppositions are present within Captain America. As it is set during World War 2, and the Germans are fighting against America, this brings a sense of Good V's Bad within the war itself. Within this idea of good v's bad comes along the idea of Captain America fighting against the Germans as well as the Red Devil. Another binary opposition is the weak and the strong, at the start of the film, Steve Rogers is a weak, small man preventing him from taking part in war, whereas when he becomes Captain America, even though he is the same man, he is much stronger. With his new strength he can be prosperous and successful whereas before, when he was weak he couldn't be.

As the film is set during World War 2, which was a time where men and women were unequal, the film does reinforce gender stereotypes. The men were seen as more dominant and the women were seen as much weaker. The men fought in war whilst the women stood back and did more domestic jobs. The only powerful woman in the film is Peggy, she has an important role within film, she doesn't necessarily wait around for the superhero to save her, however she does stand back and isn't involved in the actual fighting.

Captain America has to live up to what the comic book readers have been waiting for, therefore has to be able to entertain a large amount of people; those who have grown up with the comic book who would be around he age of 25 as well as teenagers who may be interested. From the very beginning we see Steve Rogers to be a determined, brave character who doesn't give up and stands up for what he believes in and due to this, this keeps people interested as well as for the audience to look up to and admire. Tension is a big part to entertaining the audience and tension is successfully created throughout, especially when Steve Rogers is being transformed into Captain America, and we don't know how it's going to turn out.

FILM 1 - The Amazing Spider-man

The Amazing Spider-Man is one of the latest superhero films to hit the cinemas. It successfully tells the story of Peter Parker after following his journey into finding out more about his father. On this journey he is bitten by a radioactive spider, causing him to gain extraordinary super powers. After witnessing his uncles murder he sets out to find the killer, using his new found powers and seeks his revenge, however as the film goes on, he realises it isn't all about revenge and uses his powers to help fight evil (Dr. Connors after he turns into a destructive and threatening lizard)

The typical genre conventions present in The Amazing Spider-man include:

Ordinary person gaining their powers by accident - Peter Parker leads an ordinary life up until on the quest to find out more about his fathers work, he gets bitten by a radioactive spider which leaves him with super powers such as; super strength and the ability to climb buildings. He also creates a device which enables him to shoot ultra-strong webs from his wrist which come in handy throughout.


Regularly involved in physical and strategic combat - Being Spider-man means having to be physically active and being involved in strategic combat, in order to help fight evil successfully. There is a lot of this in the action filled The Amazing Spider-man as Spider man (Peter Parker) helps save the town from the evil Dr.Connors who turns into a lizard after finding a cure for his arm and believes that it would be beneficial for the human race if they were all lizards.

Good V's Evil - Peter has to fight off evil. Good V's evil is a general convention present in almost all superhero films. Peter has to use his powers to benefit the town and help fight against evil (Dr. Connors and his uncle's killers)

Achilles heel - Towards the end of the film, Peter becomes worried about Gwen when she goes to make the antidote. This steers him away from saving the town against the lizard, as he is worried about his love interest.

Moral- At first Peter Parker (Spider man) uses his powers to seek revenge on his uncle's killers, however, afterwards he learns that there is more than just seeking revenge and uses his powers to help the town as a whole instead of just to seek revenge.

Secret Identity - In the beginning, his identity is kept a secret with only himself knowing, however, it isn't until long that he informs Gwen on his identity and she is sworn to secrecy. Later on in the film, Gwen's father finds out as well as by accident by Dr. Connors.

Costume - He starts out by just wearing a mask but soon decides that he would need a full costume as he begins to become more serious about what he is, he wears a tight fitting costume, in the traditional colours red and blue which is how spider man is famously known.

Back story - The back story is extremely important to the film as it reveals how Peter became Spider man as well as revealing events about his past which unravel future events.

The target audience for The Amazing Spider man is a 12A which indicates that it is generally aimed at teenagers. The thrill and action involved in the film as well as the relationship between Peter and Gwen also indicate that there is something for both genders. The fact that the main characters are teen sensations (Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone) also implies that the film is mainly aimed at teenagers. Other people who may be interested in the film are spider man fanatics, however I believe that you don't necessarily have to be a fan of the previous Spider man films or even have watched them to enjoy this one.

There are a few binary oppositions present in The Amazing Spider man. Firstly, the idea of good V's the evil,  which is a key factor not only within Spider man but also any superhero film. It is this that creates the action and thrill within the film. Spider man has to use his powers for the good of the town to fight against Dr. Connors. Another binary opposition is the idea of the enemy being a lizard; Lizards are known for eating insects and it is the Lizard V's Spider man, this makes the film more interesting especially how the lizard has more strength than Spider man, adding more tension an excitement.

There are slight gender reinforcements within the Amazing Spider man. Firstly we have the handsome superhero falling for a beautiful woman and then him rescuing her from the evil. However Gwen is more involved that just waiting to be saved, for example when she risks her life to wait for the antidote to be made, but Peter still saves her as well as well as the rest of the town. Gwen isn't so dependent on waiting for Peter to save her however there are times when he does just that, like when the Lizard invades their school and Peter (Spider man) pushes Gwen out of the window but makes sure she lands safely with his web.

There are many factors within the film which are used to entertain the target audience. The immense thrill and action is one, which also creates tension for the audience as well as entertaining the thrill seekers and those who enjoy action. The relationship between Gwen and Peter is presented well and the journey they go on together from when he tells her his identity all the way to the end is gripping. The humour within the film is also entertaining and there are parts which do make the audience laugh and takes the focus away from the tense and more serious side for a bit. One example of this is when Spider man pretends to sneeze and throws a web at the car robber, also when the car robber whips out a knife, threatening Spider man and he responds with "You've found my weakness, its's small knives" and the body language that is portrayed at this time is also humorous. Also in the same scene when the car robber thinks that spider man is a cop he replies "You seriously think I'm a cop in this skin tight red and blue suit?" which also contains humour.