Blog a Day – Entry #022 – Superman Returns
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***SPOILER ALERT****
***If you have not seen this movie do not read this post.****Like a true Superman fan, I was ready. I had my Superman t-shirt and my Superman ring on. I had tickets for the IMAX theatre in Mississauga for Canada Day, and I was ready for a great movie. Early reviews said it was good, and I was, if you pardon the pun, Super-excited.
Unfortunately that excitement did not match the experience I had watching Superman Returns.
I'm not saying I thought it was terrible. I thought it was freakin' fantastic, but after following this movie for over 2 years, and knowing certain things about this movie that many other people didn't, I didn't feel like they added more to what I thought was an excellent movie. It left me wanting more.
First off though lets disect the characters. Brandon Routh, who looks uncanny as a Christopher Reeves clone, did an excellent job of bringing Clark Kent/Superman to life. Even when deliviring lines from the original 1978 movie, it was as if Routh was channeling Reeves to play this part. Unfortunately due he did not have a lot of lines to say. He was very silent throughout the movie, even as Clark Kent. Which if you watched the original religiously, you would see that Kent had more lines than Superman. Either way though I still think Routh gave a good performance and would like to see him develop this role further.
Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, was good, but not great. On a scale of 1 to 10, I would give her a “meh”. She played more as a lawyer than a newspaper reporter, and her performance, like Routh, was trying to channel Margot Kidder for the part, which like I said before, I would like to see her develop the role more.
Lastly Lex Luthor himself, Kevin Spacey. His was actually the performance I liked the most. Yes, he is no Gene Hackman, but Hackman to me was more of a Used Car Salesman, than a multi-billionaire businessman. Which Spacey played well, with a bit of Hackman in him. One thing I did notice in the role that he played was that he did the genius part justice. You ever notice when villians in movies are faced with a situation that could potentially have problems, they don't follow their gut instinct and want to see it play out? Or basically the old addage when you see someone open a door in horror movies and you're yelling at the screen to not open the door because there is a monster behind it? Well this was played well in Superman. In one situation when Lois and her son Jason were kidnapped by Luthor and we find out that Jason has some special powers of his own. When Lex finds this out, his immediate reaction is to run as fast as he can. Which he does. Where normally in Moviedom, Lex would've stayed to see if he could exploit those powers. Spacey did this throughout the movie and it finally gave some smarts to the role. He saw things that were coming and knew how to handle them. He is not the one to open the door in a horror movie. He would've taken a shot gun and shot at the door then opened it. Anyway Spacey gave a good performance, and made me feel better about him as Luthor after he was announced to play the role.
Now in regards to the movie as a whole, the special effects were awesome! Plane sequence, freakin' fantastic. The beat-up of Supes, heart wrenching. The bullet in the eye effect, so kick ass. Story, little bit plain, but good stepping stone to sequals. Music, John Williams is a genius, and he didn't even score this movie! Jor-El, great even without Marlon Brando providing new lines. Scenery, definately deco in style and loved each bit of it.
All in all it is a great movie. One suggestion that I would like to make though is, don't see it in the IMAX theatre. The extra 3D sequences in the movie were good, but kind of took you out of the movie when you had to put on and take off the 3D glasses. And, the movie didn't even fill the whole screen. There wa s a letterbox throughout the entire movie and it would've been better if it took advantage of the 6 story real estate.
Anyway, without those faults I mentioned above, any true Superman fan would still love this movie, and I would highly recommend it. I'm definately going to see it again at a regular theatre so I can get the full on effect, without the 3D distractions, so that should tell you something.
Anyway, like Superman I'm going to fly away to my Fortress of Solitude, and I will emerge again tomorrow.
A friend,
Steve Saylor “Snowball”
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About The Author
Steve Saylor
Steve Saylor is currently the Web Content Editor at Blackburn Radio in Wingham Ontario for CKNX AM920, 101.7 The ONE and 94.5 The BULL. Steve is a New Media Specialist and has worked in this field since Spring of 2005. He is a self-published author, a techie and a geek. To read more about Steve, click HERE
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