Superman Returns *spoiler warning just in case*

ztoical

I don't think there's much in the way of spoilers here but I'm bad at judging

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Just got back from seeing Superman Returns and have to say it's pretty lacking - would suggest people rewatch [or watch for the first time if the case maybe] Superman 1 and 2 before going to see it as the film is pretty much a follow on from them [the later superman movies are ignored] Its a major homage to the films and not the comicbook. The opening titles are the same and the music, dear god, you'll want to stick a pencil into your head half way through - there's only so much of Williams superman theme that one can take.

The opening 15 is pretty slow that it picks up pace and starts to look like its going somewhere then falls apart and just drags - its got a running time of 2hrs 40mins and it feels longer. There's some nice shinny action bits but nothing really new. Where as Batman begins felt like a fresh take of an established franchise, Superman Returns feels dated.

Acting wise Routh is kinda creepy and looks way to much like Revees and only has about 10 lines in the whole film and Bosworth is pretty bad as Lane. The big disappointment is Spacey - he's not actually bad, in fact, him and Parker Posey are about the only thing worth watching but he's not playing Lex Luthor, he's playing evil comic book character guy. I'd been rewatching loads of JL unlimited before going and that just made the disappointment worse. On top of that he just feels like a background character while the whole Clark/lois plot is the main focus.

Brando is brought back from the dead for a Jor El voice over which gets really annoying - more so if you go with people who've never seen Superman 1 or 2 and keep asking whats with the voice over. Really not alot for hardcore superman comic fans which is a dispointing given Singer's run on the X films.

So thats my two cents on it, I'm sure plenty will disagree but hey what fun would it be if we all thought the same.

Evil_Bilbo

ztoical wrote:

Really not alot for hardcore superman comic fans which is a dispointing given Singer's run on the X films.

So you mean to say that superman returns is even worse than the abominations that were the x-men films (just face it, they sucked the big one).

Really though - if its any worse than those, I could not be bothered. Been looking forward to it since Empire gave it 5 stars - but I suppose they've just gone wierd over the last few years - cant trust em at all these days

(probably because they have a woman as editor - only messin!!)

ztoical

i think my friends comments on the film sum it pretty well:

"I saw Superman Returns on Friday. This is pretty directly a sequel to the 1978 Richard Donner film, but holy crap, it’s half remake. Seriously, this thing slavishly recreates entire scenes and incorporates chunks of dialog from the original. Hey, Brian Singer, could we maybe have had more new stuff in our new movie? And what the heck was the deal with that meteorite at the beginning?

And I like a bit less Jesus in my Superman."

After seeing the trailer i knew it was going to suck but went to see it after a former teacher of mine said it was good - however said teacher was also Singer's teacher and so admitted to being biased - he also said it was best seen in IMAX which is not really much good if you don't live near an IMAX.

And empire has been going down hill for years now

Evil_Bilbo

totally off topic, but any ideas on why empire has gone so bad in recent years? Its got so you cant trust its reviews, completely biased to any british movie (any excuse to plug shaun of the dead/bill nighy), totally unfunny.

I regularly write in giving them grief, but they still continue with the completely inconsistant reviews (giving good films they think its cool to dislike as many stars -or less- as a just plain bad film). I've started buying total film. its alot better.

okay - rant over - what about that new supes film? Must go see it and make up my own mind.

Wacker

Off topic I know, but I buy Empire every month, and I'll be the first to admit that the reviews are dodgy. Total Film gives far more reliable reviews. Empire, however, has far better articles than Total Film, as they really seem to cater to an audience that know films very well. While the reviews are untrustworthy, there are plenty of other places to read safe reviews, such as IMDB. Not so many places for decent articles, in my opinion.

chrislad

Superman was enjoyable. It wasn't exactly the best film in the world but it was entertaining. If I wanted Citizen Kane or a classic, I'd go watch one of those. This isn't a classic. It's good entertainment.

ztoical

like i said at the end of my post everyone is going to have a different opinion but i didnt go to it expecting citzen cane, i went looking for summer blockbuster entertainment which is what the film is marketed as and i personnal didnt get that from it, it was too slowly paced in places and while I liked at first that it was full of respect and nostalgia for the original that got really old after awhile.

however if people want big ass summer blockbuster fun go see pirates of the caribbean 2, really really fun film. flawed and kind of all over the place but really don't care cus its so over the top.