You will believe a man can fly.....or will you?

Here's the thing, I don't have the childhood memories of the Donner Superman movies that a lot of people seem to. I was more a Star Wars/Indiana Jones type kid. That's not to say I didn't like the films (the first two, at least), because I did. But they weren't the intrinsical part of my childhood that they seemed to be for a lot of the other film nerds that were getting all wet about Superman Returns. But of course, I was also quite excited for Superman Returns, even up to renting and re-watching the first two Donner films within the past couple of months to prepare. (For those that don't know, Superman Returns ignores Superman 3 and 4 and takes place approximately 5 years after Superman 2...which is a bit incongruous because mantechnology sure seems to have blossomed in those 5 years. But whatever, it's a small foible and one easily overlooked for the sake of continuity.)

The thing about Superman Returns is that it seems like the Lois and Clark story. This is not intrinsically bad, but all the plot surrounding it feels almost thrown together as an afterthought. Which gives us a lot of wistful glances and poignant, sweeping score in the pursuit of the love quadrangle between Clark, Lois, Superman, and Lois' new beau Richard. Wait, you're saying, Clark, Lois, AND Superman. Make no mistake about it, just as Clark and Superman are distinct characters in and of themselves, Lois' relationship is distinct between the two of them as well.

Now relationships are a great way to drive a film. When done well they're the best way to impel the action, story, and plot. Take for example The Village. A flawed movie, (mostly in the second half; the first half I think is damn near perfect), but the relationship between Ivy, Lucius, and Noah is so strong and the consequences of this relationship so intrinsically determine the actions of the characters that I like this movie a lot more than I would have otherwise. (Also, the amazing cinematography didn't hurt; I thought this was one of the best shot movies I have ever seen.)

However, in the case of Superman Returns, there seem to be two main levels: 1)The Lois and Clark story, and 2)the rest of the plot. And the two don't feel like they match up that well. There are a few certain plot points (one that is hugely spoilerific, so I won't get into it) that bring the two parts together, but in a movie of this length (probably about two and a half hours), a few plot points is not nearly enough.

Now because this disparity was so glaring to me, you'd think I didn't like the film, which is not true. I have enough geek to feel all warm and fuzzy whenever John Williams' original Superman theme played. And of course any of the transferred parts of Marlon Brando's original Jor-El (even if they were used to heavy handedly drive home the Jesus theme). Brandon Routh I thought was a great Christopher Reeves and Kevin Spacey was a better Lex Luthor than Gene Hackman. I realize this may upset some purists, but going back and watching the original two movies recently I realized that Hackman's Luthor was really just too goofy to be taken seriously as an arch-villain. Spacey managed to keep some of the camp of Hackman's Luthor--his scheme, although it would have killed billions in his words, was at it's core also pretty trite--but also he infused the character with some genuine menace. Here was a Lex Luthor I could actually be afraid of. It didn't hurt that his prime sidekick in this wasn't Ned Beatty. Kate Bosworth was no Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, but I'm not sure it's entirely her fault as have a theory about that that is unrelated to Superman, and speaks more towards film in general. I've recently been watching the first two Smokey and the Bandit movies and found myself thinking that Sally Field was really hot in those films. Not because of any overwhelming good looks, although she is pretty, but I realized it was because her character (and the way she played it) was really unique. Likewise, Margot Kidder's Lois Lane was a unique character. She had, in a word, "character". And I found myself thinking that it seems like there's less room in movies for female "characters". Now it seems like female stock characters. I really don't have much in the way of research to back this up right now, as it's a theory I only started thinking about a few days ago, but I can think of only one female character off the top of my head that in recent years really jumped off the screen in her full unique and quirky self, and that's Kate Winslet's Clementine from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. (Which is largely why I am in love with Kate Winslet.)

To put it more succintly (to which I'm sure you're saying, "Yes, please."), it's the difference between characters and people. A stock character in a film feels like exactly that: a character. A unique character feels like a person.

But enough of my dissertation on the roles of women in cinema, and let me finish up Superman Returns. One thing that I was slightly surprised about, although in retrospect I guess I shouldn't be, is that the tone of the movie is a lot closer to that of the first two than I was expecting. Maybe because it's been so long since we've had a Superman movie, that in this era of Hollywood remakes, I felt that this was what it was going to be. Look at the new Batman Begins. Excellent movie, but it is a remake. It's the origin story again, with a new tone, with a moer gritty realism (as much as can be said about a man who dresses up like a bat and fights crime.) I guess subconsciously that was what I was expecting for Superman Returns. But Superman Returns is not a remake. It's a sequel. And as such, it appears that director Bryan Singer made an effort to retain the vibe of the first two films. And he did a good job of it. While being dramatic at parts, it wasn't overly serious. And I guess how could it be when your main character flies around in a skin tight body suit?

Overall it was a decent movie, but flawed. Maybe it didn't make me beleive a man could fly, but it did make me believe tha CGI could. I would see it again, but I'll wait for the DVD.