Yep,
the effectual colour consortium of red and blue has reappeared
throughout the world – in bus shelters, on the side of public
transport, on highway billboards, on the back page of the entertainment
lift out in the newspaper, and anywhere else that’s open to some sturdy
advertising revenue – reminding viewers that not only is the Man of
Steel back, but so is cross-promotional wide-spread all-inclusive
mass-marketing. The ‘S’, it seems, didn’t stand for Superman at all, but…. Sales.
For once though, the hype to entertainment-value ratio ties: Superman Returns and he’s back in spectacular fashion!
Comic
fans from as far as Kansas (appropriately enough) and Kathmandu will be
ready – baton’s by side – to take a swipe at the first new Superman movie since 1987’s super-slumber Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
(still trying to get my money back for that time-waster). You can’t
blame them either. This new film has been in the works longer than
Pauly Shore has been out of work. The wait has to be worth something,
right?
Right.
But let’s admit it, fans aside, just the
name alone will draw people in, and honestly, they probably didn’t even
need to try that hard (at one stage, it seemed they weren’t trying,
actually – Tim Burton was going to direct Nicolas Cage in a travesty
called Superman Lives –
can you imagine how that would have turned out?), because frankly,
audiences will flock to the thing - with their large popcorn,
super-size coke and free ‘Superman’ mini-poster – anyway. At the end of
the day, this new Superman
movie could’ve centred around Krypto the dog taking on a
newly-resurrected Nuclear Man, aided by Jon Cryer as Luthor’s nephew,
and registers would still go ‘ting’. You can essentially draw a line
right through the middle of that ‘S’ to be $.
Thankfully, master-storyteller and proficient director Bryan Singer (X-Men)
believes in giving an audience little more for their money (If only
because he’s afraid those stringent fans will shower his freshly ironed
white pants-set with tomato juice) - so Mark Pillow didn’t get a job,
after all.
Singer has taken on a lot, though. What he’s done
here is he’s tried to tie this new film – with its new cast, new tone,
new environs – into the original films, the Christopher Reeve ones. For
the most part, he convinces us that there is a correlation, but at the
same time, the film might be best enjoyed if viewed as it’s own,
distinct, entity – sort of how Batman Begins (2005) was to the 1989 Batman – because of the things we’re supposed to overlook, like, for instance, the lack of the original cast.
Yep,
the filmmaker wants you to believe this is merely the fifth movie in
the old series – and not a restart, or independent commodity, like, the
aforementioned Batman Begins
(2005) – and it’s a daring move indeed, especially considering there’s
no real link to those classics (though he has used some old audio/video
footage of Brando that was originally going to be used in Superman II,
He’s also using John Williams’ legendary music score, and the title
sequence is unravelled in the same way as the original films) and our
hero looks about ten years younger than when we last saw him.
So, here’s the checklist you have to cross off before you chuck this in the DVD player:
1)
Consider Christopher Reeve and Brandon Routh as essentially the same
guy. Those trips around the sun did de-aged him, a little.
2) Forget that there was ever a Superman 3 and a Superman 4
3) Overlook the fact that the new Lois Lane is much foxier, and less feistier, than the old one
4) Don’t mind that Superman doesn’t need to hang from wires, anymore.
To enjoy Superman Returns
you have to leave the purist bullshit at the door, and come in ready to
experience something – mostly – new, otherwise you’ll be playing the
comparison game for the duration of the film, and that’s about as fun
as doing a side-by-side comparison of Coke and Pepsi. And like those,
this is essentially the same bag as the other, but with a slightly
different feel, taste and degree of aftertaste.
Not to say Superman Returns
isn’t very rationally faithful to the original films, it is. Singer is
obviously a huge fan. Not just referring to the musical cues and
characters either, but the overall tone of the pic. Like Dick Donner’s
film, the film is the perfect blend of action, adventure, romance,
drama and hammy one-liners. It’s as devoted as a moggie to its owner,
it really is.
Superman (Brandon Routh) has been gone for five
years. He returns to Earth, only to discover that his former love Lois
Lane (Kate Bosworth) is now married (to Perry White’s kindly nephew,
Richard, played by James Marsden) with a child. Coincidentally,
Superman’s old foe, Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey), is also returning to the
fold – having been locked away in a prison cell for a number of years.
When the scheming no-gooder gets wind of Superman’ return in
Metropolis, he comes up with an all-conquering plan to rid of him
forever. Will Superman save us? Will he win back the heart of Lois?
Will anyone finally notice the striking resemblance between Clark and
Superman?
In order to give an overall opinion of the film – we’ve been waiting this long for a new Superman movie, why not give its review an extra paragraph or too, hey? – Let’s dissect the finer elements.
The performances: Brilliant, without being ‘spot on’.
Kate
Bosworth mightn’t be as go-getting or confrontational as Margot Kidder
was in the original film, but she’s still good – bringing amiability
and sophistication to the role. It’s hard to say why she hasn’t
emulated Kidder a little more, when the other actors have obviously
been told to remember the original’s turns, but she does well.
