I know we have covered Superman Returns 1.5 times already on the blog, but seeing that I just saw it and liked it so much I wanted to post a few thoughts on it.
First and foremost, it felt a lot like Spiderman 1, which in itself borrowed a lot from Superman 1, which Superman Returns also borrows a lot from. Its kind of eerie how similar these 3 movies are. I guess its a testament to Richard Donner's work in kickstarting the comic book movie.
Secondly, Singer definitely knows how to shoot the "iconic" imagery people want when they think of Superman on film. There were a dozen shots in the movie that were just breathtaking and really embodied what Superman should look like. My favorite was his lifting of the car in the nod to the Action Comics #1 cover. The saving of the plane was easily the best sequence in the movie, but it was unfortunate it was in the beginning because the action quotient really tapered off quite a bit near the end. I enjoyed the montage of news coverage about Superman's exploits around the world, and his rush through Metropolis saving people as the crystals were causing havoc.
Thirdly, I can clearly see that Singer understands the character behind the comic book characters he has dealt with so far. He really makes it a point to nail the essence of each character whether its X-men or Superman. What I don't understand is why he can't manage to greenlight better super villain plots. The main scheme of each bad guy in X1, X2, and Superman are so comic booky that they are a bit laughable. I was able to buy Luthor's scheme relatively well in Superman though, but still it was all a bit too hokey.
Fourthly, ****SPOILER WARNING***
Superboy. I am not completely sold on it. The kid was as annoying as any other "cute kid" in other movies. But I liked the whole Father-son angle that was presented throughout the movie, and felt it all came together nicely with Supes giving the Jor-el speech to the kid as he slept. That was a nice bookend moment. As far as the kid having super powers...while it made sense in the realm of one movie, I think it creates a massive mine field for what is inevitably at least a 3 film franchise. What do you do with the kid? You have established he will have super powers. Now, the audience is going to expect some advancement on that with each subsequent movie. Will he become a super boy sidekick? What powers will he have? And countless other questions that could be distractions in future movies.
Finally, Singer has proven he can rise to the action occasion in each of his super hero films. I would like to see more super action in the sequel. The plane sequence was phenomenal, but I want it to be topped. Sam Raimi really knocked it out of the park in Spidey 2 with some of the best superhero action ever. I hope Singer is aiming to up the ante with Superman Returns again.
Overall, this was an excellent movie, and I was pleasantly surprised at how good everyone was in it. I still think Spidey 2 is the best superhero movie we have seen so far, but its clear that the competition is getting better and better.
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