Superman Fan & Collectors Convention of Hawaii

by Keona Tang

Greetings, fellow citizens of Earth-Prime! I'm new to the Orb, and as such, my first job here is to review one of the biggest summer blockbuster movies of the last few years: Superman Returns! Hm... Not too tall an order for a newbie writer, huh? Hope you enjoy it, and remember, this is just my humble opinion. Feel free to agree or disagree.

Anyway, the film was directed by Bryan Singer, with a screenplay by Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty. It stars Brandon Routh as Clark Kent/Superman, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor, Frank Langella as Perry White, Sam Huntington as Jimmy Olsen, Parker Posey as Kitty Kowalski, and James Marsden as Richard White.

First off, a few things to keep in mind: This is going to be a mostly spoiler-free review. I will, however, write about the notable cameos and a few of the smaller surprises in the film, but I won't give away Lex's master plan, or who the father of Lois Lane's child is. Also, I'll be referencing the dialogue of the movie quite a bit, but don't be alarmed; the majority of it is nothing that you haven't heard in the trailers already.

Okay, with that said, let's get to the point of this article: Superman Returns, in short, was a worthy successor to director Richard Donner's 1978 Superman film, which starred the late great Christopher Reeve as Superman/Clark Kent, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, and Gene Hackman as the self-styled criminal genius Lex Luthor. It's evident from the first second that Bryan Singer is a huge fan of Donner's film, and that many elements of this movie pay direct homage to it, from such character traits as Clark Kent's clumsiness to the familiar setting of the Daily Planet newsroom, still in its constant state of semi-controlled chaos. The rousing main theme and title sequence were also the same as Donner's '78 film (except for some updated special effects), as well as some of the dialogue. Of course, none of these references detracted dramatically from this movie, or undermined its themes; if anything, they simply added personality and a sense of fun, which is something that I think many recent big-budget feature films lack (see X-Men: The Last Stand).

As for the performances in the film, I felt that the actors all did a great job with the material they were given. Brandon Routh, who had to fill Christopher Reeve's enormous red boots as both Superman and Clark Kent, definitely won me over with his performance. I loved the way that Routh paid tribute to Reeve's interpretation of the character, right down to his bumbling demeanor and his stuttering whenever he's around Lois. That's not to say that Routh simply copied Reeve throughout the film, as Routh's Superman was more quiet and vulnerable during most of his scenes. Indeed, through most of the film, Routh simply used facial expressions and body language to convey his emotions. Of course, he's no less strong, both internally and externally, than Reeve's Superman, but the script called for something different here: This Superman longs for Lois Lane. He's in love with her, and he wants to be with her, but she has moved on (with a child and a fiance, no less). It's unrequited love, something that virtually all of us deal with at one point in our lives. It's a very human emotion, and it's at the core of his story arc in this film. Look, up on the screen, it's a bird... no, it's a plane... no, it's a Superman that's actually relatable! Huzzah! (Sorry, couldn't resist.)

In the end, although Christopher Reeve always has and always will hold the title of "Best! Superman! Ever!" in my book, Routh pulls off a believable and earnest portrayal of the Man of Steel, and that is what makes him worthy of the role. I think he'll only get better as he continues to play the role in the eventual sequels.

Moving on, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane was a bit of a leap of casting logic for me. I thought that she was too young, both in terms of age (she's 23, but could play younger) and experience to play the character. After I saw the movie, however, I came to the conclusion that I was wrong. Bosworth lent a much greater amount of inner strength and maturity to this version of Lois than I'd expected. Margot Kidder's commendable portrayal of the character in the 1978 film was more cheerful and romantic: That Lois dreamed of winning the Pulitzer Prize and spent her time pining for Superman. This Lois has already won the award (for writing an anti-Superman tirade, of all things) and has had a stable life without the Man of Steel. Her seeming rejection of Superman was born of a feeling of abandonment: After scientists discovered what they thought were remnants of his home world Krypton, Superman left without so much as a goodbye to her or the people of earth. So, when he returned, Lois was understandably angry (perhaps even bitter) towards him, even after he saved her life at least once in the film.

Throughout the movie, Bosworth's Lois was a lot more straight-laced than Kidder's, but she was still a woman who was strong in her convictions, independent, and mature beyond her years. Yeah, she looked younger than Kidder. So what? The fact remains that Bosworth's performance retained a lot of the important qualities that are associated with Lois Lane. That, to me, solidifies her as the right actress to portray the character in this day and age.

