What makes a hero?
I just got back from watching Superman Returns. After six hours spent bringing my hairdresser's computer back from the dead. Minus her data, alas. The first half of Superman was almost as frustrating as the computer, and slightly more irritating. The second half was much better, but I'm still of very mixed feelings. Some of my key quibbles are:
1) I can't help feeling that James Marsden, who played Richard White, would have done better as Superman than Brandon Routh did. Maybe it was just the nature of the role--Superman's boots are hard to fill. But I believed him. Every minute. I can't say that for most of the actors in this film.
2) Physics needs to apply to everyone or no one. Anime and martial arts movies only make me more certain of this. I'm willing to tuck a few things into that little black box labeled "willing suspension of disbelief," but if Newton's third law is in effect and something hits you hard, you'd better at least exert yourself to counter that force, or you're going to get rocked back on your heels.
3) I may be biased, but I kind of feel that script/direction has to be pretty dreadful before Kevin Spacey can't bail it out. There were a few moments where he was very good as Lex Luther. There were far more moments when he was either too over-the-top . . . or not enough so. And I wasn't sure which. And Kevin Spacey's just not like that.
Come to think of it, I think that's what irritated me so much about the first half of the movie. If you're going to do something as big as a Superman story, I just feel like you should make decided choices. Go for the brass ring. If you fail, fail spectactularly--I'll still probably go see the movie, just for a laugh. But the first half of the movie felt decidedly lukewarm to me, and I'm not sure I can forgive that.
With that said . . . there are a few wonderful lines and some very nice moments. There were one or two plot twists that I didn't see coming until I was on top of them, and they were perfect, nonetheless. The movie ended exactly where it needed to end, and a lot of movies aren't willing to do that. And I think there are subtleties that I might catch if I watched it a second time. I kept having thoughts of, "Wait a minute, does he know?" Or, "Lois knows. Lex-fucking-Luther knows. How does Superman know?"
I paid three dollars for it at the second-run theatre. And while I don't feel like I wasted my money, I think I should have waited for DVD. Some movies, you just really need to see on the big screen. Oddly . . . I didn't find that this was one of them.
1) I can't help feeling that James Marsden, who played Richard White, would have done better as Superman than Brandon Routh did. Maybe it was just the nature of the role--Superman's boots are hard to fill. But I believed him. Every minute. I can't say that for most of the actors in this film.
2) Physics needs to apply to everyone or no one. Anime and martial arts movies only make me more certain of this. I'm willing to tuck a few things into that little black box labeled "willing suspension of disbelief," but if Newton's third law is in effect and something hits you hard, you'd better at least exert yourself to counter that force, or you're going to get rocked back on your heels.
3) I may be biased, but I kind of feel that script/direction has to be pretty dreadful before Kevin Spacey can't bail it out. There were a few moments where he was very good as Lex Luther. There were far more moments when he was either too over-the-top . . . or not enough so. And I wasn't sure which. And Kevin Spacey's just not like that.
Come to think of it, I think that's what irritated me so much about the first half of the movie. If you're going to do something as big as a Superman story, I just feel like you should make decided choices. Go for the brass ring. If you fail, fail spectactularly--I'll still probably go see the movie, just for a laugh. But the first half of the movie felt decidedly lukewarm to me, and I'm not sure I can forgive that.
With that said . . . there are a few wonderful lines and some very nice moments. There were one or two plot twists that I didn't see coming until I was on top of them, and they were perfect, nonetheless. The movie ended exactly where it needed to end, and a lot of movies aren't willing to do that. And I think there are subtleties that I might catch if I watched it a second time. I kept having thoughts of, "Wait a minute, does he know?" Or, "Lois knows. Lex-fucking-Luther knows. How does Superman know?"
I paid three dollars for it at the second-run theatre. And while I don't feel like I wasted my money, I think I should have waited for DVD. Some movies, you just really need to see on the big screen. Oddly . . . I didn't find that this was one of them.
posted by Journey | 9:11 PM
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