Anyone else NOT looking forward to Superman Returns?

R

ROKOKO

Well-known member
one of my favourite movies of all time is Superman The Movie from 1979. As most would agree, Christopher Reeve epitomised the character and is virtually ireplaceable. That being said, I have been as dissapointed with casting choices and direction of Superman Returns as I was elated by the casting and direction of Batman Begins.

Brandon Routh is not a trained actor. No matter how pretty he may be, how much he looks like Reeve etc etc, from the ELELVEN clips i've seen and 5 trailers and so forth, he seems incredibly one or two note. Replace a Juilliard trained actor with a guy from a bowling alley called Lucky Strike??? I won't even get into Bosworth and the rest.

Brando, Terrence Stamp, Hackman, Beatty, etc. Before any film was shot, that film had respectability in performing quality.

The suit design looks like a power ranger now, the cape is maroon blood red, and lex luthor seems to be doing the same thing he was trying to do in the other film except with a twist.

I'm not a teenager. I accept now that this film is being marketted and the filmmakers are not respecting the fact that the people who loved that first film are now 30 ish or around that age (like me). Lucas did it with the prequels, and now this. It will make A TON of money and there will be at least TWO sequels. Superman returns and its follow ups will not stand the test of time because the core and the magic is no longer there.

I'm sure people will argue you can't tell from just clips, the entire score, 5 trailers, the cast, the set design and costume, the script points etc....I can. Many of us on here make movies. We can tell a lot from very little as to whether something is going to suck. Note, I am one of the FEW that HATED BOTH Spiderman movies, but thought Ang Lee's HULK had far more merit than those films, and Shymalan's UNBREAKABLE is the best hero movie since Superman The Movie (even better than Batman Begins).

That's my opinion...



Seen superman now. It is firmly in fourth place in all 5 movies. superman 1, then 2 then 3 then returns( 3 wasn't great but it was way more fun and entertaining than returns). 4 was too horrible to even rank.

Returns problems were too many to mention. I'll list in brief...

1 weak script written by guys who can't possibly know what they're doing. The holes and the pacing were terrible.

2 awful casting. just about everyone is cast wrong. the prize for worst casting goes to kate bosworth as lois lane. Wow she couldn't have been more wrong for that role.

3 uninspiring lead. Routh did well, but he has no real charisma. He isn't the movie star you need for a role as huge as that. He was 'okay' though, i have to concede he at least held his own.

4 the music was weak aside from the williams elements brought back. in fact the williams bits were the best part of the whole film for me. very nostalgic.

5 the little kid. interesting idea, badly executed.

6 lex luthor trying to get land again? err hasn't he tried that before?

7 why did Singer basically carbon copy the chain of events from superman 1. Too many things re curred in this film to go way beyond an homage.

8 superman's costume was dark and just not cool. tiny S logo, Y front small red pants, high cut neck, removed the S from his cape, timberland red boots...actually it wasn't red, more maroon than anything

9 structuring and marketting a superman movie in 2006 as a love story!!! what a mistake that was. The sad thing is, it actually was a love story, but when the two people in love have no chemistry, you have a serious problem. It is no surprise people aren't turning out in droves to watch this.


VERY IMPRESSED WITH THE COMMENTS. NO MINDLESS FANS WHO LOVE IT NO MATTER WHAT, OR CRAZED SUPERMAN HATERS WITH NO REASONS. GOOD STUFF.
 
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I am cautious about Superman Returns, but I will give it a fair shake at the theater. I don't see how it could possibly be on par with Donner's Superman, however.
 
Im looking forward to it.

Don't pass judgement on Routh and the film until you actually see the film and see him in action.

Personally, I believe Singer has made something special and this film is gonna blow people away.
 
I guess I just don't dig the whole comic book movie thing. If I eventually rent this, I'll probably stay awake as long as I did with Batman Begins (not very long).
 
desperatecomfort said:
Giulliard?
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Giulliard is the foremost school in the US for musicians and actors/performers. You must know of it surely. Anyway, Reeve went there just before getting the Superman role.
 
