I did see Superman Returns last Friday night. It's hard to really summarize my feelings for the movie, but I guess I can roughly sum them all up as: HOLY MOLY.
This film has instantly jumped to the top of my Best Superhero Movie list, and is making a valiant push for Favorite Movie of All Time. It’s just a shame that Bryan Singer wasn’t allowed to do this one and then come back for the third X-men picture, because that one would have been killer.
Firstly: the Score. I actually bought it on iTunes about a week before seeing the movie, and I liked it right away. John Williams’ original Superman themes are used brilliantly, and changed just enough to reflect the different lives the characters have. Ottman has pulled in enough of his own material to give himself a good jumping-off point for future films in the franchise (please?), while still retaining the Williams tunes where necessary, to build on the pre-existing foundation in our heads of exactly What Is Superman.
Secondly: the Casting. I know some people have had some complaints about Brandon Routh looking too young (a feeling I used to share), and about Kate Bosworth being all kinds of wrong. After seeing the picture I love them both. Bosworth reminds me of the Golden Age Lois Lane so much that I can’t help but ignore the fact that none of these performances will win Oscars. (For the record, I never really liked Kidder’s Lois.) Brandon, though, really nailed it in my opinion. His Superman is vulnerable emotionally, and a bit confused as to how he’s going to fit in amongst mankind a second time, but he displays nothing but confidence and control when in thick of heroics. Superman is a character that doesn’t need a lot of dialogue—it’s all in how “in charge” he looks when saving people. And thankfully, his Clark isn’t a bungler.
Thirdly: the Special Effects. Holy hot hell, is all I can say there.
Fourthly: the Length. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: I love long movies. Returns delivered that in spades.
Fifthly: the Premise. I love the “vague history” idea Singer decided to use. If you’re not familiar with what I’m talking about, they basically decided that instead of starting the Superman franchise all over and telling us his origin again, they were going to make a movie that uses the existing Superman: The Movie and Superman II pictures as the foundation. But it’s not a direct sequel to those, either—it’s more like the events of those films (or events very similar) happened to these versions of the characters, although the movie doesn’t spend any time quibbling over exactly which details it builds from or chooses to ignore. It’s like the characters have a memory of the events, but in the same way a viewer who’s only seen each film once (a long time ago) would remember things. I think it was a brilliant choice that allowed them the most possible freedom.
I simply can’t wait to go again. Maybe next time I’ll hit the IMAX 3D showing….
Want to go see IMAX tomorrow (Thurs)?