June 29, 2006

  • movie I've seen recently...

    Superman Returns (2006)  B-

    "Superman Returns" met most of my expectations. I thought Bryan Singer did a
    great job with his "tribute" to the Richard Donner films (from the opening credits to John Williams "superman theme"), that it
    pretty much fits right in with the first two films. It has to be
    mentioned that the action sequences are only really there when needed,
    while the main bulk of the story are mostly exposition scenes with the
    characters. I can definitely see why Bryan Singer describes the film
    more like a love story as opposed to an action film. There's also a bit
    of a down beat tone to several of the scenes, and it can be argued that
    it's trying to be a little "too serious" at times.

    Kudos on casting Brandon Routh as the successor to Christopher Reeve's
    Superman, because of the uncanny resemblance, mannerisms, and even the
    way he talks. I wish there were more scenes involving Clark Kent
    though, but then this film really is all about Superman. Kevin Spacey
    as Lex Luthor was extremely good in the role, and I also thought the
    supporting casts did a great job as well (Perry, Jimmy, Kitty, Richard,
    etc...). The only person I can see that may need some work is Kate Bosworth's Lois Lane. I think the writers have to partially be blamed
    for any misgivings I have of Bosworth's Lois, because I honestly
    thought that when she was given the opportunity in some scenes, she
    showed that she can really play that intrepid strong female reporter
    that is Lois Lane. The chemistry between Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth definitely
    does not hold a candle to Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder though.

    The special effects were mostly very well done. There were some moments
    were it got distracting in noticing how "Computer Graphic" he looked in
    some scenes. But overall, I really loved how they portrayed Superman
    flying around, and also how inventive he was with his other powers.

    Overall, I thought Superman Returns was a good film, but it's only
    really a taste to how the follow up will potential be a much better
    movie. In comparison, I believe I would still rank the Donner pics a
    little bit more favorable than Singer's rendition. In comparison, I thought that
    "Batman Begins" is still a better film. I'll say this much though, I
    liked that Superman is still the big blue boy scout here, as making him
    "darker" as is the trend would have been a bit embarassing. I also
    loved how the world reacts to Superman's presence, because he really is
    like a God among men.

    p.s. per the previews / trailers we've seen prior to the final cut, it
    looks like there are several scenes that were definitely cut.

    p.p.s. I just found out that Bryan Singer is gay. Not really relevant, but there you go.

    p.p.p.s. Roger Ebert gave the movie 2 stars