Superman Returns, n'such.
Friday, July 11th, 2008 10:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
orange_crushedSuperman.
Well, okay; Superman Returns. I had forgotten how much I actually enjoyed this movie.
Maybe it's silly, but I appreciated Superman Returns in large part because of the things it didn't do.
-It didn't give us an origin story. Briefly, certain points necessary to establishing the plot and characters were covered in the first few minutes- seconds, even- of the film (particularly for younger viewers, who didn't get to watch Superman I-III on Sunday afternoon cable like the rest of us.)
-It didn't discard all the previous mythology in favor of establishing an entirely new one; and it didn't contradict itself. Important parts (and deeply-felt touches like the Marlon Brando speech about fatherhood/family) were retained in the update. (Much of the rest was scrapped, thank God.)
-It didn't give us a modern, uber-conflicted hero. (And hey, I love me some conflicted, grey-area heros- most of them, really- but not Superman. He's the one that I prefer as the steak-and-potatoes, gets-his-energy-from-the-big-bright-sun, loves-his-ma-and-pa, all around good pal and dude.) In the scene where Superman talks to Lois about the world's need for a hero, he simply points out that while she questions it, he's the guy that has to listen to like 10,000 screams for help per night. The point is dropped after that.
-It didn't choose to pursue 800 storylines; there was only one villain, who wanted to make money and kill billions. Simplicity itself. The innocent victims all managed to fall into traps in the same places. Bingo, no backtracking.
-It didn't spend ten minutes reintroducing us to the costume or talking about the new alien fibers or showing us an extended costume-change sequence. Nope. Plane's falling ? Man's got his tights on ? Good, let's move along.
-It didn't give us the story of an alien forever alienated (hee) from the world around him. (TAKE NOTE CERTAIN PEOPLE IN CARDIFF WHOSE NAMES RHYME WITH BUSSELL PEE RAVIES.) Clark's got his devoted mother, a close friendship with Jimmy and the professional appreciation of his peers. Superman's got the love and acceptance of Lois Lane and the knowledge that his child is healthy, happy, and close-by for a lifetime of care and protection. He has someone with whom he can share the secrets of his kind, pass on knowledge and ideals, teach and learn from. He's connected- he may not end the film in the arms of his beloved, and he will always be different from those around him- but the camera closes on him happy and, for the moment, content in those connections.
I liked the things it did do, too: beautifully shot, with a good mix of those iconic, wide-angle sweeps and the smaller, more intimate views. I particularly like the shot of Lois's face as she regards Superman in his hospital bed- her head is framed in the round window of the door, almost an echo of the porthole windows that she and her family were trapped behind in the action sequence.
And the main characters, who were all supposed to be grownups, acted like grownups- oh, there was a bit of lie-telling and jealousy and secrets, otherwise it'd be called Superman Returns And Everything's Perfect. But when push came to shove, they protected the child involved, they treated each other with respect and trust, and they listened to one another. Wow.
Also, I love Parkey Posey, and the running gag about eating dogs. I don't know why, but there you have it.
Well, okay; Superman Returns. I had forgotten how much I actually enjoyed this movie.
Maybe it's silly, but I appreciated Superman Returns in large part because of the things it didn't do.
-It didn't give us an origin story. Briefly, certain points necessary to establishing the plot and characters were covered in the first few minutes- seconds, even- of the film (particularly for younger viewers, who didn't get to watch Superman I-III on Sunday afternoon cable like the rest of us.)
-It didn't discard all the previous mythology in favor of establishing an entirely new one; and it didn't contradict itself. Important parts (and deeply-felt touches like the Marlon Brando speech about fatherhood/family) were retained in the update. (Much of the rest was scrapped, thank God.)
-It didn't give us a modern, uber-conflicted hero. (And hey, I love me some conflicted, grey-area heros- most of them, really- but not Superman. He's the one that I prefer as the steak-and-potatoes, gets-his-energy-from-the-big-bright-sun, loves-his-ma-and-pa, all around good pal and dude.) In the scene where Superman talks to Lois about the world's need for a hero, he simply points out that while she questions it, he's the guy that has to listen to like 10,000 screams for help per night. The point is dropped after that.
-It didn't choose to pursue 800 storylines; there was only one villain, who wanted to make money and kill billions. Simplicity itself. The innocent victims all managed to fall into traps in the same places. Bingo, no backtracking.
-It didn't spend ten minutes reintroducing us to the costume or talking about the new alien fibers or showing us an extended costume-change sequence. Nope. Plane's falling ? Man's got his tights on ? Good, let's move along.
-It didn't give us the story of an alien forever alienated (hee) from the world around him. (TAKE NOTE CERTAIN PEOPLE IN CARDIFF WHOSE NAMES RHYME WITH BUSSELL PEE RAVIES.) Clark's got his devoted mother, a close friendship with Jimmy and the professional appreciation of his peers. Superman's got the love and acceptance of Lois Lane and the knowledge that his child is healthy, happy, and close-by for a lifetime of care and protection. He has someone with whom he can share the secrets of his kind, pass on knowledge and ideals, teach and learn from. He's connected- he may not end the film in the arms of his beloved, and he will always be different from those around him- but the camera closes on him happy and, for the moment, content in those connections.
I liked the things it did do, too: beautifully shot, with a good mix of those iconic, wide-angle sweeps and the smaller, more intimate views. I particularly like the shot of Lois's face as she regards Superman in his hospital bed- her head is framed in the round window of the door, almost an echo of the porthole windows that she and her family were trapped behind in the action sequence.
And the main characters, who were all supposed to be grownups, acted like grownups- oh, there was a bit of lie-telling and jealousy and secrets, otherwise it'd be called Superman Returns And Everything's Perfect. But when push came to shove, they protected the child involved, they treated each other with respect and trust, and they listened to one another. Wow.
Also, I love Parkey Posey, and the running gag about eating dogs. I don't know why, but there you have it.
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no subject
Date: Saturday, July 12th, 2008 02:43 am (UTC)That, and on the special features, there's a bit about Kevin Spacey decorating a golf cart and driving around the lot with a superman doll dragging behind it, and him on a megaphone demanding 'Death to Superman!'
no subject
Date: Monday, July 14th, 2008 02:53 pm (UTC)I NEED TO THIS SEE THIS, FOR REALS.
And the thing I kept coming back to about the movie was its stillness. I know, imagine a comic-book action movie being descibed as having "stillness." But there were these dreamlike sequences of flying and floating and it made the movie more restful and thoughtful. Superman was always a placid kind of guy in his Clark Kent persona, and a calm, reasonable kind of superhero. He didn't snarl and pose and stuff; he just got the job done. The movie was like that.
no subject
Date: Saturday, July 12th, 2008 03:14 am (UTC)If so, then it was totally when they were beating the crap out of Superman at the Fortress and I was bawling my eyes out in the theatre over it, since if that ever happened on Smallville I would probably just be like, "Oh, what the fuck ever, Clark. Get up."
no subject
Date: Monday, July 14th, 2008 02:55 pm (UTC)No, because that part was made of win.
On Smallville it's like "come on, you can beat these guys in their plastic underpants ! Get back up on your feet, man !" But the movie made it somehow more epic. Hee.