Superman Returns Thread

[Flip McWho]

Spiderman and said: WTF? why can he climb on walls? That is so unrealistic.

Well to be fair, it is.

[snoopy369]

Harry, I have no objection to sequels - nor do most people - and to requiring viewing the earlier ones to view the later one.

BUT, normally sequels are done over a span of a few years.

Superman II dates back to ... um ... 1980! Most of the people watching Superman Returns weren't ALIVE when that movie was made...

Thus I'd blame the director 100% if Returns isn't watchable without knowing the plot of II. It's the director's responsibility to make sure that the movie is understandable by the entire likely audience ... not just a few rabid superfans.

X-Men III, and II before it, were good examples of what a movie sequel can be without absolutely requiring watching the earlier movie(s). They built off of the previous movies, but made sense as standalones, also. Heck, III pissed me off because it didn't use Phoenix or Rogue the way I felt they deserved... but that was more of a fanboy complaint than a movie complaint.

Comic book movies don't get special passes to be uberspecialized movies that cater to a small fanbase... they have the same monetary and general-public base as every other movie.

[Vesayen]

I am with Harry Turtle.

I REALLY liked the movie.... it was great.

I've read some of the superman comics, but not that many. I do not remember the plot of superman 1 or 2 at all... even though I have seen them both a few times.

The movie is ENTIRLEY understandible and enjoyable on its own merits, you do not need any outside information.

[Bkeela]

I was a bit disappointed by Superman Returns. To be honest, I think I enjoyed Superman III more.

My main gripe, like Jaguar, was there was no explanation about his trip to Krypton. Okay, the place was a graveyard, but I still would have liked to have seen Superman's reaction. I also wondered where he got the spaceship from.

I also thought Kate Bosworth was a bad choice. Lois in Smallville is a lot more attractive. It is pretty sad when a heterosexual bloke like myself thought that Superman was prettier than Lois Lane.

Apart from the 4th Superman film, all the previous ones are much better despite dated special effects.

[Jaguar]

Originally posted by Bkeela
I also thought Kate Bosworth was a bad choice. Lois in Smallville is a lot more attractive. It is pretty sad when a heterosexual bloke like myself thought that Superman was prettier than Lois Lane.

[joncha]

Originally posted by Vesayen
I am with Harry Turtle.

I REALLY liked the movie.... it was great.

I've read some of the superman comics, but not that many. I do not remember the plot of superman 1 or 2 at all... even though I have seen them both a few times.

The movie is ENTIRLEY understandible and enjoyable on its own merits, you do not need any outside information.

Well.... if Vesayen liked it, it MUST have been a grate movie.

[Lorizael]

I agree. Further, anyone who didn't like it is obviously a moron and shouldn't even be allowed to vote.

[Wycoff]

I'm typically a fan of the comic book movie, but I just wasn't impressed by Superman Returns. The visuals were impressive, but I thought that the plot was terrible. Though ostensibly the main storyline, I found that the whole Lex Luthor plot seemed to be of secondary importance. Luthor's plan was pretty lame/ silly, and the whole thing was resolved in about 15 minutes. You really could have cut Luthor completely from the movie and it would have made little difference. I think that was a terrible mistake on the part of the writers and director.

The movie focused much more on the Lane / Superman relationship, and it did so in as angst ridden (and borderline creepy) a way as possible. Superman seemed to enjoy eavesdropping and spying on Louis and her family.

I disagree with the criticisms concerning the trip to Krypton. They clearly explained it in the first 15 minutes of the move: Astronomers thought they found Krypton, Superman went to check, found that it was destroyed and that nothing was left but death, and returned to Earth. The only thing not explained is why Superman fell from the sky unconscious rather than simply landing.

I also have a few smaller quibbles. My first lies with the fact that Louis seems physically indestructable. No wonder she wrote that the world doesn't need Superman: she can't be harmed! She gets bashed in the head multiple times throughout the movie, yet never suffers so much as a scratch. Getting hit in the head by the boat's door was the most outrageous example of this: that should have killed her, but it doesn't even bruise her.