ROKOKO said:
Giulliard is the foremost school in the US for musicians and actors/performers. You must know of it surely. Anyway, Reeve went there just before getting the Superman role.
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Oh, you must mean Juilliard!
 
krestofre said:
I am cautious about Superman Returns, but I will give it a fair shake at the theater. I don't see how it could possibly be on par with Donner's Superman, however.
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I'd agree... I will see it, but I am cautious as well.... Singer directing another superhero movie... eh....
 
Ummm am i the only one who can't stand the Donner Superman movies?

They're campy beyond belief.

The fact that this new superman movie seems to follow in the spirit of Donner's superman so closely is what makes me not want to see it.

But i will for the super special 3D imax i keep hearing about.
 
I'd have to argue that Donner's Superman movies are very respectful of the spirit of the character. I wouldn't call them campy, but with the Luthor scenes I can see how you'd make that connection.

The thing about Donner's films (assuming we count Superman II as a Donner film) is that they embraced the kid in all of us. They're miraculous, imagination-opening films. "You'll believe a man can fly" and all that. I really did believe it when I saw it.

Maybe I'm bringing too much childhood bagage to the table, but Donner's Superman is my all-time favorite superhero film.
 
i dont look foward to it because it seems outragous im gonna go see it though to see if im right.
 
krestofre said:
I'd have to argue that Donner's Superman movies are very respectful of the spirit of the character. I wouldn't call them campy, but with the Luthor scenes I can see how you'd make that connection.

The thing about Donner's films (assuming we count Superman II as a Donner film) is that they embraced the kid in all of us. They're miraculous, imagination-opening films. "You'll believe a man can fly" and all that. I really did believe it when I saw it.

Maybe I'm bringing too much childhood bagage to the table, but Donner's Superman is my all-time favorite superhero film.
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I agree with this point totally. You see, the first film didn't have the benefit of SFX advances we now have so when Reeve flew...he really flew. Remember the scene in the fortress of solitude when he flies at the screen?????

I can NEVER forget that. I couldn't believe my eyes. It was so real. Now we have so much SFX in this new film it ruins the aura. I mean i saw a shot where superman was totally CGI created. Tell me how this is no different from a very high end CG film like Final Fantasy Spirits Within?

Like I said, the fan boys will run to it. Teenage girls will love Routh and Bosworth (love story), the outsiders/joe public will like the escapism and obvious astute filmmaking of Singer, and the demographic will be satisfied. Money in the bank. The legacy of what Reeve and Donner started will NOT continue however. This will only be realised 20 - 30 yrs from now when people STILL talk of the 1979 film and Reeve, but not of Routh and Singer's run.
 
i don't like the bosworth casting. she doesn't look like a "lois lane". using an unknown actor has worked well before e.g. Hugh Jackman. look at him now. the special effects look cool, and the suit design is from the comics still, just not the same version that they chose to use in the old movies. singer himself said that the suit is a version from the comics and chose to use that version instead of the same one they used in the first movies.

that said, i can't wait for the film. i think it looks great (other than bosworth) and i'm planning on showing my 4 year old nephew the first 2 films then take him to see this one.

just my 2 cents.
 
yeah, the only thing I'm not looking forward to is the amount of effects used judging only from the trailers, and I might add I'm a visual effects geek.

But I saw the one clip with this guy shots superman in the eye and there is this whole slow motion effect, and then a shot showing the bullet slamming into his eye and bouncing off without him even flitching.

I kinda laughed at that. Cool visual effects won't make me go see it
 
Bsmith said:
yeah, the only thing I'm not looking forward to is the amount of effects used judging only from the trailers, and I might add I'm a visual effects geek.

But I saw the one clip with this guy shots superman in the eye and there is this whole slow motion effect, and then a shot showing the bullet slamming into his eye and bouncing off without him even flitching.

I kinda laughed at that. Cool visual effects won't make me go see it
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really? i thought the bullet eyeball thing was pretty cool.
 
