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No offense to Brian Singer because I really did enjoy the X-Men movies, but I still don't understand who decided that re-making Superman was a good idea. Even more obvious in my head then Micheal Keaton is Batman, Christopher Reeve *is* Superman. It took the phenomenal talent of Christian Bale to shift the idea of who The Batman could be and make me believe it, a feat we are gearing up to see again with Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker, how could any less be expected of the next actor to fill Reeve's blue tights.
What Christopher Reeve did was to create two separate and individual characters who just happened to be played by the same actor, and although we occasionally see them merge together for a moment or two, brief reminders that Clark Kent is Superman in disguise, it's that dedication to playing them as total polar opposites that makes Reeve's Superman iconic.
Unfortunately, as hot as he is, all Brandon Routh did was to remind me that he isn't Christopher Reeve. He looked the part well enough and mimicked Reeve's performance close enough that I didn't throw popcorn at the screen, but there was nothing that made me think, oh, yes, he is Superman. I was entertained, but mostly I just thought of how much better Christopher Reeve was in the part.
Kate Bosworth never even came close to Margot Kidder's Lois Lane, but then I never expected her to and so there was no real disappointment. Although, it looked like they tried to age her, which only made her look like a teenager playing dress-up. I didn't believe her as a mother for one minute, which doesn't necessarily require age to make believable. Acting chops, however, would have helped.
The rest of the cast was mostly negligible. I didn't care for the attempt at externalizing the love triangle between Kent, Lois and Superman by introducing James Marsden as Lois's capable, hunky Superman-esque fiance. He was, I think, meant to represent a melding of the two characters and I found that extraneous. Because of the type of film it was, I wasn't expecting Lois to leave her fiancé for the Man of Steel and without at least the hint of that possibility, we loose a lot of narrative tension.
Adored the moment when Super Jr. pushed the piano over the bad guy. AWESOME!!
Gene Hackman continues to reign supreme as Lex Luthor. Kevin Spacey did nothing to convince me of otherwise. I did, however, adore Parker Posey as Luthor's Pomeranian carrying girlfriend, Kitty. I was initially reminded of Miss Tesmacher in the original Superman, but that didn't last for long. Parker's ditzy, emaciated brunette was just screwball enough to make me forget (or forgive) her similarities to Miss Tesmacher.
Overall, I was surprised that I didn't hate Superman Returns, that I was just entertained enough to watch it til the end and was even invested in him recovering, like we knew he would, from the Kryptonite poisoning (How he managed to lift that giant coral reef of Kryptonite and hurl it into space, I will never understand, especially considering how it was COVERED with Kryptonite AND he had Kryptonite fragments still in his body -- but oh well, handwave, as they say).
Maybe if there hadn't been so many successful re-inventions of the Superman mythology then I would have been more satisfied with the movie. I don't, for example, ever compare Smallville with the Superman movie franchise, or Tom Welling with Christopher Reeve. In my mind they are two different things. Same goes for differences between the films and the cartoons (Animated Series and Justice League). I can only lay blame at the feet of a movie that invoked a superior film without successfully reimagining it into something new and fresh.
What Christopher Reeve did was to create two separate and individual characters who just happened to be played by the same actor, and although we occasionally see them merge together for a moment or two, brief reminders that Clark Kent is Superman in disguise, it's that dedication to playing them as total polar opposites that makes Reeve's Superman iconic.
Unfortunately, as hot as he is, all Brandon Routh did was to remind me that he isn't Christopher Reeve. He looked the part well enough and mimicked Reeve's performance close enough that I didn't throw popcorn at the screen, but there was nothing that made me think, oh, yes, he is Superman. I was entertained, but mostly I just thought of how much better Christopher Reeve was in the part.
Kate Bosworth never even came close to Margot Kidder's Lois Lane, but then I never expected her to and so there was no real disappointment. Although, it looked like they tried to age her, which only made her look like a teenager playing dress-up. I didn't believe her as a mother for one minute, which doesn't necessarily require age to make believable. Acting chops, however, would have helped.
The rest of the cast was mostly negligible. I didn't care for the attempt at externalizing the love triangle between Kent, Lois and Superman by introducing James Marsden as Lois's capable, hunky Superman-esque fiance. He was, I think, meant to represent a melding of the two characters and I found that extraneous. Because of the type of film it was, I wasn't expecting Lois to leave her fiancé for the Man of Steel and without at least the hint of that possibility, we loose a lot of narrative tension.
Adored the moment when Super Jr. pushed the piano over the bad guy. AWESOME!!
Gene Hackman continues to reign supreme as Lex Luthor. Kevin Spacey did nothing to convince me of otherwise. I did, however, adore Parker Posey as Luthor's Pomeranian carrying girlfriend, Kitty. I was initially reminded of Miss Tesmacher in the original Superman, but that didn't last for long. Parker's ditzy, emaciated brunette was just screwball enough to make me forget (or forgive) her similarities to Miss Tesmacher.
Overall, I was surprised that I didn't hate Superman Returns, that I was just entertained enough to watch it til the end and was even invested in him recovering, like we knew he would, from the Kryptonite poisoning (How he managed to lift that giant coral reef of Kryptonite and hurl it into space, I will never understand, especially considering how it was COVERED with Kryptonite AND he had Kryptonite fragments still in his body -- but oh well, handwave, as they say).
Maybe if there hadn't been so many successful re-inventions of the Superman mythology then I would have been more satisfied with the movie. I don't, for example, ever compare Smallville with the Superman movie franchise, or Tom Welling with Christopher Reeve. In my mind they are two different things. Same goes for differences between the films and the cartoons (Animated Series and Justice League). I can only lay blame at the feet of a movie that invoked a superior film without successfully reimagining it into something new and fresh.
