Empire February 2022

2022 IS, ACCORDING to the Chinese zodiac, the Year Of The Tiger. But there’s a solid argument to be made that it’s actually the Year Of The Bat, because the next 12 months are set to be lousy with them. In Morbius, Jared Leto will acquire new powers — echolocation, night-vision, possibly even the ability to do a convincing Italian accent — after experiments involving vampire bats. In Batgirl, Barbara Gordon will make her solo movie debut. And in The Flash, Michael Keaton will once more don the rubber suit he hasn’t worn in 30 years, hopefully to repeat Batman’s iconic phrase: “I’m Batman.” But in these dark days, one Batman just isn’t enough. And so The Batman is looming into view. Director Matt Reeves helped reinvent the mythology of…

2022 IS, ACCORDING to the Chinese zodiac, the Year Of The Tiger. But there’s a solid argument to be made that it’s actually the Year Of The Bat, because the next 12 months are set to be lousy with them. In Morbius, Jared Leto will acquire new powers — echolocation, night-vision, possibly even the ability to do a convincing Italian accent — after experiments involving vampire bats. In Batgirl, Barbara Gordon will make her solo movie debut. And in The Flash, Michael Keaton will once more don the rubber suit he hasn’t worn in 30 years, hopefully to repeat Batman’s iconic phrase: “I’m Batman.” But in these dark days, one Batman just isn’t enough. And so The Batman is looming into view. Director Matt Reeves helped reinvent the mythology of Planet…

COMMENT OF THE MONTH STOP GETTING BOND WRONG! How could you? ‘Live And Let Die’ is the definitive Bond song (even with that weird calypso break). GoldenEye might be a great film but the song is so forgettable that I’d forgotten Tina Turner had actually sung a Bond theme. No mention in the top ten for A-ha?! Dame Shirley is a legend and Goldfinger is iconic, but it doesn’t make it the best song — and that’s coming from a Welshman! Retract your list immediately or I’ll beat the living daylights out of you. LEON HOLMES Leon, your response to our Bond Song Ranking is quite terrifying, but entertaining nevertheless (please don’t kill us). Picture house Empire’s star letter wins a Picturehouse Membership, plus one for a friend! Valid for one year at 23 Picturehouse Cinemas…

COMMENT OF THE MONTH STOP GETTING BOND WRONG! How could you? ‘Live And Let Die’ is the definitive Bond song (even with that weird calypso break). GoldenEye might be a great film but the song is so forgettable that I’d forgotten Tina Turner had actually sung a Bond theme. No mention in the top ten for A-ha?! Dame Shirley is a legend and Goldfinger is iconic, but it doesn’t make it the best song — and that’s coming from a Welshman! Retract your list immediately or I’ll beat the living daylights out of you. LEON HOLMES Leon, your response to our Bond Song Ranking is quite terrifying, but entertaining nevertheless (please don’t kill us). Picture house Empire’s star letter wins a Picturehouse Membership, plus one for a friend! Valid for…

THIS MONTH’S FILM MOMENTS THAT MATTER AFTER TWO YEARS of living largely online, watching a film about the internet might not sound much like escapism. But Mamoru Hosoda’s Belle — which earned a 14-minute standing ovation at this year’s Cannes — is no gloomy technophobic parable. Instead, this retelling of Beauty And The Beast offers an insightful and epic outlook on the internet’s possibilities. Belle is the avatar of Suzu (voiced by Japanese singer-songwriter Kaho Nakamura), a meek teenager who finds anonymous stardom as a singer in ‘U’, the film’s vast virtual-reality setting, created by Hosoda and London-based architect/illustrator Eric Wong. Here, Hosoda and Wong reveal the blueprints, foundations and philosophies of their online world. THE GENESIS “I find that other directors’ depictions of online worlds tend to be too realistic,” says Hosoda,…

IT’S CHEESY. IT’S campy. And it’s catchy as hell. Midway through the first episode of Hawkeye, we are treated to a full-blown Marvel musical moment: watching Jeremy Renner’s Clint Barton squirm in his seat to anachronistic sing-along anthem ‘Save The City’, a number from in-universe Broadway hit Rogers: The Musical. The idea for a musical based on Avengers Assemblers climactic Battle Of New York initially came from director and executive producer Rhys Thomas, who wanted an idiosyncratic entrance for Barton in his own story. “I liked the idea of dropping into this energetic, Men In Tights-type musical, and finding Jeremy’s world-weary face in the crowd,” Thomas says. “Then when Kevin [Feige] got excited about it, the reality of what I’d proposed dawned on me.” Thankfully, Feige knew just the men for…