Andy’s Rating: one notch above Really Liked It (11/13)*
How do you follow up Superman, the father of the modern superhero movie and arguably the greatest superhero movie of all time? Do you perform a complete reboot of the franchise as they did in the comics, where you ignore what had come before and retell the origin story? The first four Batman films touched on Bruce Wayne’s origins only briefly, which left them the opportunity to go back and tell that story in Batman Begins. But with a backstory that was done so well in Superman, there was no such gap in the mythos that needed to be filled in. So what is the best way to approach a new Superman film?
In the case of Superman Returns, you respect the story that has come before, and build off of it. Far from ignoring the previous movies, director Bryan Singer embraces them (well, at least the first two). Strictly from a plot perspective, Superman Returns continues where the previous films left off, and follows directly from those events (albeit with a gap in time that is explained in the story). There are many references to the first movie, but in most cases, it would be incorrect to refer to them as homages. After all, if something happens to you, and you mention it again ten years later, would you consider that an “homage” to yourself? No, that would simply be consistency of character. In the same way, the characters in Superman Returns are consistent with the first movie; they just happen to be played by different actors.
I was initially unsure about Brandon Routh in the role of Superman, but he quickly falls into the role. He even sounds like Christopher Reeve, which is a nice touch. Kevin Spacey is similarly brilliant playing Gene Hackman playing Lex Luthor. The arrogance, the vanity…all of the characteristics that Hackman brought to the role, Spacey plays to perfection. The only real standout different is Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, but frankly Margot Kidder was miscast as Lois Lane in the original film, so Bosworth is a breath of fresh air as a driven yet sympathetic reporter. In the minor roles, Parker Posey is a decent substitute for Valerie Perrine, and Kal Penn is passable is his role of Guy Who Looks At Something Off-Camera While Luthor Makes A Speech.
But besides the characters and plot, Singer kept all of the little touches from the original Superman movie. The most important one, and honestly the one that makes Superman Superman, is the original music by John Williams. Where appropriate, his themes were used, which just resonates with the nearly thirty years of cinema history. Even the opening credits were done in the same style, which to me is just fantastic. It would be tempting to try to improve upon the credits, but why mess with perfection? All the other little moments are there too: “Look, up in the sky!”, wondering why Clark looks so similar to Superman, the pose from the cover of Action Comics number 1, being faster than a speeding bullet, some of Superman’s lines about air travel…even a throw-away line by Lex Luthor from the first movie was referenced in this one. And Marlon Brando! Marlon Brando as Jor-El! Again, from the first movie, but it is used to thematically tie this story together.
If I can fault the film on a few aspects, I would have to say that I needed less “man,” and more “super.” Sure, I understand that in this post-modern society, we need to deconstruct our heroes, from the Dark Knight to Watchmen to Astro City, and even Spider-Man. But Superman has always been iconic and idealized, representing something greater than ourselves. It is hard to ground him in reality without making him seem…well, grounded. As I mentioned in my review of Spider-Man 2, you can focus on the human side of Peter Parker because that is who he is, and Spider-Man is just an alter-ego. But with Superman, that is who he is, and Clark Kent is the costume that he wears. So when the movie starts examining his humanity (or technically, his Kryptonianity), it makes him seem less noble and more petty. I mean, if you are Superman and you stand for truth, justice, and the American Way, are you going to sit around spying on Lois Lane and pondering the future, or are you going to go out and catch bad guys? You don’t have to be born under a red sun to know the answer to that one.
Even going beyond that storyline, there simply weren’t enough scenes of Superman being super. Again, taking Spider-Man 2 as a counterexample, you saw plenty of scenes with Spidey and Doc Ock fighting on a building, on a speeding train, saving people, delivering pizza…even though the story was driven by Peter Parker, you got enough Spider-Man to tide you over until 2007. But with Superman, the scenes of Superman were less dense. Don’t get me wrong, the action setpieces were great when they were onscreen; I just wish there were more of them, and more variety. It just seems like they hit the marks they needed to hit, without going over and above and delivering some action that was truly unique and amazing.
And finally, it seems as if much of the fun was drained out of the movie by the end. Instead of ending on the big feel-good action scene, the epilogue dragged on for far too long, and left the viewer (or at least me) on a bit of a down note. There must be a way that the writers could have gotten their point across about Superman, without making the last half-hour of the movie feel like a wake.
But overall, these complaints are overshadowed by everything that Superman Returns does right. They really did not throw away a single thing that worked from the first movie, and added some modern touches that still gave proper respect to the Superman film heritage. And really, it’s just nice to see Superman up on the screen again. Hopefully it won’t be another nineteen years between this movie and the next.
