longbough

I know I'm going to get a lot of folks who disagree. I expect a lot of hateful and passionate criticisms of my review but I stand my ground.

My review is late because I had to wait for it on DVD. Up until recently I deliberately avoided reviews and previews (as I do with all films I anticipate).

I expected so much from the film which is why I'm so disappointed.

First of all, I'm a fan of the superhero genre of films since I grew up reading them. Recently it seems there's been a renaissance of films where they're getting done right. For instance, Batman Begins was the film I had hoped Batman would have been ... among my friends and fans I was one of the minority of folks who hated the first Tim Burton Batman film. Since Batman Begins was released I now tell those same people ... "See? See? THIS is what I was expecting back then! And THIS is why the first film sucked!"

In contrast, the first two Superman films were really, really GOOD. So how could they possibly muck it up? Well, here's my two cents.

First of all here's what Superman Returns did right.
1.) The opening titles exploding on screen with the original musical score. What a brilliant choice!
2.) Kevin Spacey - damn he's good. I just wish they gave him more to do.
3.) Excellent action sequences - especially the rescue of the space shuttle.

... that's it ...

Now the bad.
1.) With the exception of Kevin Spacey - every part was miscast. Superman, unlike some of the Marvel characters (e.g. Spiderman, Blade, Daredevil ... ), is an epic character in an epic story. The acting has to be bigger than life - Christopher Reeve understood that. Margot Kidder (Lois Lane) knew that. Jackie Cooper (Perry White) knew that.

Brandon Routh must've been cast for his looks only ... (and he looks a lot like Chris Reeve - but in a much, much better way) Don't get me wrong - he LOOKS absolutely perfect for the role ... I couldn't imagine they'd find someone who fit the role so well.

But the poor fella can't act worth a hill of beans. It's like he has no idea who he is and is just following rote stage directions. It's Routh's poor performance that makes me realize how much character Chris Reeve brought to the role in the 1978 Superman. Routh just can't bring grandeur to Superman. As an actor he's just not mature ... and it shows.

Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane. I really like this actress ... but what the heck did she do to Lois Lane? Margot Kidder had spirit, independence and a comic sense. Furthermore she knew the film's grand scale required overstatement in her role. Bosworth is basically ... a damsel in distress. She has plenty of opportunity to break through, even with simple gestures, but she blows every opportunity to play the role as if she were a secondary character in some random formula disaster film - i.e. she has absolutely no personality.

Parker Posey, the wry indie actress ... why oh why did they cast her in a dumb-floozie role??? It pains me to see her this way. Even in Blade Trinity she made her vampire character into an unapologetic bitchy trailer-trash villain ... and fun to watch. In this film she has nothing to say, do or contribute. I'll bet the paycheck was pretty large....

Kevin Spacey (Lex Luthor) - great in every scene he's in. Casting him was spot-on. The only problem is the script. At least give him the freedom to improvise. Translated from the script he comes across as a watered-down impersonation of Gene Hackman (Lex Luthor in 1978). Even a lot of the jokes are rehashed from the 1978 film (yeah ... they're supposed to reference the earlier film but this script doesn't do much more than that) Spacey should have been able to give Hackman's Luthor a run for his money ... maybe they probably didn't have much of a preproduction in the acting department.

Frank Langella (Perry White) - also just going through the motions. Jackie Cooper brought more to the role. Just look at the two roles side by side and you'll see.

2.) The story. The surface plot (i.e. villain has plot to run the world) is nothing we haven't seen before. Even the methods aren't that great. The action is special-effects and CG with the requisite scale. Please, please, please show us something we've never seen before. I can't easily communicate my expectation ... only that this film had no surprises at all in the basic plot.

3.) The love story. OK we all knew the kid was HIS from the start, right? ... right?
OK, so let me get this straight. Superman disappears unexpectedly for a length of time and returns to find Lois Lane with a fiancee and kid. Superman is emotionally stunned about this and we're all supposed to feel sorry for him? Come on! This guy comes and goes as he pleases leaving the woman raising his kid for him without assistance, advice or consideration ... that makes him an irresponsible asshole. My GOD she's the mother to his kid and he still can't tell her who he is. The final insult is that Lois Lane is OK with that! It doesn't matter if you're saving the world ... at least tell her SOMETHING like, oh, "Lois, I know it isn't easy being with me ... duty calls ... but know that I love you ..."

Call me old fashioned, but a REAL man supports his child and it's mom. I don't care how powerful he is - on that count alone, Superman ain't no real man. This movie turns him into a garden-variety pig.

I can go on and on about smaller issues - like Luthor's distracting Superman by setting up a car with failing brakes running rampant in the city ... I mean, out of all the wars, murders, hurricanes, gangland crimes etc in the world he calculates that Superman's would choose to stop one runaway vehicle.

... but I'll just leave you with these main points.

Q: How can you miss when you combine a superhero icon and one of the better superhero film directors (Bryan Singer who did the first two X-Men films)?
A: Superman Returns



--------- OK. Go ahead and lay into me 'cause I know a lot of folks will disagree ---------

__________________
"I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me what he should have done, had he been present when I was almost fatally assaulted in 1908, whether he should have run away and seen me killed or whether he should have used his physical force which he could and wanted to use, and defended me, I told him that it was his duty to defend me even by using violence." - Mahatma Ghandi