Im with you and need to catch up on sleep before I really let fly but in short it was a very very mixed experience ultimately leaving me with a bad taste in my mind.
When I saw Superman the Movie on opening day, first show I left the theatre --well-- high - there's no other wonder to describe the exhilartion of seeing
my Superman - the silver age Supes - so brillaintly depicted. Not to say that there were flaws but there were and they were many. But ultimately forgivable as a motion picture it delivered the goods.
Superman Returns for all its Christ like ballyhoo is a big bloated disapointment. A times it was like watching a zombie movie because it was like a undead beach party - some great Super FX sequences bogged down by an unwieldly plot, inane logic and a slavish retread of the original. By the time I saw the ninth visual cue from Donners 78 or another line of dialog resaid, I was cringing.
In one interview, Singer was cited as saying he never read Superman comics growing up or comics in general -- and it showed. Of course, another interview contradicted that -- that he was the biggest fan ever.
So what are you left with -- some great Super action (but not nearly enough), a selfish Superman who's ultimately an ALIEN DEAD BEAT DAD (if the Munchkin really is his son - ambiquity and confusion reigns here), a subplot that would've been minor in any other film becomes this films emotional core -- Richard White and the kid are absolutely uneccessaryto the story. Luthor's plan is illogical and illconcieved - it seems only as an excuse to reuse the 'land' shtick from S1 and Jon Peter's inisitence on the death/resurrection of Superman. Oh did I mention the uneccessary kryptonite shiv and sadistic beating of Superman? Maybe Superman fighting three polar bears or a giant mechanical spider would've been better!
Routh channeling Reeve is OK but even Dean Cain and Tom Welling added their own interpertations to the mythos. Bosworth is pretty but no depth. Spacey had the potential to be psychopathic as all get out and achieves that in spots. The others are OK. Larson and Neill's cameos were tops.
The script is weak and the film too long. If ever a script needed the sure hand of a script doctoring Mankewicz or Joss Whedon, this was it. What started as possibly the best Super-movie ever dove tails so fast, it was painful. Ottoman's score is best when it echoes Williams.
The good news is that it will generate enough $ for a sequel - one that i hope can stand on its own two legs rather than recycle an older, better film.
When something is chewed up and spat out as something new its callled pablum.
Other than that, like I said, there are some iconic Superman moments and sequences, but edited together that makes ten minutes out of a 2 1/2
hour film.
However to most civilians, non-fans, the film is a success especially if one reads the reviews in great metropolitan newspapers. The audience I saw it with barely laughed and after the shuttle save, no lite cheering.
Im sure Im in the minority on what some are calling "the best super hero movie ever!" (that still belongs to 'The Incredibles') but when I think about what this film could've been, as opposed it what it actually is, I get nuts.
I give it
which really should be 1 1/2 but I cant make a half
Jeez- i thought I was going to be brief. :shock:
Some sleep and Ill get into point by point.
I closing: I got much more enjoyment out of reading
All Star Superman 4 twice! Page one I laughed and smiled throughout. Imaginative storytelling and respect for character which the SR film didnt have.
And Where the Daxam was Ben Hubbard! I got gypped!
