Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.
There are many times in a person’s life in which magical moments take place. Getting married would be high on the list. Having your first child would rank high as well. Then there are the smaller things that also have an impact on a person’s life—a helping hand when you least expected it, a song that has resonance to your soul, or even watching in awe as your favourite superhero comes to life on the big screen. Superman: The Movie had a tagline, back in 1978, that “You will believe a man can fly”. And, yes indeed, it made me into a believer. 28 years later I believe again like I did for the first time.
Superman Returns is the triumphant return of the Man of Steel to the big screen after a 19 year absence. Director Bryan Singer took on a huge undertaking when he decided pass over the directorial duties of the third X-Men movie—X-Men: The Last Stand—and take over the reins of his favourite superhero. This was an opportunity of a lifetime, and he succeeded beyond expectations. This is a man who has complete reverence for the first two Superman movies and uses them as a springboard to propel the Last Son of Krypton to greater heights. Joining Singer is his X2: X-Men United collaborators Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris, who provide the screenplay. And they lovingly craft a story that pays homage to the entire franchise—from the comic books to the radio shows to the 1940 Fleischer animated cartoons to Richard Donner’s movie. They take all of this and update Superman for the new century.
What is He… Super or Man?
Singer does something very important with this movie… he brings an emotional investment that engages the audience, something that really hasn’t been present with all the other Superman films. And when I mean emotional, I mean the heartstrings are being pulled in many directions. What I really appreciate is how genuine the film turned out to be in the end. There is nothing hip or campy; it has an artistic elegance that will be able to stand through the annals of time. Simply put, this is the most human story about Superman that has been featured on the big screen.
If Superman ever felt like a fish out of water, it’s magnified even more so now. His 5-year absence was heartbreaking, especially for Lois Lane, but the world moved on and managed to live without his presence. In fact, Lois even won a Pulitzer for her piece on “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman”, a statement that echoes the mindset of a lot of comic book fans who sees the Man of Steel has being old and stale compared to the new breed of superheroes running around in spandex. Superman’s challenge now is to integrate him back into a society that has done just fine without him. If anything this is about Superman’s redemption.
Lex Luthor, in the meantime, just struck gold after he is left with a fortune from his ailing billionaire wife Gertrude Vanderworth. She was responsible for freeing Lex from prison and believes that he is a good man who deserves a second chance. Poor deluded Gertrude. Luthor is bitter about his imprisonment. After all, his chance to become the new Donald was trumped and he wants to extract revenge on the man who put him there. What better way than to invade the man’s home and use his technology to further his own cause.
And when Luthor tests his theory using this alien technology, catastrophic events start to happen. Unfortunately for Lois, she’s aboard a new, sophisticated 747 that is about to launch a fancy new space shuttle into space when all of this happens. Disaster occurs, and it looks like the end for the fearless, intrepid reporter. This looks like a job for Superman. If only he was around.
But is He Superman?
Brandon Routh has big shoes to fill, and I feel sorry for him. Come to think of it though, anyone would have big shoes to fill trying to follow Christopher Reeve on the big screen. Yes, I know there have been others who have played the Man of Steel since Reeve's last Superman movie—John Haymes Newton (Superboy), Gerard Christopher (Superboy), Dean Cain (Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, Tim Daly (Superman: The Animated Series), George Newbern (Justice League), and Tom Welling (Smallville)—in one capacity or another. The thing is they have all done so on the small, boob tube. This is the big time. This is the major league. The big screen is for those wishing to pick a person apart and scrutinize them under the microscope. It's a big job, one that commands a Superman to pull it off.
It is hard to see anyone else in this role on the big screen, but Routh makes this role his own. After watching this movie he is Superman, without a doubt in my mind. Singer finds these unknown actors and makes them into household names. Just look at Hugh Jackman and his breakout role as Wolverine in the X-Men movies. He has become a bankable franchise. Routh has now done the same with the Superman franchise, and I bet Warner Bros. is salivating over this prospect.
What I like is Routh’s performance as Clark Kent. He captures the goofiness that Reeve endowed in the character, but he doesn’t make him a bubbling oaf that borderlines on clumsy and pathetic. What he does, instead, is make Clark an approachable guy and it feels like Clark isn’t the disguise anymore. His presence as Superman is as it should be—a powerful, commanding, larger-than-life that is mixed with human understanding. It’s amazing how a person like that can demonstrate such a calm demeanour in the face of peril, but it goes to show how much he commands such power.
I also enjoyed Stephen Bender’s take on young Clark as he was discovering his abilities. I could see how exciting and frightening it would be to discover the different abilities at your disposal.
Kevin Spacey must be channeling Gene Hackman as he does a great Lex Luthor. This isn’t the same goofy Lex as in the previous films, though I sometimes think he was acting more like the Joker at times. Lex has been in prison so it’s somewhat of an understatement that he is bitter about the Man of Steel, almost to the point of an obsession. Even though it is exciting to see him take a turn towards the “dark side”, he is still keeping it in line with the spirit of Hackman’s Luthor.
Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane was the X-factor in this movie. I first had my doubts when she was announced to play this role. The noticeable thing is how young she looks, and I had flashes of Katie Holmes’ character in Batman Begins rummaging through my mind. Thankfully, Bosworth is not Holmes. The fact that she plays a mother to a 5-year old boy didn’t even detract from her excellent performance. What she does is bring a softer, more motherly side to Lois than we have ever seen in previous films. She is also bitter and resentful towards the man who left her, and it’s understandably so, as things get revealed. And to top it off, she is engaged to another man.