The bullet in the eye thing is ridiculous. It strikes me as yet another movie trying to out-Matrix the Matrix. The rest of it looks like Beverley Hills 90210 meets Smallvile. As you may have guessed, I'll be passing :)
 
bklyndv said:
The bullet in the eye thing is ridiculous. It strikes me as yet another movie trying to out-Matrix the Matrix. The rest of it looks like Beverley Hills 90210 meets Smallvile. As you may have guessed, I'll be passing :)
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hahaha yeah that is what is annoying me. Look at the way it is being marketed. It DOES feel like the OC or something. It is so sad that in today's world films have to cater to an age group that we all know has the least depth and the lowest attention span. I was a teenager once, i didn't need much to hold my attention back then. To think movies like this are now being made to attract such a demographic is saddening.
 
FROM IMDB:

'Superman' Gets Stamp of Approval From Critics


The first Superman film in nearly 20 years, Superman Returns, has received rave reviews from America's leading movie critics. Superman Returns stars Brandon Routh as the Man Of Steel, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, and Kevin Spacey as villain Lex Luthor. Trade paper Variety praised director Bryan Singer's film as "grandly conceived, sensitively drawn and never self-consciously hip. It is sincere, with an artistic elegance and a genuine emotional investment in the material." Writing in Newsweek, critic David Ansen writes: "From the start of this gorgeously crafted epic, you can feel that Singer has real love and respect for the most foursquare comics superhero of them all." The Hollywood Reporter says Superman Returns is "a heartfelt Superman movie that plays to a broad audience." Writing on influential website Ain't It Cool News, Harry Knowles writes: "Just as Batman Begins relaunched an ailing Batman, it sends Superman into the stratosphere." Superman Returns, the first Man Of Steel movie since 1987's Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, opens in the US on June 28.

looks like the critics are enjoying it. i honestly thought they wouldnt.
 
ravinesedge said:
FROM IMDB:

'Superman' Gets Stamp of Approval From Critics


The first Superman film in nearly 20 years, Superman Returns, has received rave reviews from America's leading movie critics. Superman Returns stars Brandon Routh as the Man Of Steel, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, and Kevin Spacey as villain Lex Luthor. Trade paper Variety praised director Bryan Singer's film as "grandly conceived, sensitively drawn and never self-consciously hip. It is sincere, with an artistic elegance and a genuine emotional investment in the material." Writing in Newsweek, critic David Ansen writes: "From the start of this gorgeously crafted epic, you can feel that Singer has real love and respect for the most foursquare comics superhero of them all." The Hollywood Reporter says Superman Returns is "a heartfelt Superman movie that plays to a broad audience." Writing on influential website Ain't It Cool News, Harry Knowles writes: "Just as Batman Begins relaunched an ailing Batman, it sends Superman into the stratosphere." Superman Returns, the first Man Of Steel movie since 1987's Superman IV: The Quest For Peace, opens in the US on June 28.

looks like the critics are enjoying it. i honestly thought they wouldnt.
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I said in my original post that the critics would like a film like this like they LOVED spiderman 2 (remember how they said it was hands down the greatest EVER hero movie?).

This is based on people who do not respect the potential of hero films. Unbreakable is a good example of the depth to which a hero film can go. HULK was trying and got lambasted because it wasn't cheesy enough. Hulk was a really daring film.

Superman Returns IS the OC in a superman realm. It's personnell. No matter how they cut it, if your actors are who i'm seeing on the cast roster, it is hard to look at the film the way u looked at gary oldman, bale, watanabe, hauer, freeman, caine, neeson, murphy and so on. It just is not the same kind of approach. Superman will be fun and wonderous but it won't take the franchise anywhere new. Critics are more shocked it is better than expected than looking at it as a legitimate 'serious' film that can be compared with say the seriousness of LOTR.

Superman should have grown up by now. It's time to take the guy to new things and revive the character in a way that can be appreciated by the fans who are grown ups now.
 
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