Superman Returns
6/30/2006
Superman Returns, and it's a let down for me.
I'm not surprised. Regardless of the hype and seemingly planted 10-star reviews on IMDB, I still have very little faith in Bryan Singer's ability to create substance and depth with his films. After the fantastic, gritty Batman Begins, I was expecting something a little meaty and poignant. What I witnessed tonight was a popcorn movie that I will forget in two or three days.
I loved Brandon Routh's performance, thought Lois Lane was cute but miscast, enjoyed Spacey as a somewhat darker Lex Luthor, loved Frank Langella as Perry. All the elements were there... expensive production, excellent SFX, good cast, but it doesn't hold up very well - it's all over the place with no solid center, exactly my impression with other Bryan Singer films.
Lex's evil plan is pretty dumb, though it does look cool with 3D glasses. I don't enjoy the messianic overtones to Superman's character as insinuated into this film. It lends Superman an arrogance and self-importance that doesn't become him. He's also portrayed as a peeping tom, which creeped me out a little. I know all of these things have been touched upon in the comics, but they are also the reasons Superman isn't my overall favorite Underwear Pervert.
Much like everthing else I've seen directed by Bryan Singer, there is a lot of eye candy without a lot of character substance. It fails as an homage to the original film. It's more of the same from Hollywood, a mind-numbing romp through familiar territory. If it could have been half as good as Batman Returns or Spider Man, I would have been satisfied.
Superman's Return could have been much better in the hands of a more creative and capable director. Unfortunatley, because of the apparent success of this film at the box office, we will probably be subjected to more of the same emptyheaded crap in the future. I'm crossing my fingers that Bryan Singer doesn't get his fingers on other comic characters I admire!
posted by Edward Svengali @ Friday, June 30, 2006,
