I just wanted to offer a quick review of Superman Returns. I saw the flick opening day with my wife. This is the first opening I've seen of a movie since the Kill Bills. We were supposed to go see the film in the city with our good friend the WoodMan but he was unexpectedly called away on business.
I held off on a review in case people hadn't yet seen the film but feel I've waited enough now. The film was good. Brian Singer clearly gets what needs to be present in a super hero film. (See X-Men and X-2) The set pieces were great, and as I said to a friend of mine, a good Superman flick has events that are very large... thus the environmental shenanigans initiated by Lex Luthor.
Lex Was good, (or rather Kevin Spacey was good as him). It wasn't the fully darkened Lex I prefer, but Spacey clearly communicated his anger towards Superman.
My complaints didn't detract from my enjoyment, but there are some issues that prevent this movie from being a top tier comic book movie.
Firstly, the idea that Superman has left the planet for 5 years, without saying goodbye to anyone. I am a reader of comics for 30 years now (literally, I have read comics for 30 years.) I haven't allowed this membership in an admittedly insulated culture to ruin my opinion of comic book movies, and I am a believer in the creative teams in both comics and films be given some latitude in the depiciton of the characters. However, there are some issues in which the characters actions are glaringly out of the base of that character. A hypothetical example of this would be Batman cold bloodedly shooting a criminal in cold blood. This wouldn't be anywhere near consistent with the character of Batman. So the thought that Superman would spend many years on Earth, grow to appreciate human beings (and even love humans, such as his parents and Lois), recognize his impact on the nature of the world, and then split for 5 years to basically get his head together. I just don't buy it. If he had returned to earth and admitted his mistake, realizing that "With great power comes great responsibility" ala Spider-Man, I could buy it.
Lois has a child that is the result of a tryst between herself and super-man. the child possesses some super powers but lacks the ability to use them at will. THis opens the possibility of some future cool storylines in the sequels, but will need to
be handled delicately.
Finally, the fact that both Superman and Clark Kent have been missing for 5 years, then both miraculously reappear in the lives of the Daily Planet workers, and no one makes any connection?
I would place this film around the range of X-Men and possibly the Spider-Man films. It doesn't rise to the level of Batman Begins, the original Batman, X-2, or the non-spandex comic based films like V for Vendetta or Sin City.
3 comments:
The flick rocked. Kevin Spacey was dark and creepy as Lex (albeit not as creepy as you'd like), Parker Posey was fab as his dame-sidekick, and the story was entertaining and captivating. My only complaint was that Brandon is so freaking perfect-looking that he almost seemed CGI'd in some moments. If I want a computer movie I'll go see Cars.
Nikolai, you are correct. In the very early issues of Batman he does use a gun. I'm not sure if he uses the handgun his parents were killed with or not. I do know he was much darker in the classic Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller fronm the mid 80's... a must read for anyone who thinks comics aren't ever for grown-ups!
Finally, the fact that both Superman and Clark Kent have been missing for 5 years, then both miraculously reappear in the lives of the Daily Planet workers, and no one makes any connection? These are the same people fooled because Supes put on a pair of simple eyeglasses, and they had no idea who he was. I'm not surprised by the stupidity of the residents of Metropolis. That said, I don't like Superman, the movies or the character. I'll wait for the movie to come to cable. Now, when the new Spiderman movie comes out, I'm there.
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