[Review] Superman Returns

[davywavy]

Don't waste your money.


















Oh, you want more?
The Good:
1) Lex Luther and the design aesthetic which follows him about. Kevin Spacey predictably chews the scenery as criminal mastermind Lex Luther and plainly has a whale of a time about it, whilst the retro-40's themed design which surrounds him and wherever he goes is a visual delight.

2) The score. You can't do much wrong with John Williams' original soundtrack.

3) Superman and his super-deeds. Every scene featuring Superman doing super stuff is a winner. There are, however, nothing like enough of them.

The Bad:
1) I'll get straight to the point: There is a moment, about two thirds into this film, wherein your jaw will hit the floor with a resounding thump at the imbecilic banality of something you have just witnessed. Up until then, it's been pretty plain sailing. It's been a bit up and down, not as good as your inner geek might hope, but not all bad. From this moment on, the film is irredemable - it is impossible to maintain any tension in moments of drama or danger. Take my advice and leave the cinema when Lois gets on board Lex's boat. You will have seen a pretty good film to this point and you won't want to spoil it.
Speaking of which...

2) Lois Lane. It is inconceivable that a person with her lumpen and uninteresting command of the English language could ever have won the Pullitzer prize*. Moreover, such a boring woman would not attract a horde of male followers who, let's face it, could have their pick of the ladies. Whilst pretty, she is so self-obsessed, sulky and generally boring that it's a wonder she hasn't got a Livejournal. Her emotional range runs irritating to sulky, and she milks it to the full.

3) Superman as stalker. Superman should be out doing super stuff, not hanging around in his ex-girlfriends garden using x-ray vision to look at her in her underwear. That's the sort of thing I would do if I had superpowers, which, take it from me, automatically means that Superman wouldn't.

^{An award which has gone to such megabrains as Douglas Hofstadter for Godel, Escher, Bach in the past.}

Comments

[flywingedmonkey.livejournal.com]

"Hmmm, Superman returns after 5 years, where has he been? Oh, hi Clark how was your 5 year no-postcards, no-contact trip?"

Weak.

JmC
Though I admit that is an ongoing problem with the whole premise. But still.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

The entire emotional plot of the film was based upon Superman having unprotected, premarital sex and then not calling in the morning? What is this? Superman: the drunken college years?

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

He did send postcards... his mum was faking them for him... sadly they cut that scene, along with the 20million return to Krypton

[ksirafai.livejournal.com]

Am semi-reliably informed that there's a cut scene in which Martha Kent wanders round the world for five years, posting postcards on behalf of Clark.

The world despairs.

:P

Super bitch slaps you

[twicedead.livejournal.com]

He wasn't stalking, stalking needs far more than once... he just went to see her because he had been away and he couldn't believe he had so thoroughly lost her.

Re: Super bitch slaps you

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

And he did this by hanging round in the bushes in her garden using X-ray vision to look at her in the undies.
Right.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

typo.

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

Bah. I loved it. I think that's probably because of Brandon Routh though.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

He was a pretty good Superman and did his best with the script he was given.

[(Anonymous)]

As I said on the way back last night, I think it's worth seeing for Kevin Spacey's take on Luthor. He's so obviously gone into it with such gusto, like someone creating a really enjoyable role-playing character. You can imagine him talking through Lex's taste in music with the director. I'm sure a scene like this must have taken place....

(Spacey talking): So the way I see it, he's kind of like an evil Gatsby, a self-made villain come from no-where. And he's got to create this old-money image for himself. So he thinks, What does a gentleman listen to? Classical music. So he goes along to the biggest record store in Metropolis ... (he starts doing the voices).
Luthor: I want to buy some music. Classical music.
Assistant: Certainly sir. What kind of classical music would you like? We have over three hundred composers in store. Baroque, romantic, opera ...
Luthor: Excuse me? What sort of a man do you think I am? I want the best classical music.
Assistant: We-ell, sir, we do have this CD here, just come out, called The Best of Classical Music.
Luthor (turning to his goon): Pay the man.

The more I think of his performance, the better it gets. It's the one thing that unarguably surpasses the original. (Oh, and the Metropolis design. That's superb too).

I'd give it 3 stars.

H

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I agree with you on Spacey. He and Superman are classic takes on the originals - when Superman is being Super, anyway. And Luthor dressed really well. Spacey obviously was having fun.

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

As I said on the way back last night, I think it's worth seeing for Kevin Spacey's take on Luthor. He's so obviously gone into it with such gusto, like someone creating a really enjoyable role-playing character. You can imagine him talking through Lex's taste in music with the director. I'm sure a scene like this must have taken place....

Kevin Spacey was the awesome choice. He does a remarkable impression of Gene Hackman as well....

[raggedyman.livejournal.com]

at the end of the day the fan boys are going to love it no matter what and anyone who isn't a fanboy is going to go 'err... and?...'. If you don't believe me then check out the differences in reviews between the geek and mainstream media, I have never seen so much polarity bwtween the two before.