Now we come to the character who is the most different from his incarnation in Donner's film, Lex Luthor, who was played by the great Gene Hackman. A menacing and extremely funny character in the film, Lex was the self-styled "greatest criminal mind of our time." Surrounded by bumbling sidekicks and John Williams' comical music, that version of Lex was certainly a product of its time, when villains were portrayed as straight-up maniacs with less depth than your average kiddie pool. However, whatever qualities the 1978 Lex lacked, Hackman more than made up for with his tremendous comedic timing and screen presence. However, he never could quite get the look of the character down pat (he would not shave his head, although he did wear a skullcap in a few scenes).

But I digress. As much as I liked Hackman's performance in Donner's movie, I also felt that something was missing. Kevin Spacey's portrayal of Lex Luthor in Superman Returns captured that something, while also retaining most of the qualities established in Hackman's Lex: Spacey's Lex was a jealous, power-mad, hateful man, the kind of person who'd stab anyone in the back just to get ahead. Indeed, his very first act in the film is fraud on a grand scale, and against a defenseless old woman! It was clear from the moment I saw Spacey's Lex on screen that the comedy was over. He was out for revenge, and was, thankfully, portrayed with chilling malice by Spacey. Perhaps there is a bit of a disconnect from the original film here, but it's not as jarring as you might think. After all, this Lex is still surrounded by a small army of henchmen, but this time they're not funny or talkative, unlike Ned Beatty's Otis in the 1978 film. For some, that may be a disappointment. For me, Spacey's serious performance fit the movie that Singer and his collaborators set out to make.

The rest of the cast all did good work in their respective roles. Frank Langella (who played Skeletor in the 1987 Masters of the Universe film) gave a particularly good performance as Perry White, editor in chief of the Daily Planet. This version of the character was more subtle in humor and less madcap in demeanor, but he still had fun moments (I especially loved his reading of the infamous "Great Caesar's ghost!" line, lifted right from the comic books). Sam Huntington portrayed Jimmy Olsen perfectly as the eager newshound/photographer. Parker Posey did a good job as Lex's sidekick/quasi-girlfriend, Kitty Kowalski, but I felt that she wasn't very different from the 1978 film's Eve Teschmacher character. And James Marsden, so under-utilized in the X-Men films as Scott Summers/Cyclops, was terrific in his role as Perry White's nephew, Richard, who, apart from being Lois Lane's fiance, also heroically rescues her a couple of times in the story. The cameos by Jack Larson (the original Jimmy Olsen from the 1950's Adventures of Superman television show) as Bo the bartender and Noel Neill (the original Lois Lane from the 1940s serials and the '50's TV show) as the rich old woman Gertrude Vanderworth were great, and a wonderful way for Bryan Singer and crew to pay tribute to the storied history of the Superman franchise. Also keep an eye out for even more surprises in the film, like the photo of Glenn Ford on Martha Kent's desk, and the cinematic recreation of the cover of Action Comics #1. Definitely one of the cooler moments in the film, if you ask me.

As for the special effects in the film, what can I say? They were amazing! Everything from Superman cycling through his individual powers to the more fantastic sets were beautifully enhanced by computer generated imagery. The best word I can think of here is seamless. Extremely great work on the part of all the effects studios involved. I walked out of the theater thinking that this is the best movie of the year in terms of visuals, and would say it deserves an Oscar nomination in the category.

The music, in particular John Williams' themes, was stellar throughout the film. Don't get me wrong, John Ottman is definitely a good composer, and his score matched the action in the film very well, but there wasn't anything that memorable from his part of the score. It was used more as a companion to the action sequences. Still, he did a great job incorporating Williams' score into his own in all the right places. Well done.

Overall, I thought that this film, especially as a study of Superman's character, is a triumph. At first, like many fans of the Man of Steel, I was a bit hesitant about it. I had heard the negative buzz about the unusual subplots of the movie, and yes, I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to hear the old "Truth, Justice, and the American Way" catchphrase (we did get a weaker variation on it from Perry White), but the reality is that Superman's a global brand now, and the "American way" can mean many different things to many different people. Still, I would've wrote it in anyway. Regardless, even with that small letdown, this movie presents us with a much more introspective, strong, vulnerable, and human Superman than we've previously seen. And that, dear reader, is no small feat.

Finally, I'll leave you with a comment that an acquaintance of mine said upon seeing the movie: "Superman Returns is everything that X-Men: The Last Stand wasn't." Take that to mean whatever you wish.

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