Superman Returns (spoilers)

Just got back from a preview screening of "Superman Returns." In a word, outstanding. Not as good as Batman Begins, but better than X-Men 3.

When I saw Neo fly in "Matrix: Reloaded" my first statement out of the theater was that the next Superman movie would kick ass because they did such a good job. What I didn't know was that Superman's flying effects would blow Reloaded out of the water. It really looked great, especially the airplane scene (some of you will see what I mean).

They did a nice job with a couple of good homages to the originals, without being heavy-handed about them and you don't have to have seen the originals to enjoy it.

Brandon Roush nailed the part. He was perfect as a bumbling Clark Kent but still pulled off being the superhero. He had a smile that was so similar to Christopher Reeves' it was uncanny.

Kevin Spacey was excellent as Lex Luthor. Not as campy as Gene Hackman, but had a couple of funny lines and was much more evil than Hackman.

I wasn't sold on Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane (much too young looking and didn't seem to have a hard enough edge), but she didn't detract from the movie. In fact, her personality was fine, she just didn't look quite the part.

And last but not least, Kumar from "Harold & Kumar" makes an appearance, which is always a bonus, though I don't think they utilized his talents.

Very enjoyable. Bryan Singer just knows how to make a movie.

 

Re: Superman Returns (possible spoilers eventually, but not tonight)

I really want to go see it....of course, the 10 p.m. at the nicest, newest theater in town is sold out Tuesday night, so I may have to wait a day or so. With all the horror stories about casting and directors (at one point it was McG directing, and he wanted Ashton Kutcher as Superman, Beyonce as Lois Lane and Justin Timberlake as Jimmy Olsen), I'm glad to see they pulled it off well...although, I personally think Maggie Gyllenhaal would have made a better Lois Lane.

 

Re: Superman Returns (possible spoilers eventually, but not tonight)

Isn't it, like, almost three hours long?
Did it drag at points?

Spacey didn't overact, as he is wont to do sometimes?

 

Re: Superman Returns (possible spoilers eventually, but not tonight)

I bet Spacey just emotes all over that son of a bitch.

 

Re: Superman Returns (possible spoilers eventually, but not tonight)

It was 2 1/2 hours, but honestly I didn't even notice until you just brought it up. It doesn't rush through the plot and it wasn't necessarily wall-to-wall action, but I didn't think it dragged.

Spacey did a good job. He didn't ham it up the way Hackman did (though I did like Hackman). As I said, he had a bit harder of an edge than the original did (the whole movie did really -- you actually see some bad guys die, which I don't think ever happened in the original), but had a couple of funny moments as well.

I was checking out IMDB and as Tyler pointed out, they had everyone and their mother attached to this flick but Spacey is clearly the biggest actor in it. Bosworth is known, but not-uber famous. After those two, the most recognizable actors are Frank Langella (as Perry White) and Kumar. Cyclops from X-Men was in it as well, which explained why he was barely in X-Men 3. For the most part though, they didn't let the stars overwhelm the story.

 

Re: Superman Returns (possible spoilers eventually, but not tonight)

I think it will be cool to see Luthor as this sort of malevolent force rather than the happy trickster portrayed by Hackman.

 

Re: Superman Returns (possible spoilers eventually, but not tonight)

Much as I love just about everything Gene Hackman has done and as much as I enjoyed the movies at the time, his Luthor missed the mark.

Luthor is like Batman as a villain ... no superpowers, but still intimidating by virtue of his intelligence, determination and near-limitless resources... except he is motivated by greed and sheer malevolance.

Yeah, I can see Spacey pulling that off.

 

Re: Superman Returns (possible spoilers eventually, but not tonight)

I agree. Hackman is a terrific actor, but he hammed it up way too much, as others also have pointed out.

 

Re: Superman Returns (possible spoilers eventually, but not tonight)

But just as Hackman's Luthor had a cheesy quality to him, so did the whole cast. Those Superman movies were pretty campy.

This promises to be a much darker version of the tale. I'm looking forward to that.

 

Re: Superman Returns (possible spoilers eventually, but not tonight)

I'll pass.

 

Re: Superman Returns (possible spoilers eventually, but not tonight)

I'm a huge fan of the original movies (obviously); I'm cautiously optimistic about this one.

 

Re: Superman Returns (possible spoilers eventually, but not tonight)

I thought it was great up until the end when it dragged forever. Without spoiling it, I thought they could have cut the end in half easily and still not miss out on any of the drama or big scenes.