I went to see Superman Returns in Imax 3-D last night with my friend Abel. We are both former comic book fans, albeit from different eras, but neither one of us had any positive expectations about this film. The reviews have been bad, and the dedicated Superman fans have essentially panned it. I am not a fan of the director, he slaughtered the X-men, and so I was pretty much ready for a huge screen embarrassment of a concept which should be inspiring. The modern world… between anti-depressants and litigation there’s nothing much left but the huge bill for all that cgi. With such low expectations, I was prepared for some quality time with Abel, and perhaps a bit of comic book reverie. Didn’t matter much to me, cause I got a free pass to go see the film when I bought the second season of Justice League on DVD for my son and I to watch.
I want to write a review here which praises a lot of the thinking and hard work which went into this film. Rather than remaking the original, or going off on a tangent, Superman Returns is an annex of the first three Superman films. The film picks up where the others left off. Marlon Brando appears again via projection as Jor El, Superman’s father, and the sets are reminiscent of the first series of movies. Even Superman, Brandon Routh, whom I previously estimated to be an overly hairy Puerto Rican queen deeply unfit to wear the big red diaper, was obviously cast because his voice and manner mirror that of Christopher Reeve (the guy who played Superman in the earlier films) and not because of his Superman-like qualities. This was an extension of the previous series, and not a reinvention of the story.
I want to say that the depiction of love between Superman and Lois Lane (now married, with a child) was so touching, and so strangely topical in my own life that I was almost moved to tears (not quite.) I found myself with my huge, red 3-D glasses on wanting to believe. They made the flying look really good, and Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey were superb. Eva-Marie Saint even makes an appearance as Martha Kent, the woman who raised little Kal-El into the dorky, and hapless Clark Kent. The whole thing was big, and pretty. It was abbreviated, shallow, and missing something important. Typical of sentimental action movies.
It would be wonderful to be able to fly, to stand before the woman you love and let her go, to stop a jet from crashing, or rip an artificial continent from the ocean floor and sent it out into space. It would be wonderful if leaders and people in power had an ounce of decency, love, empathy, and kindness. If we cared about all people equally, with love, and absolute faith in justice, then there would be no war, no crime, no fear.
Today, I see pretty clearly that I am Superman. And so are you. Maybe we can’t fly, or move mountains… but yes, yes we can.
One Comment
i was VERY impressed with this movie. the first Superman movie (with Reeve) was one of my favorites as a child, and i was very impressed that this one was just as good- if not even better.