Another Look at Superman Returns

Since the last post was a deeply personal look at the way Superman Returns impacted me on a literary, existential, and healing way, I decided to follow up with a more traditional film buff's review.

CAST:

Brandon Routh - First of all, let me preface this by saying right off the bat that when I first saw this guy in promotional stills, I became so depressed it wasn't even funny. For some reason, when I saw that first image of him standing hands on hips in the revamped costume, I thought "This is not Superman. Fuck."

But when I first saw him fly in the film... I said. "Oh my fucking god. He is... HE IS SUPERMAN!"

And so he is. Routh, as a newbie and an unknown, had a remarkably large cape to fill. Not only would he have to replace the irreplaceable Christopher Reeve, not only would he have to erase the preconceived image of Superman that lives in everyone's minds...

He would have to make us forget that he was even trying.

His job was to make us believe that this wasn't some actor trying to be Christopher Reeve's Superman. His job was to make people believe a man could fly. His job was to become Superman himself.

And believe me, he did.

I do not have the time to analyze his whole performance, so let me focus on one, little bit of his performance: In the scene on the roof of the Daily Planet, Superman surprises Lois Lane by landing on a raised portion of the roof. Ashe speaks to her, he steps down onto her level. This is a reprise of that scene in the original movie where Superman first speaks to Lois on her terrace. In the original, Chris Reeve appears on the roof, his arms crossed lightly, and says his greeting. Then, he uncrosses his arms and steps down, lightly and confidently.

In Superman Returns, Routh does the same thing... but not.

Superman lands on the roof and says his greeting, arms crossed lightly. He speaks a bit, unfolds his arms...

and floats down.

He takes a small step forward...

and floats down.

Floats.

You have to see it. In that one moment, he captures who Superman is. A being, a man, with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. The power to fly, to freeze, to burn, to carry, to punch, to stop bullets...

And he's so attuned to his power, so attuned to who he is, that instead of stepping off a balcony, he floats down. Like a god.

And it's no big deal for him.

That's Superman.

Of course here are inumerable instances of Routh BEING Superman - the gattling gun scene, the plane rescue, the earthquake scene- But that was a key moment of him LIVING the character of Superman.

He also captures Superman's humanity quite well. One of my many favorite scenes happens right before the rooftop meeting. Lois has just left Clark in teh newsroom of the Daily Planet, ostensibly to go downstairs for something. She walks into the elevator and the door shuts. But we are watching her through Clark's eyes, which just happen to be x-ray eyes. So as the doors close, we see her as Clark sees her. The camera goes gauzy to replicate his X-ray vision, and we see her riding the elevator up instead of down. Of course, the gauze makes the scene romantic, and the music softens to match. And when we turn back to look at Clark, he has a look on his face that I cannot describe.

This is a man in love.

And I believe it as much as I believe he can fly.

Brandon Routh is Superman.

KATE BOSWORTH – Well, she’s much prettier than Margot Kidder. Sorry, I had to say it. My biggest peeve about the original films was that Lois Lane looked like a character from a stop smoking campaign. Not exactly Superman’s girlfriend material.

As for the acting, I have to say I was impressed. I was never a fan of Kate Bosworth, but she made me one the minute she said: “How many ‘F’s are there in ‘Catastrophe’?”

Kate Bosworth’s performance will spark many a debate over her worthiness. Some will say she was to namby-pamby. Others will say she was too leaden. I say she was the best Lois Lane so far.

Margot Kidder’s Lois was too shrewish and too nagging. She was a strong character, no doubt about it, but too much. Too aggressive. Too annoying. Erica Durance (Smallvile) was much better. Strong without being shrewish. Sarcastic and sardonic without being too annoying. Ballsy. Just like Lois of the comics.

But Kate Bosworth had something more. It was subtle and not obvious, but it was there if you were looking for it. She had Erica’s strength and none of Margot’s shrew. She had Margot’s wryness and none of Erica’s (Occasional) awkwardness. But she also had heart. She had an emotional core that was carefully covered… a seering pain hiding behind an unnaturally large forehead. Margot and Erica gave strong performances but neither could pull of Lois’ heart. Their Loises showed their emotions too much. It as too plain… too obvious. Not so with Bosworth.

