Sunday, July 02, 2006
Why We Don't Need This Superman
I wasn't going to post a review of "Superman Returns" - It's Superman for crying out loud and a massive fan like myself just would rather leave it be than say something bad, but alas the character is too good not to let the producers, et. al. know what real fans are thinking.
Firstly, this wasn't a movie in its own right, this was an extended homage to the movies that went before - which means I cannot believe a guy like Singer signed on to this thing. From the Christopher Reeve look alike to the near perfect shot-to-shot matches from the Reeve movies to the reuse of the Williams score, it is clear the makers of this film were simply afraid to stray, at all. More on that in a minute.
Kevin Spacey was doing his best Gene Hackman - Why? Why not just bring Hackman back for crying out loud. I have said before that I thought Lex Luthor was a lame villian, so for the movie they not only use Luthor, they use the lamest vision of the lame villian ever. Luthor has come close to being a genuine evil genius in the comics lately being elected President and all - Now that would have been good. Superman returns to find Luthor US President and the world in love with the 'ol baddie. That is a dilemma Supes coud sink his teeth into.
This movie was ponderous, it moved with the speed of your average sloth in hibernation. This observation contains the seeds of how the frachise can be saved - more to come.
Here's the problem, Superman is not a superhero - He is THE Superhero. - and therein lies the problem. Have you ever noticed how Mickey Mouse has become pointless as an actual cartoon character? Mickey was long ago relegated to the role of corporate icon, and therefore all risk taking with the character itself had to be eliminated. Superman is perilously close to that same precipice. Thus this film was so formulaic.
This movie was clearly designed to preserve the image and promote the franchise. The pacing and outline of the film was very similar to the Smallville TV show, which is also a bit ponderous. This movie also contained an homage not just to the show, but to the Aquaman spin-off soon to come. (See the boy's pajamas near the end of the film.) Such cross-promotional, franchise-preserving, can't tell the difference between TV and movies stuff is what killed the Star Trek franchise.
Superman has always been the superhero hardest to find an emotional hook for. Alien like the X-Men, he is not like them. They are oppressed, he is wreathed in glory. It is hard to muster sympathy for a man cheered by a stadium full of people. Made alone by his alien nature, he is feated and loved by the world. It's like trying to feel pathos for Madonna. There is too much success to buy it.
There is hope. What was the best Superman movie ever? If you answered Superman II - the Zod movie - you would be correct. I would argue it is the second best superhero movie ever, behind Spider-Man II. (By the way, the best thing about seeing Superman Returns was the Spidey III trailer.) Why? Here is a hint - Superman first appeared in Action Comics.
The character is just not that great from a pathos standpoint so go for the gusto, make a straightforward action flick, that's what the Zod flick was. It seems like they got it precisely backwards the summer. X-Men, with pathos to spare played a straight action flick. Supes with pathos hard to find went for all the angst. Crying shame.
Related Tags: Superman Returns, review, superheros, X-Men
Firstly, this wasn't a movie in its own right, this was an extended homage to the movies that went before - which means I cannot believe a guy like Singer signed on to this thing. From the Christopher Reeve look alike to the near perfect shot-to-shot matches from the Reeve movies to the reuse of the Williams score, it is clear the makers of this film were simply afraid to stray, at all. More on that in a minute.
Kevin Spacey was doing his best Gene Hackman - Why? Why not just bring Hackman back for crying out loud. I have said before that I thought Lex Luthor was a lame villian, so for the movie they not only use Luthor, they use the lamest vision of the lame villian ever. Luthor has come close to being a genuine evil genius in the comics lately being elected President and all - Now that would have been good. Superman returns to find Luthor US President and the world in love with the 'ol baddie. That is a dilemma Supes coud sink his teeth into.
This movie was ponderous, it moved with the speed of your average sloth in hibernation. This observation contains the seeds of how the frachise can be saved - more to come.
Here's the problem, Superman is not a superhero - He is THE Superhero. - and therein lies the problem. Have you ever noticed how Mickey Mouse has become pointless as an actual cartoon character? Mickey was long ago relegated to the role of corporate icon, and therefore all risk taking with the character itself had to be eliminated. Superman is perilously close to that same precipice. Thus this film was so formulaic.
This movie was clearly designed to preserve the image and promote the franchise. The pacing and outline of the film was very similar to the Smallville TV show, which is also a bit ponderous. This movie also contained an homage not just to the show, but to the Aquaman spin-off soon to come. (See the boy's pajamas near the end of the film.) Such cross-promotional, franchise-preserving, can't tell the difference between TV and movies stuff is what killed the Star Trek franchise.
Superman has always been the superhero hardest to find an emotional hook for. Alien like the X-Men, he is not like them. They are oppressed, he is wreathed in glory. It is hard to muster sympathy for a man cheered by a stadium full of people. Made alone by his alien nature, he is feated and loved by the world. It's like trying to feel pathos for Madonna. There is too much success to buy it.
There is hope. What was the best Superman movie ever? If you answered Superman II - the Zod movie - you would be correct. I would argue it is the second best superhero movie ever, behind Spider-Man II. (By the way, the best thing about seeing Superman Returns was the Spidey III trailer.) Why? Here is a hint - Superman first appeared in Action Comics.
The character is just not that great from a pathos standpoint so go for the gusto, make a straightforward action flick, that's what the Zod flick was. It seems like they got it precisely backwards the summer. X-Men, with pathos to spare played a straight action flick. Supes with pathos hard to find went for all the angst. Crying shame.
Related Tags: Superman Returns, review, superheros, X-Men
