Bryan, why didn't you stay with X-Men??? Whyyyy?
Ok, now that I've got that out of my system, we can move on.
Character-loving director Bryan Singer passed on finalizing the X-trilogy to undertake a major project: the new Superman movie, Superman Returns. Ignoring the third and fourth Christopher Reeves' versions, Singer wanted to continue the story of this fictional American hero in a way that today's audiences would enjoy. Similarly to Batman Begins, this was a more modernized and more serious look at the well known story of a comic book legend.
What Singer brought to X-2, deeper views into the characters, he tried desperately to bring to Returns. 6 years ago, relatively unknown Singer brought a fun X-Men movie to the big screen. When he 3 years later released the sequel, audiences came out with more than they expected. The first film was a fun action-hero movie. The second went farther, delving into these characters' backgrounds and lives, bringing depth and reality and current issues to the screen. It was no longer simply good guys versus the bad guys. If you look at Superman throughout the years, his television show, comics and movies have been mostly about good versus evil' Superman versus Lex Luther. Everybody knows the story in some form. The die-hard fans know past the generic story line, but generally, Superman has been about saving the day. Trying to recreate the giant step away from the superhero movie, Singer made Returns more about the characters and the relationships they shared than about Clark saving the day.
The story begins with Clark Kent/Superman, played by young TV star, Brandon Routh, returning much like he first arrived to the Kent farm, by crash landing. He had been gone for five years. We find out that during that five years, he went to Krypton, found nothing, and came back (he must have hit traffic.) Clark moves back to Metropolis and the Daily Planet to find things moving at a very swift pace. He also finds out that ex-love interest Lois Lane, Kate Bosworth, is engaged to editor Perry White's (Frank Langella) nephew, Richard White (X-Men's James Marsden) who she has a son, Jason, with, played by 6 year old child actor, Tristin Lake Leabu. Wait a minute. He's been gone 5 years. The last time him and Lois were together, they slept together. And some time in between, she met, engaged, and mothered a child with this other guy? Forgive me for questioning the laws of nature here, but this boggled my mind a little bit. I'm sure you can see where this ends up in the film, but I won't completely spoil the ending. Ok, so maybe Super-aliens have a longer gestation period, or a faster growing ability. But how do you explain the fact that Bosworth, nine years younger than actress Margot Kidder was when she play Lois in Superman II, is supposed to be five years older than we last saw Lois (who I believe was about 25 in the second film.) And how is it that Routh, also who should be playing a five years older Clark, was actually the same age as Reeves when we last saw him?
Ok, so maybe the age of the actors doesn't matter, it's how they play the characters. Here is where my biggest argument with the whole movie enters. Bosworth's Lane is similar to that of a high school girl! I thought I was watching Mean Girls more than a season, Pulitzer winning, 30 year old journalist/mother. I would have completely ignored the fact that the actors were so young if they had believably played the fact that they were 5 years the senior of the characters in Superman II.
Singer opens up a world of character backgrounds and plots and interesting details to this film that he goes absolutely nowhere with. This is the curse of trying to make it more than just a superhero flick. One thing at a time, Bryan! We know there are going to be sequels, one already in the making for 2006 with Singer as the director, so there is no need to waste all the story possibilities on one film. (SPOILER... sort of) Save Jason's true identity for another movie, tie up the loose ends, and tell us what really happened during those 5 years!! The film shoves so much down our throats and does not give us enough to digest.
The biggest upset was Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. It wasn't Spacey's performance that lacked. I believe it was more the fault of the writing. The brilliant moments Spacey gives us reach not much farther than those shown in the trailers. We lose the humor I know was there somewhere by everything else that was going on. There are one or two moments of pure hilarity in the beginning by young improv comedian, Parker Posey, who plays Lex's woman, Kitty Kowalski. ("Wow, Lex, that's really something... it's like frickin' Gone with the Wind") Not only do we lose the malicious humor of Luthor, but the Clark-looks-just-like-Superman references start out so strong in the beginning of the movie. I was so excited at the prospect of this movie being able to poke fun at that. Then, it just disappears, as does Kent.
This giant, exciting epic film just leaves you as an audience member kind of feeling unsatisfied. It's NOT unenjoyable; it's actually quite fun at points. But it leaves you feeling like it could have been so much more than it was. You actually completely forget that you're watching a Superhero movie since there's barely and superhero-ing!! There are very few action sequences and very few of him saving the world. As simplistic as that sounds, that's what the character of Superman is all about. It's great to see more realistic characters, but it is quite the overload for one film. It's worth seeing in theatres because it is very beautiful to look at. I would recommend it, but you will most likely feel as unsatisfied as I did.
Overall Grade: B-
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