You could see she was angry with the Man of Steel. You could see she was hurt. You could see she still wanted him.

But you had to dig to see more… which she had. Look into her eyes when you watch the film and you will see so much more lingering in them. Her need. Her fear. Her confusion. Her love. Her conflict. None of it obvious… all of it there.

Kate Bosworth is Lois Lane.

Kevin Spacey – He just nailed Lex. Just nailed him. Not much to say about his performance except that it was brilliant. It was a good mix of Gene Hackman and Michael Rosenbaum. He had the comic timing and sharpness of Hackman, but he also had Rosenbaum’s Darkness.

Spacey’s Lex was everything he should have been: Brilliant and sadistic in equal measures. Less camp, more danger. This was one of my favorite villain portrayals of all time from any film.

I want more!

And with that, due to time constraints, I’ll stop for now. More tomorrow!

Superman Returns

No, I'm not referring to me. :P

Anyway, if anything could get me to return to my blog, I can think of no better agent than Superman himself.

As I am wont to do back in Manila, I caught the very first screening of the film. I will admit to having felt a bit melancholic as I stepped through the doors of downtown Vancouver's Paramount Cinemas... I was supposed to watch this with Kathy. Instead I saw it with my brother. Ah well, Kathy and I can watch it together on DVD when we finally reunite. :)

Brushing away any lingering sorrow, I settled into my seat and blinked away any tears that might have started to form. I sat back, relaxed, and felt my heart begin to soar at the first notes of John Williams' triumphant opening theme.

And after 2 and a half hours, I walked out of that theatre and hid my face in shame as those tears just streamed out.

Yes, I cried after watching it.

This film touched me on a very deep, very personal level that no film has ever been able to. As such, those looking for an unbiased look at the technical merits of the film should look elsewhere. Those looking for a plot-point by plot-point analysis, please look elsewhere. Those looking for an argument about Spiderman vs Superman, please go to Newsarama.com

This is not a comic book geek geeking out over the greatest comic book film ever made. This is not a sci-fi fan rejoicing at the ultimate Alien Visitation Film. This is not an action film fan rocking about the special effects. This is not a literature professor pontifiating on the symbolic merits of symbols like Superman falling to the earth, his arms spread out like that of Jesus on the cross. Or the fact that his foster parents are named MARtha and JOnathan. (Mary and Joseph?)

No... this is me. Gino. Thomas. I am someone who has loved the character of Superman all my life. I've love him for what he stands for, for the strength he inspires in me. I love him for the ideals he espouses, and the purity he conveys.

This is not a review. This is an ode.

As a comic book fan who has participated on many, many comic book forums, I can already anticipate what "discussions" might ensue over this film. "Oh," someone will say, "This is the best superhero filmever." "NO!" someone might respond, "It has too many loopholes!" or "No! Brandon Routh is no Chris Reeve!" or "No! Sooperman Sux! Spiderman Rulz becoz he iz more down to earth!"

No geek is ever truly happy with a comic book adaptation.

It is true that the film has problems. The pacing in the beginning of the movie, for example, could have been better. Parker Posey's character is basically Miss Teschmacher. The humor of films like Spiderman and the original Superman is lessened here. Frank Langella's Perry White should have had more screentime. And, yes, there is one big loophole which is too spoilerific to discuss.

But I don't care.

Film, like literature, is a collaborative process. I don't mean this in the sense that lots of people worked on the movie. I mean that film, as created, is only as good as how you perceive it.

BLOODRAYNE, for example, is a film I personally wish could have been made in 1945. Then the Americans could have used that on the Japs instead of the Atom Bomb. 100% less casualties, and still torturous enough to end the war.

And yet, it is the 5th bestselling DVD in HMV (in Vancouver).

Go figure.

Anyway, some of my favorite movies could be seen as technically better than Superman Returns. Road to Perdition had better cinematography. American Beauty had a tighter script. Serenity had better dialogue. Amelie was funnier.

But none of them had the emotional and intellectual wallop that Superman had on me.

Superman Returns is not your typical comic book movie. It doesn't focus on the origin story. The big bad showdown between hero and villain is not played up to be some emotionally ridden and ideological struggle between good and evil... in fact it's almost incidental. The hero is not driven by childhood traumas like seeing his parents die or guilt like inadvertantly causing his uncle's death. The main conflict is not man vs man or man vs nature.

