Superman Returns: Your Verdict
 

In my opinion, the great effort award goes to Brian Singer for making it an updated sequel, and recognizing some things from the original cannot be improved upon (like the credits, music, general feel of the film) . . .

But, alas, how good can a Superman movie be when there is the question that the ending may have been even more lame than the original "Spin around the world and make time go backwards" ending. It was safe to believe that wasn't possible to top, but then again, there was nothing in the Superman universe that ever said he COULDN'T DO THAT . . . meanwhile . . . at the end of Superman Returns, our hero (after it being fully established to fans for years that Superman can barely stand up if he's even near kryptonite) manages to lift a chunk of Kryptonite the size of Manhattan into outer space? Mmmmm, don't think so.

Gotta work on the script, Brian.

I haven't seen it yet, so I can't give an honest opinion. It looks better than the first few, judging by the commercials, but I'm not expecting even mediocre out it. GHollywoods theory is, if you have a weak story, throw more money at effects, stars, and hype the hell out of it.

The story I was hoping to see, was Tom Welling's Superboy growing up and leaving the farm. Routh may look good, but he doesn't seem to fit the role after Reeves. Again, we'll wait till the DVD comes out to relly find out.

I've seen it.

Fantastic flying scenes. The scene where he saves the shuttle and carrying plane is great and also captures the Superman theme.

However, the main conflict is pretty boring. Luthor gets Kryptonite again! His scheme to wipe out the U.S. is silly. Superman's relationship with Lois Lane is blah.

And I never thought I'd say this but .. not enough Clark Kent. In the Christopher Reeve movies he made Superman more whole because he was a great Clark Kent. It's not that the new guy isn't a good actor but he isn't asked to do much.

I liked it. Sure makes you miss Christopher Reeve though. :(

Great special fx, boring at times, no chemistry between lois and Superman.
If it wasn't for the fx this would be an average movie at best.

Mark

What will $300,000,000.00 buy, a Dog, a Big Dog!
 

Let’s see, with three hundred million I could buy 300,000 dogs at $100 a piece, wow do I pay too much! At the lowest pairing rate, just using the stud and bitch once, I could get about 150,000 litters of dogs, at an average of say six per litter. That would land me a minimum of 900,000 dogs, and that is a very reserved number! I win, as they only got one dog! But hey, theirs is very big!

The script was terrible; the acting was totally absent, except for Kevin Spacie. He was good, but had a poor script, and still made all the others look like idiots, but made it look like he was overboard.

The color was terrible and varied endlessly, the whole plot sucked, the special effects were not good for the price, and nothing in the story stuck to the whole concept of why or how superman functions. Just one mistake after another. One minute he is disabled within seconds by the kryptonite, and the next he spends several minutes launching a 5% chunk of the earth into space, and it continues on as he falls back to earth in gravities grip. His suit is ripped off by the attendants in the ER, it is stabbed with the kryptonite shard, (it is invulnerable too remember)! He is affected because he is flesh and blood, the suit would not be. When he hears things that others say, it sounds like it is fed through some weird machine!

I got my tickets at the senior discount, $6.50 (be jealous), but I still paid too much! You want to watch Superman and see some drama, some conflict, some romance, a good plot, just watch any episode of “Lois and Clark” the TV show! Any episode is better.

What has happened to Hollywood??????? Give almost any of us on this forum, just $100,000.00 and we could make a better movie! What is it going to take to get them to come to the realization that they do not know to make a movie anymore? Do we have to boycott, march on Hollywood, and start a letter writing campaign or what! They have made $100,000,000.00 in the States, and $30,000,000.00 overseas, and they will be lucky to reach the $300,000,000.00 it cost to make.

How about this, all of us, yes me too, with those neat new DV and HDV cameras get together and shoot some real movies. Get together, pool resources and skills, screw the unions, (but don’t tell them I said that). A local group I attend is always talking but nothing gets done, and all I say is let’s just shoot something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We have writers, actors, (even some that can act), and people with a lot of experience and equipment. Still nothing gets done. “Well, SAG says I can’t do that!” “I don’t have time.” “It’s not up to my standards.” “I don’t have control of it!”

Look, anyone with and old XL1 could do just as good a job as the crew of “Superman Returns” did with all the great equipment they had access to. Let’s do it guys and gals!

Let’s stop being disappointed when we spend our hard earned money to see a $300,000,000.00 block-buster!!!!!!!!

Mike

I agree with all of the above. The best thing was it was a reasonable attempt to make Superman 3, but we don't have Richard Donner, Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder.

Of course, Superman (IMO) was always the most 2 dimensional superhero. A big invulnerable boy scout. Sure, I get weary of the angry, angst ridden superheroes, but there's more room for complex character interaction.

There is lots of material that could be exploited in Superman.

