One of my first memories of going to the movies was with my parents taking me to see Superman. I loved it. I loved everything about it. What 4 year old boy wouldn't want to fly, catch bullets, see through girls dresses? I was young, but I already liked the ladies. Superman II was fantastic as well. Then, like many other movie franchises, they started making movies for the sake of making movies. Anyone remember the Richard Pryor debacle in Superman III? Did anyone see Superman IV: Quest for Peace? I don't even think Chris seen that one.
Needless to say, I, like so many others were desperate for the return of the greatest superhero ever to put on a cape. I need Superman, Lois Lane needs Superman, the world needs Superman and he is definitely back. The new Superman Returns starring a relative unknown Brandon Routh (see Christopher Reeve, circa 1978) lives up to the lofty expectations of the original Superman: The Movie. It's almost kind of uncanny how well Routh conjures up images of the late Reeve. His look, manners, delivery. I like to think that Chris is smiling from the grave at the capable hands that this franchise is in.
For the most part the movie stays true to the original movie, although I'm still not sure what to think of Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. I probably expected too much. Spacey is an excellent actor, but trying to fill the shoes of Gene Hackman. Well, enough said. The scheme that Luthor devises in this latest installment seemed to have been written after being removed from the dart board with a small hole left after the dart was removed. It's not horrible, but it lacks depth and clarity. I was left a little confused slash disappointed, but it certainly doesn't detract from the overall greatness of this movie.
Spoiler Alert: It is revealed in this movie that Superman has a son. There is a great scene near the end with Superman talking to his unknowing son who is sleeping that is very reminiscent of all the scenes with Brando playing Jor-El. It was a nice added touch. The scenes were pieced together from stock footage not used for Superman and Superman II.
Kate Bosworth as Lois is good. It's not easy to replace the manic, half (maybe more)crazy Margot Kidder, but she does well. She's much easier on the eyes than Kidder and has more of a vulnerability to her. This may be due to my jaded adult view of Kidder, which taints my view, as in I don't see Bosworth biting your eye out after spending weeks in the wild living off the land, because she quit taking her meds!
The basic premise of the movie is Superman returns (imagine that) from a 5 year hiatus. Astronomers had discovered the remains of his destroyed home planet and he just has to leave and take a look see. There is a great scene, in which after crash landing back to earth in the backyard of his boyhood home farm, between him and his earth mother:Clark Kent - "The place was a graveyard...I'm all that is left."Martha Kent - "And even if you are the last, you're not alone."
That's basically the theme for the rest of the movie. Superman will never be alone. Even though he goes back to the Daily Planet to work, discovers Lois has a son (see Spoiler Alert above for more information), has won a Pulitizer prize for an article entitled "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman, and has a new beau. All this even before he discovers Lex is trying to start his own country, while killing billions of people. All in a days life for Clark Kent/Superman.
The movie is a quick 2 and half hours and is well worth the time. The director Bryan Singer has done the impossible, Superman is back and better than ever and he has dedicated this movie to the memory of Christopher and Dana Reeve. Today I felt like the boy I was 28 years ago. Much has changed between then and now. I grew up, Chris suffered a terrible injury (which ultimately ended his life), life changed dramatically for me much like Chris and yet for an afternoon I was 4 years old again. Not a care in the world, dreaming of flying, catching bullets and looking through girls clothes (I still like the ladies). I was sitting in my dad's lap eating popcorn and waiting for Superman to save the day. It's days like this I wonder why any of us have to grow up. Thanks for the memories Superman.
That's Nice. MH
Originally posted 04/01/2006 at http://jmhentertainment.blogspot.com/
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