It's God vs Self.

This is not a comic-book movie masquerading as high literature. This is not an action film pretending to be the next big blockbuster.

No... this is an existential character study. This is the search for self-actualization and finding it in pop culture.

This is Art wearing a two-piece suit and fake glasses.

In that sense, this film failed as a pop film, which superhero films are supposed to be. And it fails because of one very significant thing:

The story is secondary.

Stephen King, the king of pop literature, always said that the difference between high literature and pop fiction is Story. In literature, the characters always serve the plot. The characters can be as one dimensional as the Shoppaholic or as three dimensional as Batman. But no matter how many issues and dimensions and faces the characters have, they must always serve the Story. James Bond can screw as many bond girls as he wants, but he must always escape the villain’s villainous snare and ultimately turn the tables. Spider-man must always defeat the super villain, even if he’s experiencing cash and girl troubles. Daredevil must defeat the kingpin out of revenge.

Character and symbolism are always important in pop-fiction, but they always exist to serve the story. The strength in pop fiction IS the story, and if it is a weak one, then no matter how dimensional the characters are, it will fail.

Not so much with high literature.

In literature, it is the reverse: Story serves character. You can have the simplest story with a really weak plot, but if the characters are the FOCUS, if the theme is the driving force, and they are strong, then the film will soar. Take for example Road to Perdition. If we were to break down the story in simple terms, it would be like this:

Boy lives idyllic life. Boy sees dad shoot someone. Boy’s family gets killed. Dad takes boy away. They get chased by assassin. They escape. Father and assassin kill each other. Boy survives.

And that’s it. It’s a simple A to B to C story with hardly any plot twists or juicy red herrings. But it works as high literature because that’s not the point anyway. The point is, it’s a character study. It’s a reflection on the impact that violence has on a man, and a boy, and the lives they live. Sure it has great cinematography, gunplay, and music… but it’s still just a character study.

Same thing with Munich. Terrorists kill athletes. Government hires assassins. Assassins kill those responsible. Assassins get killed. Assassins kill those who killed them. Only one guy lives. Again… just a simple revenge story.

But, again, the Story is not what matters. The film is an exploration on the meanings behind words like Faith, justice, and violence. It explores what happens to the character of a decent human being forced to do brutal things.

A character study.

Like Superman Returns.

Superman Returns has a very simple story. In fact, aside from the whole Lois-is-no-a-mommy, it is basically a re-telling of the original. Basically.

But that’s not the point.

Beyond the eye-popping special effects, beyond the most realistic flying I’ve ever seen in a movie, beyond the superb acting and incredible music lies a film with the biggest heart I have ever seen.

Superman Returns is not about Superman returning from outer space. It is not about Superman stopping Lex Luthor’s diabolical plans. It is not about Clark trying to win Lois.

It is about humanity. It is about acceptance. It is about existence. It is about identity. It is about love. It is about fathers and sons. It is about Faith. It is about finding your home.

Those who know me know that I’m a serious guy. I mean, I liked Scary Movie 4 and I liked White Chicks. I like being entertained. But to truly love something, to truly love a piece of fiction, I need more than just entertainment.

What all that I just said boils down to is that I think Superman Returns is the best movie I’ve ever seen. Not because it has the best script or cinematography. Not because it has the best actors or dialogue.

I loved it because it is one of those films that holds up a mirror to my face and forces me to look within. It forces me to ask questions of myself and my identity. It forces me to ask some serious questions about my life and how I’m living it.

And, Kathy, do you remember what I told you about how Superman helped me with my issues?

This is the Superman who I have been waiting for. This is the Superman who once took me by the hand in my darkest, darkest day. This is the Superman who carried me up, up, and away into the light of the sun…

Where I saw myself as I was, and always am, meant to be.

This is the Superman who made me believe… not that a man can fly…

But that a man can pick himself up from the darkest depths that life can take you, strap on a little red blanket, and soar into the heaven that is Self Actualization.

When I cried at the end of the movie, I cried for myself.

I cried because I have hope.

I cried because I can fly.

And I cried because I really freaking miss Kathy.