- He is an outsider seeking to fit in. His extreme powers set him apart. He has adopted a new world and people as his own. Yet people are afraid of aliens and people know he is a Kryptonian. His extreme powers put him in opposition to all other powers on the Earth. Would the NSA, for example, feel comfortable that there is a freelance god-like person going all over the place nigh indestructible.
- Earth is not united but he is pledged to help everyone. Therefore he has a conflicted goal that can't be satisfied. Either he has to choose sides or he must stay out of it. He can't do both - or can he? What would happen if his adopted country waged an unjust war? Would he feel obligated to help?
- He is an exile. The last of his species. Although he has adopted the Earth, what if something came along that made him question that?
- Although he is all powerful, he still has a psychology that is mortal (or seems mortal). Therefore Superman can be manipulated, coerced, lied to or sent on a wild goose chase.
- Superman's powers may be TOO much. He could hurt people by accident, by ommission or because he gets too angry and goes overboard. What if someone killed Lois Lane for example. What is a grief-stricken Superman like?
- What is a Superman made temporarily insane or psychotic like? (Read Alan Moore)
- Superman does all he can not to kill. However, what if that is the wrong decision?
- Superman can't be everywhere at once.
- Superman's powers can make him feel like he is the judge of humanity, but then he is also free to make poor decisions, arrogant decisions or uninformed decisions. What if he used his powers to right some wrong but that lead to even worse consequences?
- Superman's friends and family aren't as indestructible as he is.
- Superman has friends and family but he is pledged to treat everyone equally.
- Superman's physiology is not of this earth. There may be lots we don't know about him, his genetics, predisposition to illnesses (beyond Kryptonite I mean).
- Superman is all powerful meaning one of his challenges is learning how to hold back.
- Superman is the most powerful being *on the Earth* but perhaps not in the universe.
- What do the religions think of Superman?

I list these knowing that countless comics and the good Justice League United cartoons have dealt with many of these ideas. So there is lots that can be done in the movies.

Keith,

You are right of course! There are so many plots that could be explored. That is why it is so disappointing that we can't get a great movie out of the many stories that could be conceived.

It just seems so queer that we can make some great one hour TV shows, but not a movie for $300,000,000.00. I guess that the TV people have their characters already set up for us in opening episodes, but this is Superman-----, Lois lane, Jimmy, Perry White---------we already know them to a great degree.

I have been a fan of Superman for longer than I care to disclose, but I used to get more enjoyment form a $.15 comic book, than I get from this movie, and how sad is that!?

Hollywood needs to get a man off of the street involved in its movies from the start. Way too many movies I see suffer from pure and simple lack of basic understanding of the characters and just reality in general. They have lost touch with what is really happening. I think all they ever watch is their own movies. What a poor reference point!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mike

I thought it was a great film, but someone at www.aintitcool.com (I think Moriarity) likened it to a remake of the first Superman, down to Park Posey's character taking over the Ms. Testbacker (or however you spell it) role.

heath

That is very true. It seems very wierd that Lex's ladies always seem to turn on him.

Another thing I find strange is that Lex's motive for all of his bad deeds, except for killing Superman, is greed. He never seems to seek power, he wants money. Like have everyone come to him for land and "pay through the nose!" A much more logical motive for killing a billion people would be power, but it is not mentioned.

Glad you liked it Heath, I'll consider my ticket price as a donation to your enjoyment.

Hope to see you again at the museum soon.

Mike

In the comics, Lex was always a super-powerful and rich dude whose company, LexCorp, owned everything in Metropolis. A great comic is Superman: Man for all Seasons by famed Batman comic writer/artist team Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/156...lance&n=283155

heath

I like almost all the newly made super hero movies, but they all make one mistake IMHO..
When it's time for the BIG battle the last twenty minutes it gets BORING.. The first half hour of the movie it's really cool to see the hero perform his stunts. (Sparsley) But at the end of the movie when you've seen it all (and know how it ends..) it's just something to sit out.
I'd get REALLY surprised in a movie if they had the guts make the grand finale accoring to "less is more"!

Here’s something that always gets me about superman kryptonite thing. The stuff is deadly to him, yet in the new movie he is fine around it. AND… didn’t he live on a planet that was made of that stuff?? Why wasn’t everyone on that planet dieing left and right (from the kryptonite not the exploding sun)? As far as the plot goes, it can’t be like Spiderman where superman has problems. Superman is like the “perfect” superhero, he always saves the day and beats the bad guy. Spiderman was meant to have problems and thats mostly what those movies are about, but superman always has to be perfect. I think the movie was good but lacking. Lex Luthor didn’t have an evil enough plan and was not the best written. In fact a lot of the character were just short of being greatly written, so they were just good characters. The best written character was actually Jimmy Olsen. The movie was good but it could have been great if the just pushed it a little bit more. I love the camera they shot it on too. Now no one has any reason to not use HD, cause frankly it looks better then film in a lot of ways.

IMO, Bryan Singer inherited a mess of a movie project and, naturally, did probably the safest bet. Having said that, I think it was way too reverent of the original Donner film(s). It was a fan movie, like the new Star Wars prequels. But as long as it turns a profit...

And I agree the script did suck. Writers phoned it in on this one.

I think giving Jimmy Olson so much screen time was the biggest mistake; he completely undermined Superman's coolness and gave the whole movie a goofy, lightweight feel.