Superman Returns Re-Watch Thoughts
Jan. 12th, 2014 10:17 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaI haven't watched it in years and found that I actually like it a lot more than I remembered. A part of it might be because I couldn't help but compare it to Man of Steel and discovered that there were some things I liked more in this one. There are things I liked less and things I didn't much like at all but overall I find myself enjoying this movie a lot more now.
• I liked Brandon Routh's version of the character. Actually both him and Henry Cavill did good jobs with the role.
• Superman seemed more - heroic here. We get a lot of Clark saving people and none of the killing people (however inadvertently) from Man of Steel. It was hard not to compare Superman in this film flying back to Metropolis to save people to Superman in MoS crashing into buildings during his fight with Zod.
• The was in fact no major battle scene which kind of shocked me. I didn't remember a battle scene but I was sure there had to be one. It was actually a really nice change.
• I liked how in this movie you really got to see how everyone loves him and more importantly you can understand why they love him. That said it did sometimes go overboard in everyone's awe/love for him.
• Superman was a jackass for leaving without telling Lois he was. There really is no good explanation for why.
• I don't remember how I felt the first time I saw it but I really liked the whole ending - from Superman lifting the landmass, crashing back to Earth, the doctors attempts to help him and everyone's reactions. I loved the shot of him falling.
• I still think Lois was really miscast but I don't dislike her anymore. There were even a couple of parts I actually didn't mind her - the hospital scene and their final exchange, in particular. I liked her tenaciousness over the blackout.
• I liked Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor this time which I wasn't expecting. I remember not being impressed with him at all, I think I found him almost as bad as Lois, but that dislike has definitely dulled. I think I was comparing him to Smallville's Lex who I loved (still do!) and now there's enough distance that I'm not automatically doing that. I think he was actually a pretty good Luthor. I liked his scene with Lois on the boat a lot and the final confrontation between him and Superman was also pretty good.
• I found the Luthor/Kitty relationship pretty interesting as well. It's just so - weird. She doesn't seem his type at all, she doesn't add much of value to his plan and yet the way he behaves towards her shows that she does have some value to him. He doesn't treat her like a minion at all. Plus he is really patient with her and accepting. I want to know more.
• The saving the plane sequence remains excellent.
• I do wish that this movie had had more of a global focus. We're pretty much locked on to Metropolis throughout - not just with the action and story but also the reactions to Superman's return. He's not really a city-only type of superhero so it makes the Metropolis focus feel a little myopic. We did get a short sequence at the Daily Plant of other networks covering him saving people around the world but I wanted more.
• I found the lack of a true friendship/partnership between Lois and Clark pretty sad. I didn't remember that either and I didn't like it. Their relationship was basically that of old colleagues and nothing more which strikes me as very wrong. (Like with Lois herself, Man of Steel did so much better in this regard.)
• What happened to the crystals? Are they on the kryptonite landmass still? Is all of his species knowledge forever lost? It bothered me. Also - the fact that the Fortress apparently had no security and no AI.
So basically, I find it to be a better movie than I originally did. I wouldn't say it was better than Man of Steel but it wasn't worse either. And it definitely felt more like a traditional version of Superman/Clark Kent then Man of Steel.
• I liked Brandon Routh's version of the character. Actually both him and Henry Cavill did good jobs with the role.
• Superman seemed more - heroic here. We get a lot of Clark saving people and none of the killing people (however inadvertently) from Man of Steel. It was hard not to compare Superman in this film flying back to Metropolis to save people to Superman in MoS crashing into buildings during his fight with Zod.
• The was in fact no major battle scene which kind of shocked me. I didn't remember a battle scene but I was sure there had to be one. It was actually a really nice change.
• I liked how in this movie you really got to see how everyone loves him and more importantly you can understand why they love him. That said it did sometimes go overboard in everyone's awe/love for him.
• Superman was a jackass for leaving without telling Lois he was. There really is no good explanation for why.
• I don't remember how I felt the first time I saw it but I really liked the whole ending - from Superman lifting the landmass, crashing back to Earth, the doctors attempts to help him and everyone's reactions. I loved the shot of him falling.
• I still think Lois was really miscast but I don't dislike her anymore. There were even a couple of parts I actually didn't mind her - the hospital scene and their final exchange, in particular. I liked her tenaciousness over the blackout.
• I liked Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor this time which I wasn't expecting. I remember not being impressed with him at all, I think I found him almost as bad as Lois, but that dislike has definitely dulled. I think I was comparing him to Smallville's Lex who I loved (still do!) and now there's enough distance that I'm not automatically doing that. I think he was actually a pretty good Luthor. I liked his scene with Lois on the boat a lot and the final confrontation between him and Superman was also pretty good.
• I found the Luthor/Kitty relationship pretty interesting as well. It's just so - weird. She doesn't seem his type at all, she doesn't add much of value to his plan and yet the way he behaves towards her shows that she does have some value to him. He doesn't treat her like a minion at all. Plus he is really patient with her and accepting. I want to know more.
• The saving the plane sequence remains excellent.
• I do wish that this movie had had more of a global focus. We're pretty much locked on to Metropolis throughout - not just with the action and story but also the reactions to Superman's return. He's not really a city-only type of superhero so it makes the Metropolis focus feel a little myopic. We did get a short sequence at the Daily Plant of other networks covering him saving people around the world but I wanted more.
• I found the lack of a true friendship/partnership between Lois and Clark pretty sad. I didn't remember that either and I didn't like it. Their relationship was basically that of old colleagues and nothing more which strikes me as very wrong. (Like with Lois herself, Man of Steel did so much better in this regard.)
• What happened to the crystals? Are they on the kryptonite landmass still? Is all of his species knowledge forever lost? It bothered me. Also - the fact that the Fortress apparently had no security and no AI.
So basically, I find it to be a better movie than I originally did. I wouldn't say it was better than Man of Steel but it wasn't worse either. And it definitely felt more like a traditional version of Superman/Clark Kent then Man of Steel.
