Superman Returns

[dotsomething]

Knew I'd left my movie squee around here somewhere.

So, here's the thing. Never been much on the big blue guy. I'm more of a batfamily fangirl, that's no shock.

Still, I've always liked Superman. Whether in the comics or the movies or on Justice League, he always seems to bring a sense of comfort. I grew up on the Christopher Reeve movies, and

Comments

[phantasmm]

I LOVED SR. Brilliantly executed. Brought out the Superman fangirl in me, even tho I'v ebeen a life long Batman fan. :)

[dotsomething]

Exactly. Somehow I've found my inner Superman fangirl. It's different than the way I feel about Batman; I don't think I'll ever really *get* Supes on that level. But I'm certainly developing more of an appreciation (and JLU helped too :)

[buildingupsteam]

yay! im glad you liked it. i think i wanna see it in 3D again...let's see it on 3D!

[dotsomething]

Heh. Maybe. I think I like it the way it is, though.

I do want to see it again though!

[ecmyers]

Mwa ha ha! Told you so :P

[dotsomething]

It's nice to have my movie cynic trounced for a change. It was getting far too smug. ;)

[90scartoonman]

Yeah, the movie did have a lot of unexpected surprises (I believe Luthor's line was "WRONG!"), and felt like a Superman movie, not a popcorn superhero movie.

And you're right, things like making Richard a good guy and not having Lois wake Superman up shows smart storytelling. "Great Caesar's Ghost" indeed...

[dotsomething]

They kept pulling back juuuust this side of the sentimentality line. The result genuinely heartfelt if a bit shmoopy :)

This had a terrific Perry White (don't know the actor's name, though he's familiar).

Lane Smith's "Great shades of Elvis!" is probably my very favorite Perry.

[90scartoonman]

Lane Smith was great, and so was Terri Hatcher (MUCH better Lois than Bosworth).

Oh, and your "the movie has heart, soul..." thing made me laugh.

[dotsomething]

The Lois & Clark tv show is still my favorite version, any media. JLU's Clark is interesting; the first Superman movie and this movie are right up there, but after L&C. And in the comics he's just a nifty guest-star to me.

Heh. I remember when I first saw the promos for Lois & Clark, when they were presenting it as a romantic comedy/drama about these two people, only the guy had some sort of secret...I liked that version of it, and when they revealed the guy was Superman I was muchly intrigued and HAD to watch *g*

The biggest different between L&C and the other versions is that Clark is the real person and Superman just a disguise.

[laudre]

There's a lot lot lot of good storytelling in this movie, more of which will, I think, become apparent upon repeated viewings (I'll probably have to wait for the DVD). I think that if it hadn't been a deliberate sequel to 1 & 2, it would've been an even better movie, because it wouldn't have had to carry over some arguably poor decisions made in those movies.

I think it's telling that my biggest complaint, overall, is that I think the S on the costume should've been a bit bigger. (I didn't even complain about him being able to hear from outside the atmosphere -- this is Superman; the laws of physics are his bitch.)

[dotsomething]

The listening outside the atmosphere scene was so eerie and poignant that really, physics can take a back seat to storytelling. This isn't science fiction. It's superhero. There was a certain amount of reality in this. Not much, but enough that I didn't roll my eyes more than a few times...:p Also, I liked that you did get the sense that some of this stuff is an effort for him. There are limits to this Superman's power. Routh did the straining thing well. he made all of it look like it *hurt*.

[laudre]

When he rose into the sky, above the cloud layer, to soak up sunlight before heaving the mass of rock into space, that was, I think, one of the most important moments in the movie: it both reminds you of the real source of his power (the sun), and it's a direct visual homage to a similar moment in The Dark Knight Returns (after the nuclear bomb blast). (There were a LOT of visual homages in the movie -- it'll be fun to get the DVD and spot them all.)

The other issue I had was with Kate Bosworth -- she does pretty well, and she's not a bad actress, but I just didn't get a Lois Lane vibe from her the way I got a Clark Kent and Superman vibe from Routh, or a true Lex Luthor vibe from Spacey. It was more like she was only Lois Lane because they told us she was; I certainly wouldn't have picked her from a group of random women to be Lois unless, say, they were all blondes and she the only brunette.

[dotsomething]

Oh, yes! I loved the solar-powered thing. I'm not that familiar with the mythology, but from somewhere knew that the mumbo-jumbo scientific reason for his strength on earth had to do with our sun being different than krypton's (in addition to gravity). It's also just a lovely moment, not only visually, but in hinting to another vulnerability. He NEEDS that sunlight to survive.

Bosworth was an interesting Lois to me. I didn't mind the difference, it just seemed like a different take. But it's not a take on Lois that should be definitive. The Dana Delaney/Teri Hatcher/Margot Kidder type Loises are more my idea of LL. The hard, tough shell concealing vulnerability underneath. Bosworth was soft outside, but still direct and ambitious. I loved the moment in zero-G when she reaches for the pen instead of the oxygen mask, because THAT'S Lois. So I would defend her performance; the only problem I had was she seemed too young.