Superman Returns
Gray sees Superman Returns and indeed believes that a man can fly!
Warning: If you are offended by the word "fuck", then this piece is not for you!
From the first Superman fanfare when I could feel the 6 year old in me wake up, I knew that I was going to be a great movie. The use of the old style credits and John Williams' music was perfect. It was like going to see the Phantom Menace for the first time in the cinema back in '99, except with Superman Returns, the film stayed true to it's promise and didn't turn shite as soon as the first scenes started and the music ended. I can honestly say that I was sat there last night feeling exactly how I did when I saw Superman at the flicks in '78 as a 6 year old. I was totally into it from the get go and glued to the screen. I had to keep myself down so I didn't (like you seemed to do) stand up and scream "FUCK YES!" in excitement after a cool scene or bit half the time, not that I would have shouted "FUCK YES!" as a 6 year old, but you know damn well what I mean. The movie made me feel so cool that I had a lump in my throat for nearly the whole fucking film!
I think the success of the film relied on the fact that a lot of the scenes were very similar to stuff from Supies 1 and 2, which was a masterstroke as they could pep up the scenes for a 21st century audience. Loads of stuff like repeating scenes on the roof of the Daily Planet and having things fall off the top of the building (the helicopter in S1 and the globe in SR etc.) The return to Smallville was very cool and even stole the thunder from Star Wars with very Luke-at-the-farmstead-as-a-boy type stuff at the start of the movie. The use of the music again was just killer in scenes like that.
Kevin Spacey was fucking great as Luther, but he'd never be anything else but excellent. He had a real menace about him and was a spot-on choice as a replacement for Gene Hackman. What else can you say about him?
Routh (right spelling?) as Superman was good and he really put in a good performance as Mr Christopher Reeves as Superman, if you see what I mean? Let's face it, we all think of Mr Reeves as Superman now and nothing will ever change that and Routh seemed to understand that, which was good. He wasn't quite as cool as Superman or quite as gawky as Kent, but he went for a happy medium and pulled it off. He even managed to give it large in the fly-past and smile over the Earth at the end of the film, which nearly had me in tears (More about that in a minute.) I get the feeling that he wouldn't have been able to carry off Reeve's fucking hairs-on-end delivery of lines like "Sorry I wasn't there Mr President. I'll never let you down again." (Flag back on White House, fly into sky, audience fucking tears the cinema apart with riotous cheering and shouts of "COME ON! YOU FUCKING RULE, YOU BLUE AND RED BE-CAPED FUCKING ALIEN SUPER FREAK!") But he was great anyway and they kept him away from saying too much. :D
Bosworth as Lane was OK, but I don't think she really hit Margot Kidder's heights as Lois. But again, screw whatsherface from Lois and Clark, we all know that Kidder WAS Lois Lane (before she flipped out on booze and drugs and was found undersome's back garden shrubbery) so it was a tough job to do and she did it OK. Maybe in the next movie, she'll nail it 100% and not just 95%.
I thought that James Marsden as Richard White was funny as he spends his time in another action movie playing the guy who's missus is nicked by a cool superhero. :D Poor lad. I kept expecting him to slap on the visor and give it some laser action!
The plot was cool. Someone told me that they thought that there was too much Supie/Lane stuff going on, but I thought that was the whole point of the damn movie. The son thing was pretty good and handled well, even if it was kind of obvious what was going to happen. The krypotine island was a great idea and made you wonder what the fuck happened in the 80's when they were writing III and IV and where all the good ideas went. OK, not really that fair about III, as it had it's charm, but IV was just shite... A great testimony to the story and the movie was the fact that in the bits where the film went quiet, you could hear the audience hold it's breath as not to make a noise!
The look of the film was incredible and the production designer is a god amongst men. The lifting of the island literally took my breath away. Luther's office was fucking great and made me wish I had that room. The new suit was cool and the logo was nice.
Loads of cool bits in there too. Did you spot the photo homage to the first issue of Action Comics, with Superman holding up whatsherface's car? Did you spot Richard Branson as the astronaut? (I nearly shouted that to Kez, but kept myself down.) Did you spot the fact that one TV report of the reappearance of Superman was actually dated as July 25th? (So I was watching a TV report on a movie which was dated on the day I was watching the movie AND dated as my birthday!) The movie was jam-packed with great stuff like that. Homages and tongue-in-cheek stuff everywhere, and subtle too, not just throwaway stuff like Lois, Jimmy and boss stood round the blurry photo asking "is it a bird?" etc.
I dunno, the whole thing was great and any minor quibbles were just washed away by the whole great spirit in which the movie carried itself. Like I said, it was almost an emotional experience watching it as it gave me the boy feelings from the set-pieces and (long story) put tears in my eyes when Supie goes to see his boy asleep at the end of the movie, especially as that was followed by the old-style Superman fly-by over the earth and wave at the audience before the credits. I left the cinema biting my lip and speechless (apart from my text to you) and I'm still feeling blown away by it now. I could have gone back in and watched it again straight away.
They just got it right. They just fucking got it so right. They just got is SO FUCKING RIGHT! I thought Batman Begins was great, but this just made me feel like (caution: cheese ahead) flying! Do you know what I mean? Is this rant ridiculous? Fuck no! you agree with me 101%, you've got to else I think you saw a different film than me! I can totally understand why you clapped and I was just about to exclaim loudly when the titles came up and the Christopher Reeves dedication came on, but I got "the look" from Kez and decided to calm down. :)
Kez reckoned (half-jokingly) that Mr Reeves would be spinning in his grave at this movie, but I reckon that he'd have loved it. It really did have the feeling of those first movies. Roll on the sequel, I say. Get a General Zod back in and let's have round two of the Royal Rumble! KNNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEL BEFORE ZOD!
Fucking hell, Jay... It was amazing.
Superman rules.
You knows it.
I'm going to lie down.
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© 2006 Graham T. Ebbrell