Superman Returns

[norwich36]

My overall feeling: I liked it a lot, and I definitely liked Brandon Routh more than I expected to.

I actually think I liked Routh's Clark Kent *more* than I liked either CR's or TW's. He was sweetly geeky without being too over-the-top, and I think I might have a little crush. I'm more divided about his Superman, though that might be the writing and the costume rather than the acting choices. (I didn't mind the alterations in the color of the costume, but honestly I thought he looked like a plastic action figure every time he was wearing it, which affected my ability to buy him as Superman.) I have mixed feelings about how much they were pushing the overt Christ symbolism, too, both with the Jor-El voiceovers throughout (cool that they could use actual Brando stuff, though) and how he was in the shape of a cross right before he fell.

I also loved Spacey's Luthor. He's not my Lex Luthor, of course, but he was great as a more traditional Luthor, villainous and funny and smart. I loved how much his evil scheme hearkened back to his real estate plans in Superman I, too. And Parker Posey just about stole the movie, for me. I loved her to death, and thought she had all of the best lines in the film, especially in the scene where Lex submerges the crystal in the train village. (And wasn't that a lovely visual metaphor).

One thing I really did not like, though, was the love triangle. I mean, obviously we are supposed to be wanting Clark and Lois to get together, and yet I could *not* hope for that scenario in any way, shape or form. Because even if Jason is biologically Clark's son, Richard has been his father for 5 years, and he and Lois have a good relationship, and so instead of finding all the scenes with Superman and Lois romantic, they were making me cringe. And I was half expecting, the whole time, that Richard was going to get killed off, which was also making me cringe in anticipation. I'm glad they didn't go that route, and I'm glad Richard actually got to be heroic--but I'm really finding it impossible to anticipate Clois in future sequels. And that kind of killed a lot of the emotional undercurrent of the movie, for me.


As for Kate Bosworth's Lois: well, I don't think it was precisely her acting, as much as the combination of her acting choices and bad writing, that made her not ping as Lois for me. I mean, as long as I thought of her as some reporter with a pre-existing relationship with Superman, the movie was fine for me; I just didn't get a Lois Lane vibe from her at all, except maybe in her confrontation with Luthor on the boat.

Overall, I enjoyed it, but I think what I enjoyed most were the little character pieces (every single scene with Martha, especially when she was standing outside the hospital; Clark on the farm, looking out over the landscape; teen Clark bounding through the fields; Kitty's realization that Lex's schemes really *are* too evil for her, etc.) rather than the overall plot of the film.

Comments

[pepperjackcandy.livejournal.com]

I **loathe** love triangles.

And it sounds like this is going to hit me right about where the "love triangle" on the Dead Zone series does -- both guys are too good for her.

[latxcvi.livejournal.com]

One thing I really did not like, though, was the love triangle. I mean, obviously we are supposed to be wanting Clark and Lois to get together, and yet I could *not* hope for that scenario in any way, shape or form. Because even if Jason is biologically Clark's son, Richard has been his father for 5 years, and he and Lois have a good relationship, and so instead of finding all the scenes with Superman and Lois romantic, they were making me cringe. And I was half expecting, the whole time, that Richard was going to get killed off, which was also making me cringe in anticipation. I'm glad they didn't go that route, and I'm glad Richard actually got to be heroic--but I'm really finding it impossible to anticipate Clois in future sequels. And that kind of killed a lot of the emotional undercurrent of the movie, for me.

Ordinarily, I loathe love triangles with the fire of a thousand Kryptonian suns and it's often because (a) they're pointless and (b) they're not done in such a way that I, at least, can see the reasons why either relationship constellation would work. What I like about the triangle in SR is that Richard and Kal-El are both good men and I can see how and why Lois works with either of them; the very fact that her choice wouldn't be an easy one is what makes it dramatically viable to me (which is why I'm glad they didn't go the cliched route of making Richard a jerk).

The other thing that got me over my triangle aversion for *this set of films only* (as Singer & Co. hope to do a trilogy) is that it's really clear to me that Richard is, in fact, a place-holder. That sounds terrible, I know, especially because I genuinely liked the character and Marsden's portrayal of him, but that's what he is, right down to the fact that he even flies in his own way. Had Richard been a very different man from Clark/Kal-El and had he and Lois managed to actually *get married*, I'd have, I think, a harder time accepting that eventually he isn't going to get to girl. Because if he'd been different, if Lois had been able to take that final step to solidify their committment, then I'd believe that she was (a) really over Kal-El and (b) hadn't filled the void he left with a mortal version of him. But I think it's very telling that Richard basically *is* Kal-El without super-powers *and* that not only has Lois not set a date to actually marry him, she *doesn't even like to think/talk about it* (which Jimmy told us during one of the DP scenes).

Now, I don't think it's been conscious on Lois' part and she clearly does love Richard in her own way. But ... he's a place-holder. That was so clear to me and it probably is going to hurt a lot when both he and Lois realize it. And if I were a betting woman, I'd bet that the Richard issue is resolved when he takes himself out of the equation in the denoument of the second film. He's a good enough man to do that whole "giving someone up for love" thing (think Norrington in PotC), and I imagine that's how it'll be dealt with. I mean, the creative team could surprise me and actually let the fullest consequence of Kal-El's abrupt departure and long absence stand, but I doubt it.

[bop-radar.livejournal.com]

how he was in the shape of a cross right before he fell
Mmm, yes I noticed that too. But the little mini burning church in Lex's miniature set made up for it for me. Because I found that too cute a touch for words!

I loved her to death, and thought she had all of the best lines in the film, especially in the scene where Lex submerges the crystal in the train village.
She was awesome! That was my favourite scene. I also loved her for bringing a lace umbrella to New Krypton! Hee! And 'weren't there two of those...?' (I secretly wish that Posey had been cast as Lois.)

instead of finding all the scenes with Superman and Lois romantic, they were making me cringe
WORD.

I'm really finding it impossible to anticipate Clois in future sequels. And that kind of killed a lot of the emotional undercurrent of the movie, for me.
Yeah for me too. I don't find the idea of Lois abandoning a good relationship that she's been in for five years romantic at all. And Richard sooo doesn't deserve that. I was very uneasy in the supposedly romantic scenes. Next time I watch the movie, I'm fastforwarding them for sure.