Superman Returns, the nonspoilery review

[trinityvixen]

Very enjoyable. I felt that all of the two+ hours were well spent, something that I think Singer does very well, never wasting a shot. It's very pretty, and the CG, though still noticeable in many places, was impressive. darkling1 pointed out that Superman's cape moved as fluidly as you'd expect it to, which is a hard sell. I especially loved the flying poses Superman adopted--they remind me of the more graceful arcs that someone unbound by gravity could easily loop through. A lot less stiff than any live-action Superman flight to date. It reminded me heavily of the poses you'd see the animated or drawn Superman do: pointed toes on take off, arms floated out to one side or tucked expediently to one side or another.

There was so much tribute to the first two films, that I would recommend seeing one or both before you go. The kid (and boy, he does look young) playing Superman does an admirable job, though I still cannot shake my love and faith for Christopher Reeve in the dual roles. I will say that the cinematic versions of Superman have done the best job making the two characters of Clark Kent and Superman look different enough that I think some people who knew both would be fooled into thinking they were different people (OH NOES! I SPOILED!).

Really, my impression that lasted through to today? I want to give Superman a hug. There's a tremendous, seeping melancholy suffused through the film that makes you ache for the Big S, and in that much at least, the cast and crew have done a fantastic job with what is sort of an otherwise average (plot-wise) but touching tribute. I cannot say I loved loved loved the film (I cannot say that about any Superman movie, to be fair), but I enjoyed every minute and wouldn't be opposed to seeing it again. Plus, I have that free ticket from buying Superman the Animated Series Volume 3. Woo!

Comments

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

There were parts of it where I could see room for them to have made some truly difficult choices, and not simplified inter-character difficulties the way they did. I figured one thing was a red herring, or at least, I could see it having been used as one, that I wasn't sure they'd have the balls to do, and they didn't.

That said, I found it fairly touching how Superman did his best not to interfere (too much) with the way Lois wanted to run her life, and that he and the fiance actually depended on each other. I liked that so much more, and that depiction is so much more three dimensional for both of them, that it vastly improved my regard for the film and the writers in particular as a whole. They made some easy choices with the rest, but they didn't just reduce the two men interested in Lois into stereotypes.

As for why they were both so interested in the meekest, least brassy Lois Lane ever...who knows?

[slackwench.livejournal.com]

The main thing which was stupid and predictable was that Jason was Superman's son. First of all, it's damn predictable. Secondly, it's supposed to be plausible that Richard is his father. But Supes and Richard didn't know each other before the big guy left. So somehow, Lois slept with Superman immediately before he left, then she meets Richard and gets serious enough with him soon enough that it's plausible for her kid to be his? Is Lois just the biggest white trash ho in the world or what?

Another thing I wasn't too happy with was how short the Superman/Lex confrontation was. Considering he's Superman's arch nemesis, it should've gone on longer. And considering how much Lex hates Superman, I'd think he would draw out torturing him for a while. But dropping him off the cliff and expecting him to die? WONDERFULLY classic supervillainy!

I did like that Superman/Clark and Richard aren't in conflict and that they actually help each other. Right after Richard is introduced, my friend turned to me and said "He's a white dick!" (Richard White...) From that point, I just figured they were gonna go with the whole "he's a bastard for taking Superman's girl" angle. I was happy they didn't.

I agree that it doesn't make sense that they'd be interested in her. But two characters with some depth could get together...



Yes, I want to see some Superman+Richard slash. I don't read fanfics (let alone slash) and it would be some of the most terribly written stuff ever, but it's an amusing thought anyway.

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Lois doesn't have to be trash to have slept with Richard soon after Superman. I don't buy that reading. For one, she didn't remember her romantic encounter with Superman because of what Superman did. It's possible she met Richard the next week and there was a spark or she was on the rebound from shock of Superman just up and leaving and she wasn't careful. I fully believe that she could have had the baby without knowing that it was Superman's and only discovered it after he grew up a little (or she did a little math). Something the people seeing it with me disagreed with was whether or not Lex actually knew when he questioned Lois the first time--there was some ambiguity to his line reading of "Are you sure?" I took it to mean Lex was suspicious, but then when nothing happened when he shoved kryptonite in the kid's face, he let suspicion rest for the time being (otherwise, the criminal mastermind would've done more than leave him to drown). Others with me disagreed and said that he could tell the kid was Supes' based on his flinching from the kryptonite (which, no offense to them, seems specious reasoning; if you shoved something in my face while threatening me, I'd flinch, too).

One review I read said that Lex was almost unnecessary since the issue at heart was the contentious relationship between Superman and humanity as a whole and the mano-a-mano brawl between superhero and supervillain was tried and tired. I kind of agree with that. I don't know how much Lex hates Superman. I think Superman annoys him to the greatest degree imagineable, but there's some arrogance to Luthor in the films that makes him almost brush Supes off. He clearly loathed him and was constantly aggravated by his interference, but not until Kevin Spacey stepped in and mentioned the aggravations of going to prison and then stabbed Superman with kryptonite did it seem like the kind of hero-hate that is more notorious for the caped in Gotham.

Also, Lex Luthor is still a show-boater (no pun intended with the set design). I love that he still keeps a gal friend along even though he has no luck keeping them on his side. Parker Posey often annoys me, and she did in this (I thought she wasn't quite stupid-seeming enough, not like Miss Testmacher from Superman), but I was with her when she was breaking up over Superman being beaten by the thugs (one of which was KUMAR from Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle which was a tad distracting).

I really, really liked that Richard was not a jerk. I like that he had feelings and nobility all of his own, and I ached for him as much as Superman that he is living a lie that he is half aware of (he knows Lois still carries a torch and that he'll never be as important to her as Superman--or her son for that matter--but I never got the sense he was fully aware that Jason wasn't his biological son). I think he's the kind of guy who would raise the kid anyway, even if he knew, if Lois would stay with him. Unfortunately, I don't see that in his future. He can't get in the way of the mythos.

I don't want Richard/Superman slash. I would love cooperative stories between the two, though. Figuring out their next steps. It's just hard to think of how to go forward because this film made Clark irrelevant, and to have any future with Superman, Lois would have to, you know, notice Clark. And I don't think she can separate herself from Superman either, as, at the very least, she will need him to help her son understand his abilities and control them (and conceal them, if need be).

[slackwench.livejournal.com]

Oh, and I hadn't noticed before that Kal Penn was one of Luthor's lackeys and Marlon Brando was Jor-El! Totally awesome! And Kevin Spacey makes a GREAT Lex!

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Spacey's Lex has some of the scarier, ruthless Lex that was never in the movies or in Lois and Clark. It's more the Lex of the comics and the animated series--the billionaire entrepreneur who doesn't operate entirely above board all the time--the one who thought he could take over Gotham in No Man's Land, for example. That's scary, and Spacey got that right, along with the silly. Spacey's cool.

I also was distracted by Kumar. Glad I'm not the only one.