Sam
Huntington is a scene-stealer as Jimmy Olsen – offering some great
comic relief, and some of the best lines the character has ever been
offered on celluloid. Again, looks a little younger than Marc McClure’s
version of the character, but it seems to work.
Kevin Spacey
plays Lex Luthor a little differently to how Gene Hackman played him –
not just referring to the fact that Spacey actually went bald for the
role, either – by giving him a much meaner streak, a more malicious
approach, than simply being a quick-quipping ungainly crook. As his
ditzy sidekick, Parker Posey gets some good laughs for her Kitty
Koslowski – whose sort of this film’s Eve Teschmacher (the character
Valerie Perrine played in the original film).
Frank Langella
makes for an OK Perry White too, but he doesn’t really get to shine.
Same with some of the other supporting characters, whose scenes seem to
have been dwindled down to nothing more than cameos (Eva Marie Saint as
Martha Kent, Kal Penn as the henchman Stanford, and James Karen as Ben
Hubbard).
And finally, Brandon Routh as the new Superman/Clark
Kent. How’s he fare? He is great. Better than great. He’s essentially
just channelling Reeve in both parts, but it works a treat. Because of
his look and performance, it helps us accept him a lot easier in the
role. Sure, he looks a little younger than Reeve did in the last couple
of Superman movies, but
Routh is so likeable and solid in the part, that he seduces you with
just one spangle of those sparkling blue eyes and that first gallant
commanding speech. He truly makes the movie, and it obviously it was
worth wadding through all those auditions (everyone from Brendan Fraser
to Paul Walker, Ashton Kutcher, Josh Hartnett, Matthew Bomer and Jude
Law were considered at one stage) to get to him. Nice find.
The story: The central plot, concerning Luthor’s latest attempt to thwart Superman, is preposterous – but that’s Superman,
these big criminal-master-plans are always outlandish. Still, it’s
pretty entertaining – and it’s not a bad way to go. The subplot,
involving Lois/Superman/Richard/The Boy, is well handled. It’s one of
the more dramatic elements of a Superman film, and it’s welcome. In some respects, it’s the most ‘adult’ the series has been.
At
the same time, the film does fall a little flat in some parts, and the
pacing feels a little off at times. The end, especially, feels like a
bit of a letdown – like someone let the air of the tyres a little
earlier than they should’ve – but everything before that is pretty
tight, and effective. Still, can’t help but think it needed a bit more
‘wham’ in the final reel.
The Production Design: Nice. Very
Sweet. Sure, Sydney-siders will be smirking as they spot many of their
landmarks masked as Metropolis, but mostly, the design team have done a
nice job of giving us a city that looks a little like the main location
of the first film, with a bit of contemporary funkiness. The other
locales, including the Fortress of Solitude, the Kent family home, The
Daily Planet, are all rather well done, too. Oh, the big one… the suit.
OK, so it doesn’t look exactly like it did in the first films… but
that’s OK, surely Superman’s allowed to keep up with the fashions, too,
right?
The CG: Though it’s noticeable, only because we were so
used to the wires and blue-screens of the original films, it’s very
effective. Superman soars through the sky like a firecracker, and we
feel like we’re with him every whisk of the way. They’ve spent a lot of
time making it look as flawless and as realistic as possible – which,
of course, is kinda hard since we’re talking about a guy flying – and
it works, just a couple of moments here and there where I sensed the
ol’ blue-screen from ’78 might have been dragged out. Otherwise, good.
So what isn’t real good about this latest Superman
movie? Well, to be totally honest, not a lot wrong here. Sure, you will
miss Christopher Reeve at times; it was, after all, his role. He owned
it for such a long time. You’ll also miss seeing some of the other
faces from the original films. But this is as good as a Superman
comeback could ever have been, believe me, it’s been handled with
fragile heed and some real man-hours have gone into making sure it
delivers on all counts.
Holy Caesar’s Ghost! They’ve done it! - Superman Returns is super-exciting, super-fun, and super-bly performed! This is the only Superhero film you need to see this year!
EXTRAS Folks may have been divided over the movie – but they won’t be arguing
the merits of the DVD. There’s some sensational stuff on here. Besides
the deleted scenes (15 mins worth of OK stuff], a featurette on how
they incorporated Brando back into the film (actually kinda interesting
– and I’m not even usually interested in these technical things), and
a, there’s a wondrous 3-hour documentary on every single damn aspect of
the film – beginning with the moment that Singer finished his treatment. Called
"Requiem for Krypton: Making Superman Returns", it’s a truly exhaustive
piece where you’re essentially following singer and company around as
they endeavour to bring Superman back to life. You’ll sit it on casting
decisions, see Routh pick his ‘Clark’ glasses out, watch some of the
contraptions and set-pieces being constructed, and most notably, see it
all come together. Had there been an audio commentary on the DVD, this would’ve been a perfect package. Conclusion:
Movie: 85% Extras: 85%
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