I have always been a big Superman fan. I suppose the idea of flying and having super human strength has always been appealing. And I always enjoyed Richard Donner's 1978 Superman movie -- I still find myself gladly dropping whatever I am doing if I see it on television. I guess you could say that it's a really heart-warming classic. So when I heard that they were (finally) making a new Superman film I was a bit divided. On one hand I would have loved to see a new Superman film. On the other hand I worried that the filmmakers are going to somehow muck it up a bit.
Sadly in this case I have to say I thought the film was a bit of the latter and not enough of the former. At two hours and thirty-odd minutes it felt a bit too long. The filmmaker could have probably cut it down by 45 minutes and it would have been a better adventure. The story paces rather slowly at times and the tone often too serious for its own good and the sentimental moments are not as compelling -- mainly due to the rather poor choices (IMHO) in casting.
Do not get me wrong. Kate Bosworth will always be lovely to look at. But with the brown hair she just looked like, well... Kate Bosworth with kinky brown hair and not someone I could easily accept as Lois Lane.
Perhaps it was Margot Kidder's feisty Lois, or even Teri Hatcher's sassy version in Lois & Clark. Whatever the situation to me Lois will always be a bit of a statuesque siren with a journalist streak. Kate's wonderful. But not exactly the right fit.
And Brandon Routh... Well, I think he did a pretty good job with the voice, but he still stuck me more as a kid and not as the kind of man needed to fill Christopher Reeve's shoes. Perhaps I am being too harsh here. After all, after Reeves whom could possibly compare? For most people who grew up in the seventies Reeves will always be Superman. Routh does a good job playing the part, but I think they could have still done a better job in casting.
As far as the pacing is concerned, like I said, it runs a bit slow at times. Not all the scenes seem necessary for pushing the drama forward. And at times it also feels a bit gratuitous as the story seemed a bit too convoluted with too many strings to tie up by the end of the film.
The symbolism in the film also seems to be a real problem in this case. Give me a nickel every time someone talks about "savior" and I think I would probably have enough to go buy a few lottery tickets. The savior theme is really something that is set to overkill as if Singer wanted to simply reach out into the audience and browbeat the viewer into submission. There is such a thing as overkill, and this would be a good example in my opinion.
The tone of the film is also rather dark. Spacey's Lex Luther is much more serious than the Hackman version, and so the character is a lot less interesting. Yes, there are a few times when Spacey is more comical and during those moments the Lex Luther character works.
But there are also some grotesque moments which are supposed to be humorous which I personally found less tasteful and unnecessary for pushing the story forward. Consequently the humor needed to punch up the film's darker elements is sorely lacking and so the fun factor of the film seems rather curtailed.
In my opinion Donner did the right thing by making Lex Luther the source of humor -- on one hand we need a source of release from the tension in the film, on the other hand we need the humor to remind ourselves not to take anything so seriously. To me Superman films at their best were never to be taken too seriously and once the film did it stopped becoming a superman story and more of a Singer drama.
As far as the inherent themes of the Superman films to me they were about dreams, ideals, and about the inherent goodness of mankind. Clark Kent (and for that matter Superman) is a good person because of this inherent goodness bred into him by his human parents and how that goodness survives despite the weakness of others (i.e. Lex Luther) is the real focus of the story -- not, in my opinion whether or not Superman is supposedly mankind's re-envisioned Christ-like savior. Yes, Singer does touch upon these themes somewhat, but overall the themes are not clearly explored within the story. It is rather convoluted due to the numerous issues being addressed in the film -- and perhaps it would have been a lot better if Singer had decided to take half of the movie's themes and saved them for a later sequel rather than to drop them all into the audience's lap.
Other than that? Well, it was alright. I still expect it to make approximately $130 million by Tuesday, however what sort of staying power it has afterward remains to be seen.
Sadly in this case I have to say I thought the film was a bit of the latter and not enough of the former. At two hours and thirty-odd minutes it felt a bit too long. The filmmaker could have probably cut it down by 45 minutes and it would have been a better adventure. The story paces rather slowly at times and the tone often too serious for its own good and the sentimental moments are not as compelling -- mainly due to the rather poor choices (IMHO) in casting.
Do not get me wrong. Kate Bosworth will always be lovely to look at. But with the brown hair she just looked like, well... Kate Bosworth with kinky brown hair and not someone I could easily accept as Lois Lane.
Perhaps it was Margot Kidder's feisty Lois, or even Teri Hatcher's sassy version in Lois & Clark. Whatever the situation to me Lois will always be a bit of a statuesque siren with a journalist streak. Kate's wonderful. But not exactly the right fit.
And Brandon Routh... Well, I think he did a pretty good job with the voice, but he still stuck me more as a kid and not as the kind of man needed to fill Christopher Reeve's shoes. Perhaps I am being too harsh here. After all, after Reeves whom could possibly compare? For most people who grew up in the seventies Reeves will always be Superman. Routh does a good job playing the part, but I think they could have still done a better job in casting.
As far as the pacing is concerned, like I said, it runs a bit slow at times. Not all the scenes seem necessary for pushing the drama forward. And at times it also feels a bit gratuitous as the story seemed a bit too convoluted with too many strings to tie up by the end of the film.
The symbolism in the film also seems to be a real problem in this case. Give me a nickel every time someone talks about "savior" and I think I would probably have enough to go buy a few lottery tickets. The savior theme is really something that is set to overkill as if Singer wanted to simply reach out into the audience and browbeat the viewer into submission. There is such a thing as overkill, and this would be a good example in my opinion.
The tone of the film is also rather dark. Spacey's Lex Luther is much more serious than the Hackman version, and so the character is a lot less interesting. Yes, there are a few times when Spacey is more comical and during those moments the Lex Luther character works.
But there are also some grotesque moments which are supposed to be humorous which I personally found less tasteful and unnecessary for pushing the story forward. Consequently the humor needed to punch up the film's darker elements is sorely lacking and so the fun factor of the film seems rather curtailed.
In my opinion Donner did the right thing by making Lex Luther the source of humor -- on one hand we need a source of release from the tension in the film, on the other hand we need the humor to remind ourselves not to take anything so seriously. To me Superman films at their best were never to be taken too seriously and once the film did it stopped becoming a superman story and more of a Singer drama.
As far as the inherent themes of the Superman films to me they were about dreams, ideals, and about the inherent goodness of mankind. Clark Kent (and for that matter Superman) is a good person because of this inherent goodness bred into him by his human parents and how that goodness survives despite the weakness of others (i.e. Lex Luther) is the real focus of the story -- not, in my opinion whether or not Superman is supposedly mankind's re-envisioned Christ-like savior. Yes, Singer does touch upon these themes somewhat, but overall the themes are not clearly explored within the story. It is rather convoluted due to the numerous issues being addressed in the film -- and perhaps it would have been a lot better if Singer had decided to take half of the movie's themes and saved them for a later sequel rather than to drop them all into the audience's lap.
Other than that? Well, it was alright. I still expect it to make approximately $130 million by Tuesday, however what sort of staying power it has afterward remains to be seen.