James Mardsen is that other man (why does Cyclops always get the beautiful women?). Richard White, the nephew to publisher Perry White, is actually a nice guy, and it makes hating him so much harder. Actually, I don’t hate him at all, and this is the dilemma that is presented… Lois has two great guys in her life (three if you count her son).
One of the highlights for me is having Frank Langella cast as Perry White. This was one I didn’t expect at all, and a decision I whole-heartedly approve of, though it was amusing to have Skeletor (Langella’s role in the live movie version of Masters of the Universe) boss Superman around.
Another surprise is Sam Huntington’s portrayal of Jimmy Olsen. Finally, a Jimmy that isn’t so goofy and nerdy. This might be the best Jimmy Olsen ever, and he got it down to a tee.
Other performances by the sage Martha Kent (Eva Marie Saint), Lex’s floozy Kitty Koslowski (Parker Posey), billionaire Gertrude Vanderworth (Noel Neil), and bartender “Bibbo” Bibbowski (Jack Larson) all add these small, but human elements to this film. Neil and Larsen are both alumnus from the old 1950s The Adventures of Superman show playing Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen, respectively.
The special effects are incredible from flying, feats of strength, invulnerability, even the landscape surroundings. One scene in particular that I liked was Superman hovering over the Earth in space. That was an homage to artist extraordinaire Alex Ross who painted a scene similar to that. To see it transposed onto the big screen is amazing.
And then there is John Ottoman’s rendition of the most famous superhero theme song, using themes and motifs developed by original composer John Williams, and adding his own flavour into the mix. It’s a good blend of having the old nostalgic feel mixed with a new modern take for this film. It’s still clearly identifiable as being a Superman movie.
Wanted: One Missing Kryptonian
Superman may have been absent for only 5 years in Superman Returns but he has been gone longer from our sight that a whole generation never got to experience him on the big screen. In the 19-year absence from Superman: The Quest for Peace to this present movie, there have been an influx of comic book movies, both good and bad, that have graced the big screen. Think about it. There have been five Batman movies, three X-Men and Blade movies, two Spider-Man movies, and a whole host of singles such as Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Sin City, Hellboy and much more. But the biggest superhero of all was nowhere to be seen.
There were the many failed attempts of getting this franchise started again with Tim Burton directing and Nicholas Cage playing the Man of Steel. Yes, I can hear your question right now: “What were they thinking?” There was even the rumoured Batman Vs. Superman movie that was lobbied around at one point in time. None of these ideas ever got past the conceptual stages. The feeling was that Superman was not exciting enough anymore like his fellow contemporaries.
I’m glad all these attempts failed. Everybody was missing the boat, but Singer didn’t. Despite all his wondrous abilities, Singer realized that Superman’s greatest power is his heart. This has always been a dilemma to Superman. He is an alien raised with human sensibilities. His destiny is to rise above humanity, to teach them, and not to interfere in their development. Easier said than done. His life as Clark Kent and interaction with the mundane human lifestyle has exposed Kal-El of Krypton to love, hate, sense of duty, honour, sacrifice, and heroism—he has conflicted emotions that he is struggling with, especially when coming to grips that the love of his life has moved on without him. No matter how invulnerable he may be, no matter if a bullet bounces off his chest or eye, his tough skin still cannot stop the power of emotion from penetrating to his heart.
The movie didn’t escape any controversy in the beginning. The first concern was Superman’s costume. When it was first posted, the negativity that surrounded it was unbelievable and Singer’s reputation was already in question. ”The ‘S’ is too small. Why is costume so dark? Why does the red look like brown? What’s with the ‘S’ insignia on the belt? Superman looks gay!” Trust me, these were the clean versions. Honestly, I did a double-and-triple take at first. I had an idea of how Superman has supposed to look like and this wasn’t it. But over the course of time, I started to like the costume, even the ‘S’ on the belt buckle (Singer’s reason for it: it was harder to put the symbol on the back of his cape and animate it properly; hence, the belt buckle solution). Believe it or not, at one point in time, Superman did have an “S” on his belt buckle (go do some research now).
One cause for concern was Superman’s absence. Superman would never leave the Earth unprotected like that for a long period of time, and it seemed out of character.
The biggest one was Lois Lane having a child. Was it really her kid? Yes, it’s hers. How about the fact that she moved on with her life and is seeing another man? Wait, this isn’t in the comic books. No, it isn’t, and this is where Singer takes to most liberties with the character, and since he is following suit after Superman II, this decision, no matter how controversial, makes the most sense.
Christopher Nolan took the Batman franchise and reinvented it by taking it back to its roots with Batman Begins. Singer saw that the Superman franchise was already established with the first two movies and explored it even further. Two completely different methods of rebuilding the franchises, and they both succeeded. The Dark Knight and the Man of Steel are prominently back in the spotlight. Now maybe that “World’s Finest” movie starring both of them will come to fruition.
The expectations for Superman Returns was extremely high, and it’s hard to live up to all that hype. The Star Wars prequels suffered from it and produced just average movies, despite the hype. It’s safe to say that Superman Returns defies all expectations and even exceeds them. And the ingredient missing in those Star Wars prequels is found here in this film… heart.
Bryan Singer understands it perfectly. He is definitely a super man when it comes to making comic book movies.
For five years Superman Brandon Routh has been away from Earth coaxed into space by a belief that Krypton may still exist. Finding nothing he comes ba...More at Family Video
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