Superman Returns Review
As I mentioned at my old blog home, I saw Superman Returns last night. I really can't say enough about this movie. The friend I went with and I were discussing the movie and thought it might be the best comic book movie ever. We both agreed that the first Superman movie is the standard by which all others are judged almost 30 years after it came out (I would also include the first Spiderman as approaching Superman's level). We think this movie might surpass the first Christopher Reeve Superman movie. We're both going to see each movie again and decide for sure. I definitely recommend everyone seeing it. A few thoughts:
- The effects were as amazing as you heard. Superman's first public appearance after his return is saving a 777 that was carrying a space shuttle which would be launching in midair, but got stuck when trying to detach and therefore took the plane with it. Superman attempting to rescue involved some amazing effects. Incredible.
- I was actually disappointed in Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. It may not be his fault, though. He's definitely a good actor, so I think Gene Hackman was so good in the part in the original movie that it's impossible for me to picture anyone else as Lex.
- Brandon Routh did a really good job portraying both Kent and Superman. He got the nervous uncomfortableness of Clark perfectly, while the dedication and confidence of Superman was displayed wonderfully. At times, he sounded so much like Christopher Reeve, you thought they'd looped in some sound clips from the first movie.
- Some reviewers seemed to have trouble with Lois moving on from Superman. I didn't. First, as stated in the movie, she was mad at him for leaving without saying goodbye to her. Second, it had been five years he had been gone. Spoiler Warning. Highlight text to read: Third, he left her carrying his son, which he apparently did not know about. The friend who I saw the movie with said "They made Superman a deadbeat dad!" Fortunately, he was not intentionally so.
- A question that has occurred to me in the past that comes up again in this movie is: How strong is Superman? The answer seems to be: however strong the writers need him to be to support their plot points. This would be annoying, but it seems to be consistent across the Superman universe, so I'll try to take it in stride.
- The interesting thing is how many of the plot points come as a result of mistakes Superman had made. Lois is with another man because he abandoned her. Lex Luthor is free from jail because Superman had left and therefore couldn't testify in court. Spoiler Warning. Highlight text to read: Luthor is also able to create that giant continent because Superman had left the Kryptonian technology around for anyone who could find it to take it.
- There are a number of references to the first movie. Superman telling reminding Lois not to smoke. Luthor's girlfriend saying "Get Out!" when he asks her what did his father tell him as a young boy. (He was again really asking about the value of land.) Superman reminding the plane passengers whose lives he saved in the shuttle incident that "statistically speaking, it's still the safest way to travel." Lois' inability to spell. So many nice touches like that.
My friend and I got talking about what makes Superman such an icon. He had mentioned that some directors previously attached to the movie had intended some changes like greatly altering the costume and giving Superman more of a dark side. Both of those would be mistakes.
Superman is such an icon not because of his powers, but because of his character. Superman is pure, has perfect intentions, does truly fight for "Truth, Justice and the American Way." (It's not just a slogan; he means it!) I can remember reading a Superman comic book as a kid where Superman is speaking his nemesis of the moment who points out that Superman can't touch him because he has no proof he broke a law. Realizing he was right, Superman used his heat vision to destroy the guy's apartment. I was bothered by that because that's not Superman. Superman would not do such an wrong. He'd just bide his time until he could prove the man's guilt, because that's the right thing to do. If you're looking for someone with a dark side, go to Batman or Wolverine. Superman is pure.
Which brings to me what might be the most intriguing part of this movie: its identification of Superman as a figure of Christ. It had always been there: a father in the heavens sends his only son to be raised by another family on earth. He spends his childhood unnoticed by those around him until he makes a large splash as he seeks to bring help to those who need it.
This movie draws on that obvious comparison and makes some very explicit references to Christ. After having stated that Superman draws his power from Earth's yellow Sun, they show him flying above the cloud cover to bask in the Sun and "recharge" before his final battle with Luthor. While there, he stretches out in the shape of Jesus on the cross. Prior to leaving Lois, he acknowledged that he might die if he went back to meet Luthor one more time. He said, "I have to go." It might have been necessary that he die so that others might live. Spoiler Warning. Highlight text to read: After launching the new continent into space to save the world, he falls back to earth in the same formation, apparently dead. And if you think about it, the nurse finding his hospital room empty can be sompared to finding Christ's tomb empty. They were both supposed to be somewhere and they weren't because they had come back to life. Remember, Superman had died in the operating room. And, as Superman tells Lois: "You wrote that the world doesn't need a savior, but every day I hear people crying for one." (While he was away, she had written an article entitled "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman," which won her a Pulitzer Prize.) His point is that Superman is the world's savior, who not only saves them in times of trouble but also gives them something to look up and aspire to. That's what Christ in the real world.
A well-done movie as pure entertainment, but also very thought-provoking.
UPDATE: I'm closing comments on this post. It's been nothing but spam flypaper for about a week now. It will remove some administrative headaches for me.
Comments
hey, great review! you should post this on FilmCrowd.com :) your blog url is displayed at the bottom of each review you submit so it might even send a little traffic your way. we have a page up for Superman Returns here
http://www.filmcrowd.com/content/world/all/5286/Superman_Returns/8/0
Posted by: luis | July 1, 2006 10:49 AM
Cool new site.
I've heard some complaints that they've tried to make Superman a citizen of the world (and an illegal alien) who can't even say "truth, justice and the Amerian way" anymore. what do you make of it? I haven't seen the movie so I don't know.
Posted by: Anna Venger | July 2, 2006 2:57 AM
Well, as a kid, I remember Superman saving people in other nations. (In Superman II, he went to France to sae Lois and prevent the terrorist plot at the Eiffel Tower, for example.) So while he was based in Metropolis, he helped the whole world.
There was a point in the movie where someone said something about him fight for truth and jsutice, leaving off the American Way. I can't remember exactly how it was said, but it was said in such a way that I wasn't that bothered at the omission. I read an interview with the writers that it was intentional, which is a shame, but I didn't find it that bothersome in the movie.
The illegal alien thing didn't come up in the movie.
Posted by: Paul Smith | July 2, 2006 6:30 AM
Saw it last night. Blah. Not impressed. Too long...too overdone and it's got NOTHING on Superman I or II. Batman Begins wins the battle here for best return of a long-dormant superhero franchise.
Posted by: Mike M. | July 2, 2006 10:09 AM