There was also too little of Clark Kent. I thought that Routh made a much better Clark than Superman, but he's on screen as Clark for maybe 5 minutes. That's a shame, because those times were the best parts, IMO.

I thought that they did a great job with Perry White and Jimmy Olsen. Kevin Spacey did a great job as Luthor; it wasn't his fault that they wrote such a crappy script.

Ultimately, the movie felt as if the screenwriters had taken an old episode of the "Louis & Clark" sitcom, recast it with inferior actors (Dean Cain and Terri Hatcher were much better than Routh and Bosworth, IMO),expanded it in length, and sucked out any of the fun or the humor. The result is visually impressive, but dreary, boring, and stupid. I was very disappointed. If you want to watch a comic book action movie, then go watch X3.

[Jaguar]

I agree with just about everything Wycoff said.

[Vesayen]

I do agree that you could of cut luthors plot out and still had an awsome movie... but it wouldn't be a superman movie if he didn't save the world, now would it? I disagree with the crticisms concerning the trip to Krypton.

Originally posted by Wycoff
They clearly explained it in the first 15 minutes of the move: Astronmers thought they found Krypton, Superman went to check, found that it was destroyed and that nothing was left but death, and returned to Earth. The onlything not explained is why Superman fell from the sky unconscious rather than simply landing.

.....my guess. Well he had no space ship, not that we saw anyway... it looks like he just flew, didn't it? Supermans powers vary depending on the source, but well.... once you reach top speed in space, without any sources of gravity to slow you down.... you just drift-continuing at the speed you were going.

It was 5 years, presumably with very little to nothing to eat. If I had just been floating back to earth at near light speeds and used the last of my energy to slow myself down so I don't hit the earth going at C... i'd be tired too.

I want to know why he didn't die en route.... if he is a giant solar battery and needs a yellow sun... why didn't he revert to a "normal" person and die in the void?

/geek

[Lorizael]

It depends on what you expect to get out of the movie, I suppose. I went in knowing the plot wasn't going to be terribly impressive, but also knowing there were other aspects I would enjoy.

I thought Spacey was excellent, and though Luthor didn't have much of a plan, Spacey was able to make Luthor evil and hateful and diabolical and brilliant. I liked that Luthor attempted to use Superman's own powers (the crystals) in order to - essentially - recreate his plot from the first movie.

I thought Routh was quite good as well, though he didn't have much dialogue. But better than his performance was the story of who Superman really is. The beginning scenes back in Smallville do a very good job of showing you why Kal El is a superhero rather than a supervillain.

[Lorizael]

Originally posted by Vesayen
I do agree that you could of cut luthors plot out and still had an awsome movie... but it wouldn't be a superman movie if he didn't save the world, now would it? I disagree with the crticisms concerning the trip to Krypton.



.....my guess. Well he had no space ship, not that we saw anyway... it looks like he just flew, didn't it? Supermans powers vary depending on the source, but well.... once you reach top speed in space, without any sources of gravity to slow you down.... you just drift-continuing at the speed you were going.

It was 5 years, presumably with very little to nothing to eat. If I had just been floating back to earth at near light speeds and used the last of my energy to slow myself down so I don't hit the earth going at C... i'd be tired too.

I want to know why he didn't die en route.... if he is a giant solar battery and needs a yellow sun... why didn't he revert to a "normal" person and die in the void?

/geek

Uh, no. There's no star with planets two and a half lightyears from here. And he did have a spaceship. That big star shaped thing that landed with him.

[Vesayen]

I thought that was just dirt which piled up, he hit at what looked like a wierd angle.

If he took a ship it seems alot easier to explain. He was not near a yellow sun for 5 years after having lived under one and been super powered his entire life.....

[chequita guevara]

I liked the movie a lot. One day later, I still like the movie a lot. I like X-Men III while I was watching it, but as soon as I was outside the theater, I started picking it apart. Haven't done that with Superman Returns. I'd see it again. I can easily recommend it.

It was ****in' awesome!

[chequita guevara]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
Fanboys... most people who watch this will be more in Jaguar's camp.

Nope. The theater I was in was on the edge of its seat. These weren't comic geeks. The place was not merely packed, it filled more than half an hour before the movie.