Its a remake of a dull premise which is only ever popular when America needs something to feel blindly proud and self-rightious about in a nostalgic manner. so in the current climate its going to make a killing then bog off back to nothing. TBH I just can't be arsed to go see it, am unlikely to watch it on video, and am much happier that I won't have to reclaim those two and a half hours back at any point.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I'm a geek - when the opening titles started up it took me right back to seeing the original Christopher reeve film when I was 6. It's music, and a narrative theme, which really speaks to me.
But the execution was appalling.

[(Anonymous)]

Nice to see you're an expert without seeing the film!

There's an elevator scene where Perry says 'Does his still stand for truth, justice, and...' then leaves 'The American Way' unsaid, which I think it really what's wrong with this film, Superman is big, brash , loud, and unashamed of being American. this film isn't.Too much introspection, not enough throwing commies into the sun.

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

Ok, so your point is 1. Fan boys like it... (Yes.) 2. Mainstream media have rated it at a middle ground. (Yes.)

I doubt very much that Superman is mean to be some sort of panacea against public disillusionment. The release years simply don't match.

The first Superman movie was released in 1978 when Jimmy Carter was president and with the exception of a mass murderer in LA, nothing was really going on. Superman II was released in 1980, when the Iraq-Iran war had begun but Iran Contra hadn't really come out. Oh and Reagan had become president.... but it was way before Black Tuesday. Superman III in 1983 was a bit worse, what with the bombings and the evil empire.

It's a comic about an all American super hero, perhaps with some healthy Cold War hints but I doubt it's any deeper.

[davedevil.livejournal.com]

The fundamental problem with Superman is that he is Superman. The character is pretty poop really and even in the comic book form has been fighting for soem relevency for the last twenty years.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

He's an archetypal fantasy figure. What boy hasn't dreamed of ripping open their shirt and leaping into the sky to save a plummetting airliner? It's difficult to maintain that in a comic month in month out without it becoming samey. It shouldn't be so hard in one film every twenty years.

I respectfully disagree

[http://users.livejournal.com/_grimtales_/]

Not specifically with Welsh Dave, just was looking for a good place to insert comment in Evil Tory Dave's entry here and this seemed the appropriate point.

The way the comics and other franchises have, mostly, dealt with it is by getting shot of Clark Kent and focussing instead on the JLA style iconic Superman.

I thought the film did a pretty good job of balancing old-film Superman, iconic Superman and the assorted other influences. Overall I found it very enjoyable because I was able to focus in on the parts I really liked (Luthor actually being dangerous/ruthless rather than camp, the superheroics) and to ignore the bits I felt were jarring or out of place.

I did think the Jesus thing was overdone.
I did think the kid part was gratuitously postmodern and un-Supermannish.
I do think they missed placing him in a super-context. Something the Marvel transfers managed a lot better. Spiderman has some context, even Daredevil did, you feel they're part of a super-world.

The biggest thing for me though, coming out, was a sense of logical disconnect. Superman is THE American superhero, immigrant, power beyond everyone else, always does what's right, firm moral compass. None of which is remotely associated with the US in the current climate. Perhaps that's why they concentrated on the Jesus thing and even, NOTICABLY avoided saying 'And the American Way' in the famous catchphrase.

Superman is, IMO, at hsi best, free of baggage, doing big godlike things, wrestling angels and shifting planets, writ large and bold.

The other thing I realised is that they now had the ability to do The Authority justice on the big screen, but it'll never happen because of the gore. Damn shame.

I wonder if that Ultimates animation is any good?...

[kcontheroad.livejournal.com]

"Whilst pretty, [she} is so self-obsessed, sulky and generally boring that it's a wonder she hasn't got a Livejournal. "

LOL :P

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Rather than winning the Pilitzer Prize for her writing, she should have been top hit on Lj_drama for an entire month for her whiny rants about how Superman left her. It would have been more convincingly in character.

He's not the Messiah . . .

[(Anonymous)]

And what's with all the Messianic imagery - why is this necessary? Surely if he's a superhero anyway, that's sufficient and the point doesn't need labouring.

JOanna

I'm half expecting Da Vinci Code 2...

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

...to be people discovering that Superman married Lois Lane and had a son, and the Daily Planet has been covering it up.
The Superman as Jesus theme was rather overdone.

[gnommi.livejournal.com]

The Hofstadter Rule:
It always takes longer than you think, even accounting for the Hofstadter Rule

?

A long time since I last attacked that book (and it emerged triumphant)... I just have to face the fact that whilst I love mathematical patterns, I am not a mathematical brain.

*sigh*

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Godel, Escher Bach has me comprehensively beaten. The Mind's I? A walk! Metamagical themas? A laugh at it! GEB? Can't do it. I am, quite simply, not clever enough.