Superman Returns
As the new trailer for Spiderman III hits the theatres showing the crawling man in all-new black outfit, another truely larger-than-life charater returned to this planet of mortals. Personally I was never a fan of Superman, I never liked the concept of one man lifting the burden of the whole planet on his broad shoulders in a very literal way (well, technically he is not a man we all know, but then he looks like one). I was always a big fan of Batman, for he is the one who is truely humane, with absolutely no superpower. I liked the ambience of the dark city of Gotham, all in the color scheme of black and grey. Even in the earlier films the city looked stunning, and in the latest one it is even better, almost as good as I could imagine. Thanks to Tobey Maguire, Spiderman was barely tolerable, and looking at the popularity it seems we have to see him for quite some time.
Coming back to our red n blue hero, both Bryan Singer and Brandan Routh have done well, elaborating the almost myth without deviating much from the original. Routh looks goo and in the line of Mr.Reeves so conservative viewers faced no problem in transitioning. And Bryan Singer who already proved his worth in Usual Suspects and X-Men has again made us believe in his talent that is as good as some superpower. The movie has a style, not so prominent as the Gotham ambience, but expressed through the traditional ways of cameraworks. From the very beginning, we see huge close-ups, of the cutleries that the old lady washes, the old radiogram, the dog, and all other simple objects, giving the film a feel that is new to superhero movies. The Daily Planet Office looks very traditional and clustered, and even the household of Lois Lane is very real, though kinda expensive. James Marsden looks good as her husband, and so are the rest of the cast. Kate Bosworth is irritated almost all the time, for some reason unfathomable. And of course Kvin Spacey is superb, though I didn't find this is a good enough role for the extremely talented actor. Special effects are good, and we leave the theatre with a smile of satisfaction on our faces. It is not as good as the X-Men III as that poses questions in terms of social context, any group that is not inferior but is supressed by the majority in a society would identify with the mutants' cause. Still, Superman was good enough a film, even for a non-fan like me who came back happy.
Labels: Graphic Novel, Movie/TV
posted by Raj @ 1:05 PM
2 Comments:
Superman is supposed to be the biggest of 'em all! For some reason decided by us mortal cartoon crazy human infidels, Superman has the place of Pele maybe because he was the first super kind. Superman IS larger than life and will remain so in everybody's mind, hell he is not human nor spider bitten or a indigo colored mutant! If you noticed, his presence/ treatment even by the movie directors is almost etheral/ spiritual and has strong inclinations as a representation of the truest supernatural (Him!)
Think of it, he derives his energy from the Sun, how close a representation can you achieve, through your imagination, of Him.
So expect the truest super actions from him and he is the closest approximation to the ONE who is kind of responsible for everyone and everything (including Gotham!)
The movie is good in patches.
Brandon, he looks cute enough in his tights for a high school prom date.. The mystic purity is there to a certain (not too great) extent and he has a way with his eyebrows which he thinks he should twitch every 5 minutes in order to represent Clark Kent, the innocent no-gooder. Spcial effects are good, Kevin Spacey could have been better and the child was very irritatingly mysterious about his super powers..
If that pup is superman's, it is somewhat of an abomination because Superman is the real "holier than thou" and should have definitely resisted the mortal "roll in the hay"!
It is kind of "sequel plot generating" than "showing the human side" because Superman is already superhuman and eternal and does not necessarily need a progenny or sow his seed or calm his loins (thought he should have had better self-control during a 1 night stand!)
In later episodes, he will be unnecessarily hassled by villains who will kidnap his son to get their ass kicked and bla bla!
I would say not the summer's best release but watchable if you are out on a hot day and need some hrs to relax inside a cool room and watch something, well interesting...
What I missed terribly is a super duper climax
Agreed with you, Anonymous, on most of the points. To be honest, I do not subscribe to the idea of finding greatness in Comic Books, I like them alright, but am not really a Samuel L Jackson from Unbreakable. So what makes me interested in them is when this art form crosses the limitations and tries to go where all true arts can reach. That's something I saw in X-Man III, and sometimes in Batman.
Superman is surely the biggest of all superheroes, but even he has to prove his worth to be a commercial success. To reach the wider audience (all of whom are not die-hard fans) I feel the compromises are done, like having a superman junior. I didn't like the idea either, but may be they wanted it that way. And looking at the success, may be they were right, in terms of commerce.
Will try to publish a blog on my understanding of XM3.
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