While the rest of the state of Arkansas was attending church I was attending an early morning matinee of Superman Returns.
I had been anticipating the return of the man of steel for years now while it lingered in development hell upon being wrestled from the destructive hands of the Salkinds.
With Bryan Singer stepping away from his lucrative X-MEN franchise to helm the new man of steel picture I had the highest of hopes that I was in for a visual treat topped by an incredible story of Superman's return after a long absence.
What did I get? A close call that somehow felt flat, a little one-dimensional. The openening was goosebump inducing and was a throwback to the openings of Superman I and II. Picture the blue lettering flying off the screen accompanied by the John williams theme. I felt like a kid again.
From the depths of space we find ourselves transported to the Smallville, Kansas kent farm and from there we move on to Metropolis which mirrors the sequential progression in the first film, one of many nods to the original.
The appearance of Superman in the film is a memorable one that again gives a gentle nod toward the original movie while Brandon Routh eeriely channels the spirit of Christoper Reeve.
Routh is competent as Superman adding little to the already established character while the supporting cast continues their characters as we last remembered them. Lois and Jimmy and Perry White are all well written and delivered in the same manner as their earlier counterparts which felt surreal. Akin to coming home after a long trip and remembering the sights and sounds of your family but they somehow look different than you remember.
The script was well written with some minor flaws. An early and unneeded flashback shows a young Clark running and leaping through his family's cornfield. As if we the audience isn't smart enough to know this is a young Clark Kent the film has the would be Superman wearing glasses. WHAT? He didn't wear glasses until he became Superman and donned the Clark Kent disguise. That would be like Jesus wearing glasses in the upcoming Nativity Story. Superman doesn't have poor vision.
My major gripe is a revelation of proposterous proportion that, if handled poorly, will cripple this new franchise. I will not divulge just what this surprise twist is, but suffice to say, it pissed this viewer off.
The film lacks in the action department as well. This may seem a brazen statement sice a major portion of the film is flying and other super powers but the overall menace in the film brought on by Kevin Spacey's diabolical Lex Luthor is just boring, much like the nuclear missle crisis in the first film. It was weak and not a major threat to the Man of Steel. Bring on the Super Villians and put Lex back in the shadows pulling the strings. He is a smart villian with an untapped monetary advantage but overall he is no real match for Superman and this is where the film was not fun.
Great care was taken in the making of this movie, Bryan Singer worked directoral wonders and made a very entertaining film.
The theater in which I saw the film presented it in Texas Instrument's Digital Light Processing (DLP) and it was not film at all but a crisp, bright and vivid picture that seemed to engulf the audience, and this was not the IMAX version.
Overall, the movie hit the mark to earn the title "summer blockbuster" and leaves me anticipating just how Singer will move the story forward over the next couple of films. I just hope he doesn't bail by the third to direct some other new adventure like Captain Marvel or Wonder Woman.
Superman is the first movie in a long time that leaves me nodding with approval, even if it is long winded at 2 hours and 34 minutes.
I had been anticipating the return of the man of steel for years now while it lingered in development hell upon being wrestled from the destructive hands of the Salkinds.
With Bryan Singer stepping away from his lucrative X-MEN franchise to helm the new man of steel picture I had the highest of hopes that I was in for a visual treat topped by an incredible story of Superman's return after a long absence.
What did I get? A close call that somehow felt flat, a little one-dimensional. The openening was goosebump inducing and was a throwback to the openings of Superman I and II. Picture the blue lettering flying off the screen accompanied by the John williams theme. I felt like a kid again.
From the depths of space we find ourselves transported to the Smallville, Kansas kent farm and from there we move on to Metropolis which mirrors the sequential progression in the first film, one of many nods to the original.
The appearance of Superman in the film is a memorable one that again gives a gentle nod toward the original movie while Brandon Routh eeriely channels the spirit of Christoper Reeve.
Routh is competent as Superman adding little to the already established character while the supporting cast continues their characters as we last remembered them. Lois and Jimmy and Perry White are all well written and delivered in the same manner as their earlier counterparts which felt surreal. Akin to coming home after a long trip and remembering the sights and sounds of your family but they somehow look different than you remember.
The script was well written with some minor flaws. An early and unneeded flashback shows a young Clark running and leaping through his family's cornfield. As if we the audience isn't smart enough to know this is a young Clark Kent the film has the would be Superman wearing glasses. WHAT? He didn't wear glasses until he became Superman and donned the Clark Kent disguise. That would be like Jesus wearing glasses in the upcoming Nativity Story. Superman doesn't have poor vision.
My major gripe is a revelation of proposterous proportion that, if handled poorly, will cripple this new franchise. I will not divulge just what this surprise twist is, but suffice to say, it pissed this viewer off.
The film lacks in the action department as well. This may seem a brazen statement sice a major portion of the film is flying and other super powers but the overall menace in the film brought on by Kevin Spacey's diabolical Lex Luthor is just boring, much like the nuclear missle crisis in the first film. It was weak and not a major threat to the Man of Steel. Bring on the Super Villians and put Lex back in the shadows pulling the strings. He is a smart villian with an untapped monetary advantage but overall he is no real match for Superman and this is where the film was not fun.
