|
|
Welcome to Movies & Film
Movie Reviews, & Film Industry Commentary
|
|
 
2006 – PG-13 – 154 min.
Director: Bryan Singer
Primary Cast: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, James Marsden, Frank Langella, Eva Marie Saint, Parker Posey, Kal Penn, Sam Huntington
Stars ** 1/2 (of 5)
Popcorn *** 1/2 (of 5)
Film Type(s): Action, Superhero, Fantasy
Synopsis: Five years have gone by since Superman left his adopted home of Earth to find what remains of his home planet of Krypton, long thought destroyed. Picking up after the events of the Richard Donner Directed Supermans I and II (acting as though III and IV never happened), we follow Clark Kent as he adjusts back into his life. Lois Lane (Bosworth) is now engaged and has a little boy with Perry White’s (Langella) son, Richard (Marsden). She is also about to receive a Pulitzer for her article “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman”. The only problem is that after an NASA shuttle and plane come close to crashing, Superman saves the day. Now the whole world wants to know where he’s been and why he left. But that’s not the only problem he faces when ex-con Lex Luthor takes advantage of the alien technology he had seen Superman use before he was incarcerated.
Review: “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman.” This is the title of Lois Lane’s Pulitzer Prize winning article in the film and the premise taken by X-Men Director Bryan Singer. Though admittedly difficult to try to both honor the original Superman (1977) and add emotional complexity to the story of this film, and it works hard to do so, it still misses the mark. Routh, though right for the role of Superman in many respects (not the least being a resemblance to a young Christopher Reeves), fails only in that what he does only works for Singer’s interpretation, rather than for the overall character. Bosworth’s Lois Lane is given a lot of possibilities in this story, but her performance is without any of the zest or fun that others have brought to the role. In fact, it is fair to say that the film follows the story, not the characters, and dictates their behaviors as such. And although you always get the sense that Kevin Spacey is having fun playing Lex Luthor, he also plays it with less relish and more thuggish-ness than Gene Hackman’s more campy interpretation. Saint’s Ma Kent and Langella’s Perry White hit all the right notes, they are not given very much to do. Only Posey does it just right as Luthor’s Moll, always with a sense of humor and style unique to her alone. Still, the opening is very effective, re-introducing The Man of Steel visually in a special effects feast through space and Narratorially as a Christ-like figure, taking Marlon Brando’s outtakes from the original film in a Near-Biblical context (“The father becomes the son”, “You will be their last hope”, etc.) The credits themselves evoke the now classic films in the same laser blue font blazing across the screen. Many comic book purists balked at this film’s surprise twist. The original film’s intent was to be a source of inspiration in Post-Vietnam 1970’s with the tag line, “You’ll believe a man can fly.” The end of this film is not very upbeat at all, but if you hear that classic John Williams score from the original films and it doesn’t make the hairs on your arms stand up, you need to get your inspiration checked. That’s the 1950’s “Superman” TV show’s Jimmy Olsen, Jack Larsen, as Bo the Bartender.
Awards Likely: Oscar Nominations for Visual Effects and Sound.
|
| Web Design by Denver Design Web |
|
|