6:38 am - Sun 6/2/06
Superman Returns

Saw Superman Returns on Thursday.

In spite of having all kinds of problems with the movie--It's too long, the ending is anticlimactic, it doesn't hang together that well, and once again, Lex Luthor is too campy and his villianous plot is kind of stupid (Though I preferred Kevin Spacey in the role to Gene Hackman)--I'd still say I enjoyed it enough to give it a solid "B".

I liked Brandon Routh as Superman, and I thought the action was very exciting and well done (And I'm glad they recycled the John Williams theme from the original movie; I have to admit, I got chills as it played over the credits).

Though they overdid the "Superman as Christ" imagery (That's sort of inherent in the setup, so you don't need to beat us over the head with it), and maybe made him a little too sensitive (I didn't like the stalker-ish X-ray spying on Lois and her family), I thought it was an interesting choice to play up Superman's inherent loneliness and alienation (I imagine for some people, who wanted a brighter, sunnier Superman, that made the movie a lot less "fun". But I like my superhero movies fairly straight--with just a dash of humor--so I was basically okay with it).

A big thing for me with superhero movies--particularly the Batman and Superman movies (Since those characters meant so much to me as a kid)--is whether or not I feel like the director has respected the character, and how much the character means to poeople.

And substantial flaws aside (I didn't get to everything I thought was wrong with the movie), I felt like Bryan S. treated the character, and his fans, with respect. And that makes me give the movie the benefit of a doubt--I don't think it was a great movie, but by the same token, I'm left with high hopes for the sequel.

previous - next