Great care was taken in the making of this movie, Bryan Singer worked directoral wonders and made a very entertaining film.
The theater in which I saw the film presented it in Texas Instrument's Digital Light Processing (DLP) and it was not film at all but a crisp, bright and vivid picture that seemed to engulf the audience, and this was not the IMAX version.
Overall, the movie hit the mark to earn the title "summer blockbuster" and leaves me anticipating just how Singer will move the story forward over the next couple of films. I just hope he doesn't bail by the third to direct some other new adventure like Captain Marvel or Wonder Woman.
Superman is the first movie in a long time that leaves me nodding with approval, even if it is long winded at 2 hours and 34 minutes.
This post was last modified: 07-03-2006, 09:16 AM by Tony H.
“I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass. And I'm all out of bubblegum.”
Certified 100% Serious
AsMoral Wrote:While the rest of the state of Arkansas was attending church I was attending an early morning matinee of Superman Returns.
I had been anticipating the return of the man of steel for years now while it lingered in development hell upon being wrestled from the destructive hands of the Salkinds.
With Bryan Singer stepping away from his lucrative X-MEN franchise to helm the new man of steel picture I had the highest of hopes that I was in for a visual treat topped by an incredible story of Superman's return after a long absence.
What did I get? A close call that somehow felt flat, a little one-dimensional. The openening was goosebump inducing and was a throwback to the openings of Superman I and II. Picture the blue lettering flying off the screen accompanied by the John williams theme. I felt like a kid again.
From the depths of space we find ourselves transported to the Smallville, Kansas kent farm and from there we move on to Metropolis which mirrors the sequential progression in the first film, one of many nods to the original.
The appearance of Superman in the film is a memorable one that again gives a gentle nod toward the original movie while Brandon Routh eeriely channels the spirit of Christoper Reeve.
Routh is competent as Superman adding little to the already established character while the supporting cast continues their characters as we last remembered them. Lois and Jimmy and Perry White are all well written and delivered in the same manner as their earlier counterparts which felt surreal. Akin to coming home after a long trip and remembering the sights and sounds of your family but they somehow look different than you remember.
The script was well written with some minor flaws. An early and unneeded flashback shows a young Clark running and leaping through his family's cornfield. As if we the audience isn't smart enough to know this is a young Clark Kent the film has the would be Superman wearing glasses. WHAT? He didn't wear glasses until he became Superman and donned the Clark Kent disguise. That would be like Jesus wearing glasses in the upcoming Nativity Story. Superman doesn't have poor vision.
My major gripe is a revelation of proposterous proportion that, if handled poorly, will cripple this new franchise. I will not divulge just what this surprise twist is, but suffice to say, it pissed this viewer off.
The film lacks in the action department as well. This may seem a brazen statement sice a major portion of the film is flying and other super powers but the overall menace in the film brought on by Kevin Spacey's diabolical Lex Luthor is just boring, much like the nuclear missle crisis in the first film. It was weak and not a major threat to the Man of Steel. Bring on the Super Villians and put Lex back in the shadows pulling the strings. He is a smart villian with an untapped monetary advantage but overall he is no real match for Superman and this is where the film was not fun.
Great care was taken in the making of this movie, Bryan Singer worked directoral wonders and made a very entertaining film.
The theater in which I saw the film presented it in Texas Instrument's Digital Light Processing (DLP) and it was not film at all but a crisp, bright and vivid picture that seemed to engulf the audience, and this was not the IMAX version.
Overall, the movie hit the mark to earn the title "summer blockbuster" and leaves me anticipating just how Singer will move the story forward over the next couple of films. I just hope he doesn't bail by the third to direct some other new adventure like Captain Marvel or Wonder Woman.
Superman is the first movie in a long time that leaves me nodding with approval, even if it is long winded at 2 hours and 34 minutes.
Nice review, AM. I haven't seen the flick yet, but I've heard good things about it. Yet this crude hombre wonders if =any= movie needs to be more than 2 hours long. Unless, of course, you're a Russian director trying to do justice to one of the incredibly long, truly tiresome 19th Century Russian novels that dissect the soul... "The mujik yawned. What was the Czar doing, he wondered. Did the Czar yawn like him? Or did the Czar have men to yawn for him? The bees were humming. It must be summer, the mujik thought. But perhaps not. Perhaps his wife would know. What was her name again? Did the Czar ever wonder about his wife's name? Probably not. The bees continued to hum. The mujik yawned again. It was another day, he decided."
I saw this over the weekend. Regarding the twist, I had a problem with it too. Assuming you'll know what I mean, the twist is based off something that happened in part II, but considering what happened in that movie the chararcter-who-is-not-Superman is not supposed to know something that he/she does.
To me, this seemed like a tribute to Richard Donner's Superman. X-Men I and II and the Usual Suspects were not like this, they had a distinct style I could attribute to Singer. I imagine that's why there's Lex Luthor in it and why the Brando footage was used.
