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Superman Re-Returns

February 6th, 2007 by Anuj

It has been months since I saw old Supes’ on the big screen in Superman Returns, and in that time, I had diligently reflected on the happenings of the movie, and formed an opinion as such. But despite all of that, it wasn’t till tonight that I truly made up my mind about the movie. A friend of mine purchased it on DVD, and I had been anticipating seeing it again, seeing it after already knowing what was going to happen, therefore being able to study the effect the movie aimed to have and the actual effect it created, being able to properly critique events after already experiencing the dreaded 2-week waiting period that a movie need after being seen to be properly critiqued. But most of all, because I couldn’t remember some of the small seemingly insignificant moments in the movie, moments that can often define the quality of the rest of the movie, subconsciously or not.

[darkseid attack and more, after the jump!]

First, I must discuss my initial feelings coming out of theaters. I was happy, but part of my happiness was biased towards my strong love of Superman. Part of my happiness was a facade led only with the purpose of making up for what disappointment some of my friends may have shared watching the movie, a disappointment that would otherwise have been fueled by reasons I myself was disappointed in the movie. To my surprise, most of them actually enjoyed the movie very much. Well this didn’t change what I felt coming out of theaters regardless. The amazing music still ringing in my ears as well as images of Superman looking incredibly cool plastered in my mind, how could be anything but happy?

After two weeks, after giving it more time, I had such a negativity about the movie. So many things gone wrong, so many disappointments, so little originality… I have to say one thing and that is that it took balls to go with the movie plot and not go for a total reinvention of the character starting with the beginning more in tune with the comic books. And while I personally would have preferred that route, again, I couldn’t fault the movie in taking the angle that it did. So what if it wants to do that? The questions is of the quality, not of the content. So my disappointment grew and grew, still with all these close-minded reservations in the back of my mind. So I anticipated greatly seeing it again on DVD.

After seeing it on DVD, I was thrilled. The movie was good again! I mean, really for what it was it wasn’t flawed other than some minor things. There weren’t any clear-cut mistakes, or so I thought. While watching the DVD, while I was happy that the movie was good, I was filled with a wave of disappointment because in that same moment, the movie had inspired me. I saw clearly what the movie could have been, compared to what it was. Saw the evolutionary leap that could have been in the future for the movie versus the sub-standard plot that was presented otherwise. …I thought of Batman (Begins).

Here was a movie that delivered. It took the plot we all know and love and reinvented it the way it was meant to be; not the campy cheesy crap that we had grown accustomed to with Adam West and jokes such as George Clooney and Val Kilmer as Batman, Arnold and that loser Bane (in the movies). Here was a movie that delivered for the comic book fans. The badass that is Batman was born, and Christian Bale couldn’t have done it better. Then we’ve got the Ra’s Al Ghul and the amazing mind-boggling trickery instilled by that plot arc. Anyone who has read the comics and/or been a fan, or is at all familiar with the story line knows the past of characters such as Henri Ducard and Ra’s Al Ghul, and their presentation in the movie went in line just like in the comic books, and there is where they trick even us, the people that knew Batman in its entirety. They use our own knowledge against us, our own assumptions, and predictions and seeming omnipotence to show us that we are still an audience to be entertained.

Where was that moment in Superman? Where was that feeling? Where Bryan Singer, where? You gave us Usual Suspects and X-men and X-men 2, you could be considered a pioneer and a genius by those merits alone; so where is our revolution for Superman? You said it yourself, you were making a movie about comic books and this was Superman. Superman! On the one hand I’d like to think that you failed, but you didn’t, you didn’t really fail. You did good, but what about doing great? I’d like to think that you would’ve liked for the movie to have been better, but you were limited by the roles of us as an audience as a whole, and what we would or wouldn’t handle. Maybe you wanted to kill Superman, and do something that would’ve literally taken our breath away, but you couldn’t because perhaps we couldn’t handle it. I see your writers and I see the script, and alas I see that this isn’t the case…And that is what Superman was lacking…

We’re talking about heroes. Superheroes. Superman is the one hero that would never question the value of his own life versus the life of anyone else. He represents the pure part of every hero that believes in doing good without the self-conflicts that makes them impure. This is the single trait that really separates Superman from all other superheroes. I think what the writers did with this movie was sort of pathetic. They treated it pretty much entirely as an introduction. Sort of like they created bounds for themselves that they couldn’t cross, which to me is very disappointing. But at the same time, with this out of the way, now we can finally and safely anticipate what is in store for us with the next movie. I suppose that’s really the only way I can look at this and not feel let down. That this was just the first pass, getting done what needed to be done, to establish what was needed from Superman before he could be more than that.

And, Happy Birthday Shivi.

Entry Filed under: Entertainment