King Krypton writes:Well, you can stick a fork in this movie; it's done.
Geez, King, you sure hang out at some negative-minded sites. It wasn't that long ago you had equally dire predictions about Batman Begins based on internet nay-sayers, and that movie was faring pretty well, last time I checked.
I take anything the fanboys say with a grain of salt. They get up in the morning looking for things to gripe about; it's their whole reason to live. Maybe Superman Returns does have the worst buzz since "Catwoman" (though from what I've seen elsewhere, that's not at all the case), but in the end what killed Catwoman was not the opinions of fanboys, it was the fact that it was a bad film. The general public stayed away in droves, and not because of what comic book readers said about the movie, not because it wasn't "Selina Kyle," etc. It was because reviews were almost all negative and word-of-mouth from early audiences was even worse.
The truth is the only people who DID see Catwoman were fanboys, comic geeks who will go see any movie based on a comic regardless of how bad it is. They will complain about the Fantastic Four, but they'll see it. They'll complain about Constantine, but they'll see it. The one group Hollywood can count on seeing comic-based movies is comics fans. The problem comes in when they are the ONLY ones going, because there aren't that many of them.
In other words, these guys complaining about the Superman movie will be the first in line to see it, if for no other reason than to say "I told you so." Of course if it ends up being good, they'll claim they knew it all along.
Monkeys with keyboards.
I am perplexed by some of Singer's choices -- the reliance on elements from films the cultural cache of which expired decades ago seems to run against all marketing logic -- but I can't pass judgement today on a film that's not even finished lensing yet! Some signs are encouraging...I like the glimpses of Metropolis skyline (the "Sky Captain" look is a good idea...I just wish this was a 40s period piece!) and what I've seen of the flying effects is fine. I'm not as happy about Routh, just because he looks way too young for the part. But then I thought the same about Matt Damon as Jason Bourne until I saw him action (wow!), so who knows. His voice is good.
I'll be interested to see how Singer brings it all together, if indeed he can. But I'm not concerned about what the Byrne fans, the Welling fans or the post-Crisis crowd thinks. None of us will get 100% of what we want, and that's probably not even possible given all the faces Superman has worn over time...your Supes is likely not my Supes. But if there's one constant over time it's that fans resist change. I had trouble with Chris Reeve replacing George Reeves and Michael Keaton replacing Adam West. Today's boards are full of people insisting Keaton can never be outdone by Bale. In ten years whoever replaces Routh will face the same complaints. Yadda yadda yadda. The point being, no matter how much this fan or that one dislikes one choice or other, it doesn't guarantee the film will fail. None of us wanted Keaton as Batman, but the movie did huge business. More recently, almost no comic fans had anything positive to say about "Fantastic Four," but it did well and a sequel is in the works.
Bottom line: every comic fan on Earth can hate Superman Returns, but if the rest of the world likes it, it will be a hit. Conversely, every comic fan can love it, but if the rest of the world is indifferent or opposed, it will fail. Let the fans rant all they want on message boards, in the end it is the only power they have.