My Return Trip

Without question, Superman Returns, was the most anticipated movie of the Summer (at least for me anyway) And even though I rated the film a solid 7.5...believe me that's the same as me giving another flick a 2 or 3. In fact, the more I thought about my review of SR, and my history with the original Superman--and all that the '78 movie accomplished--I began to wonder if all of that stuff combined got in the way when it came to SR? Did my extensive blogging about the film ruin the experience for me? After all, the critical reviews were quite positive, even better than the money making giant' Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest'...

In an effort to try and put my internal "debate" to rest, on Saturday, July 8th 2006 I went to see the film again. This time with several family members along for the ride. When the film ended, it seemed as though everyone else liked SR a lot more than I did. The female members of the entourage, focused especially on how well they thought star Brandon Routh filled out the suit. Take from that what you will...

I invited everyone who came along on that trip to voluntarily offer their thoughts on SR and I promised to post them on The Last Reel...Without further adieu, here are 3 folks who took me up on my offer:

Hey Uncle T- Here are my thoughts on Superman...

Overall, I thought the movie was entertaining and I am glad that I saw it. The highlight of the movie was watching superman himself... he was a delight to look at to say the least! I was a little confused about certain parts of the movie since I had never seen any other superman movies and don't know anything about the story. I thought Kevin Spacey was a good actor for the part of Lex, and I also love Parker Posey as his sidekick. I hope they do continue with the 2 other movies to follow superman returns... this one was good enough to make me want to see more.

Sara

My thoughts on Superman.................................

It was a great movie because the graphics were great!
I think that they chose the right actors and actresses for the film too.

That is why I thought the movie was great.

Jimmy, age 11

Superman was a great movie!! Brandon Routh capture the role of superman soooooo good!! I'm sure that Christopher Reeve would have been so proud of Brandon. the movie ended with you wanting to see more like what will happen to the boy, and will Lois lane get back with superman. i just hope they have another movie because i would love to see what happens next!!!

The movie was great !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Allison, age 13

As for me, I felt more confident about my initial assessment of the film., after that second go round...

On Wednesday July 26th, while having an "e-mail conversation" with good buddy and fellow blogger Matt Durso (whose own blog There It Is boasts great stuff on Flyers Hockey and Phillies Baseball), the subject of Superman Returns came up...

Here now, is Mr Durso's first ever film review....Drum roll, Please...

Superman Returns

Be warned -- this isn't a review in the strictest sense of the word. It's more like random thoughts about the movie sort of connected in a sometimes coherent manner. If you're still interested, read on!!

**First, a little personal background. I have seen all four of the Christopher Reeve-Superman movies. They're all enjoyable in their own way -- though the third one did give me nightmares when I was a kid (give me a break, I was seven when it came out!!). Of the four, I would say easily that the second is the best. The three main actors -- Reeve, Margot Kidder, and Gene Hackman -- really came into their own and filled out their characters, and then throw in Terence Stamp as the bad guy, I mean, come on -- does it get any better than this?.

Hackman, in particular, really nailed Luthor, playing him with a megalomaniacal irreverence that arguably stands as Hackman's best role and, dare I say, best performance. That being said, I thought there was no better choice than to have Kevin Spacey fill Hackman's shoes as Lex Luthor, the "greatest criminal mind of all time." Especially considering it was under Bryan Singer's direction that Spacey won his first Academy Award for The Usual Suspects.

**I have to say I was very excited when I heard Bryan Singer had been hired to direct. I'm a big fan of his work, and it's obvious the guy knows how to deal with iconic superheros (see X-Men and X2). I'm not the biggest Superman fan -- I'm more of a Batman guy -- but I knew that Singer was talented enough to do him justice (I'm afraid the same cannot be said for the hatchet job that Brett Hack-ner, I mean, Rattner did with X-Men: The Last Stand ).

**Overall, I was very disappointed with the film. To quickly gloss over it:

• The movie was definitely too long. Singer just meandered the story along at a leisurely pace believing, I think, that since it was a Superman movie no one would have a problem with it.


• How is it possible that arguably the greatest arch-rivals in pop culture shared the screen for about 15 minutes? While it obviously would have necessitated a different story, I don't see how one can justify keeping them apart for so long.


• When do the events of this movie take place? If they're after the first two movies, then why do both Superman and Lois Lane look younger than they did in those two? If they take place in between the first two, then where was Lois' kid in the second movie (not to mention her fiance, too)?


• There was absolutely no screen presence for Brandon Routh nor Kate Bosworth, and they certainly didn't have any chemistry together. For the most critical relationship in the film, one would think that actors would have worked better than cardboard cutouts.


• Where was Kevin Spacey? I mean he was there, I saw him on-screen but, like Bosworth and Routh, I didn't really see him. Almost any other actor could have given the performance he did and it would have been fine. But, for the man who has played Verbal Kint, Jack Vincennes, and Buddy Ackerman, I really expected a whole lot more.

Matt Durso

Thanks Matt. Great review! You are welcome back any time.

For even more perspective on the latest Supes movie, you should also check out this post written by Matt's brother Tommy on his blog Shallow Center...

And finally, Jeff Martin, (a former co-worker of Tommy's) had this to say about SR. Be sure and visit Jeff's site MovieHawk sometime. It's worth the click.

Thanks to all of my guests! It was fun!