I didn't need the recap. I think at this point everyone knows the general story of Superman. I understand that Lois Lane plays an important part in the story of Superman, but I don't care about Lois Lane's emotions. I wish she was more in the background. She's just not relevant to me.
Here's how I see the next film: there's going to be some kind of super villain. Hopefully there won't be more rehash- General Zod won't pop up again or something like that. It'll be Brainiac and by the end of the movie Doomsday will be introduced. And then the third one will be Doomsday v. Superman and that'll set up Reign of the Supermen and someone else will step in for Singer for the 4th installment.
To me, this seemed like a tribute to Richard Donner's Superman. X-Men I and II and the Usual Suspects were not like this, they had a distinct style I could attribute to Singer. I imagine that's why there's Lex Luthor in it and why the Brando footage was used.
I didn't need the recap. I think at this point everyone knows the general story of Superman. I understand that Lois Lane plays an important part in the story of Superman, but I don't care about Lois Lane's emotions. I wish she was more in the background. She's just not relevant to me.
Here's how I see the next film: there's going to be some kind of super villain. Hopefully there won't be more rehash- General Zod won't pop up again or something like that. It'll be Brainiac and by the end of the movie Doomsday will be introduced. And then the third one will be Doomsday v. Superman and that'll set up Reign of the Supermen and someone else will step in for Singer for the 4th installment.
Actually, I think I'd like to see The Eradicator in the next one. He's a machine that preserves all things Kryptonian and the Fortress of Solitude actually belongs to him. He plays an important role in Reign of the Supermen.
Well, after many months, I finally got my money's worth. I watched this movie with one of my sons and while he was thrilled and enjoyed it as much as Spider-Man, I was ticking off the many flaws and irritations on my fingers. I ran out of my fingers and toes and was lucky to be able to use my sons as well.
Where to begin? Well, Lois Lane was horribly miscast. In the movie there was Angry Lois, Happy Lois, Lustful Lois, Wistful Lois and Sad Lois among others. Other than the context of the movie, Kate Bosworth gave exactly the same expression in every scene... except for a lone tear, but the wonders of make up and special effects could've supplied that. Brandon Routh was a good Superman, but only an "okay" Clark Kent. Nothing special there, but nothing bad either. The kid... well, the only thing I can say about the kid is I wanted a pair of scissors so bad, I was clawing at my seat. That kid so desperately needed a hair cut.
The action, what there was of it, wasn't bad, but it was too limited to keep my interest. The airplane scene was pretty cool when it was Supes vs. the Plane. But, the interiors that involved Lois being bounced around at 4 G's was frustrating since she walked out of there with nary a bump or bruise. She was more resilient than Superman.
I'll stop my rant there... I could go on, but as I said at the start, I got my money's worth... I got the movie from the library... for free.
Where to begin? Well, Lois Lane was horribly miscast. In the movie there was Angry Lois, Happy Lois, Lustful Lois, Wistful Lois and Sad Lois among others. Other than the context of the movie, Kate Bosworth gave exactly the same expression in every scene... except for a lone tear, but the wonders of make up and special effects could've supplied that. Brandon Routh was a good Superman, but only an "okay" Clark Kent. Nothing special there, but nothing bad either. The kid... well, the only thing I can say about the kid is I wanted a pair of scissors so bad, I was clawing at my seat. That kid so desperately needed a hair cut.
The action, what there was of it, wasn't bad, but it was too limited to keep my interest. The airplane scene was pretty cool when it was Supes vs. the Plane. But, the interiors that involved Lois being bounced around at 4 G's was frustrating since she walked out of there with nary a bump or bruise. She was more resilient than Superman.
I'll stop my rant there... I could go on, but as I said at the start, I got my money's worth... I got the movie from the library... for free.
Scott Hajek
[i]"A beer right now would sound good, but I'd rather drink one than listen to it."[/i]
GeraldRice Wrote:I saw this over the weekend. Regarding the twist, I had a problem with it too. Assuming you'll know what I mean, the twist is based off something that happened in part II, but considering what happened in that movie the chararcter-who-is-not-Superman is not supposed to know something that he/she does.
To me, this seemed like a tribute to Richard Donner's Superman. X-Men I and II and the Usual Suspects were not like this, they had a distinct style I could attribute to Singer. I imagine that's why there's Lex Luthor in it and why the Brando footage was used.
I didn't need the recap. I think at this point everyone knows the general story of Superman. I understand that Lois Lane plays an important part in the story of Superman, but I don't care about Lois Lane's emotions. I wish she was more in the background. She's just not relevant to me.
Here's how I see the next film: there's going to be some kind of super villain. Hopefully there won't be more rehash- General Zod won't pop up again or something like that. It'll be Brainiac and by the end of the movie Doomsday will be introduced. And then the third one will be Doomsday v. Superman and that'll set up Reign of the Supermen and someone else will step in for Singer for the 4th installment.
I like the sound of that, especially Superman vs. Doomsday. That is an epic battle ready to be blown all out of proportion.
My biggest complaint with the movie carried over to previous movies. How did Louis Lane survive the whole time Supes was gone? Honestly, he wasn't back for a day before he was saving her butt again! How'd she get so lucky on the timing?
