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Topic:
You'll believe a man can fly... Again. Superman Returns!
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The_Face
Title: Fan Fic Manager, now with more real butter flavor
Registered:
Feb '03
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Date Posted:
7/24/07 12:54pm
Subject:
RE: You'll believe a man can fly... Again. Superman Returns!
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Huh! I didn't know that stuff was even filmed. I'd like to see what the movie is like with that in there, and see how it really compares. 
But I didn't have a problem with the movie as it is. Matter of fact, I liked it quite a bit. SR has soul; it has an emotional core that resonates more than flashy explosives. Though when things do explode, they are suitably flashy.  I may have said this already, but even though Kevin Spacey plays Lex for comedy, he does it well.
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on distant shores
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solojones
Registered:
Sep '00
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Date Posted:
8/3/07 7:56am
Subject:
RE: You'll believe a man can fly... Again. Superman Returns!
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I understand time and pacing-wise why they cut the Krypton stuff and some other stuff from the front end of the film (like the Ben/Martha scenes). The Lex stuff they couldn't cut because it was extremely plot-heavy. The other stuff was really awesome and great in terms of character-development and theme, but not as important for plot.
Still, that doesn't change the fact that it really sucks it was cut  I wish it could have wound up in an extended edition of the film.
-sj loves kevin spacey
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6 x 9 = 42 Proud member of the Colbert Nation  Obi-Wan Kenobi and Obi-Wan Kenobi in Ghost Ship Executor All Hail Cliegg's Blue Leg!
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VadersLaMent
Registered:
Apr '02
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Date Posted:
8/11/07 4:13pm
Subject:
RE: You'll believe a man can fly... Again. Superman Returns!
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From cracked.com a collection of Superman stories from the comics you won't see in a movie
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Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic--Arthur C. Clarke
Any sufficiently advanced extraterrestrial intelligence is indistinguishable from God--Michael Shermer
I am officially Awesome.
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lazykbys_left
Registered:
Feb '05
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Date Posted:
12/7/07 8:22am
Subject:
RE: You'll believe a man can fly... Again. Superman Returns! [my review: good, but not great]
- Date Edited:
12/7/07 8:27am (1 edits total)
Edited By:
lazykbys_left
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First, a few confessions:
I didn't see Superman Returns in theaters when it was released.
I didn't wait for the DVD release to see it.
In fact, the only reason I rented it was because they gave me a Rent One Free coupon when I renewed my DVD shop membership - and Shrek 2 wasn't available.
So be advised that this belated review is coming from a non-Superman fan who has seen Superman 1&2 but has forgotten most of the details. I also write fan fiction, which may account for the way I see these things.
I went into this movie with only two bits of data in my mind:
1. Superman has been AWOL for a few years.
2. Lois won the Pulitzer for "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman".
(This was accomplished by living in Japan, fast-forwarding through all commercials, and staying away from the Superman Returns threads in SF&F.)
What I expected - what I hoped for - was a world that had outgrown its desire for Superman. A world where bad things happened to good people and other good people did their best to keep the damage to a minimum. A world where, perhaps, Superman could be accepted as One Of Us instead of a demigod.
And in my heart of hearts, I was hoping for something that would show how the world does need Superman. Superman saying, "What about all those people crying out for me?" doesn't quite cut it.
I suppose I should explain. There's an old Chinese saying: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." And in my mind, superheroes are fish givers. They save lives. They fight crime. They rescue kittens from treetops. But is it just me, or do we never get to see where a superhero arrives and is told, "Thanks for coming, but we have the situation under control" - and it really is?
One exception - sort of - is Spiderman 2, where Aunt May tells Peter that Spiderman inspired her to hang on just a little bit longer. Yes, she was eventually saved by him. But he couldn't have done it without her. Perhaps the saying I'm looking for is this: God helps those who help themselves.
Superman helps everyone. And I can't help but wonder if he's unwittingly encouraging people to be dependent on his being there in the nick of time. IIRC, there was a line in the movie about people wanting him to do things they could do for themselves. I wish they could have expanded on this.
My favorite scene is where the Tattoo Guy starts playing the piano beside Jason. At first I thought it was a touching move, a bit of warmth in a hardened criminal. Then I realized this was a man who could kill people without a twitch of conscience. Then Lois starts to do her thing with the fax, half afraid she'll be caught, probably more than half afraid of what the man might do to Jason if he found out what she was doing. And then he does - and goes after Lois instead of using Jason to punish her. Wonderful characterization, I thought.
The moment of Jason's superness with the piano was . . . well, to be honest I found it anticlimatic. I think it would have been better to keep Jason's parentage ambiguous. Not that it would fool anyone watching the movie, but -
Still, the subsequent scens about Jason's powers (or lack thereof) in the boat are great. For me, the sequence goes something like this:
1. Jason does the piano thing in a fit of desperate rage to save his mother.
2. Lois asks if he could help with the door. Jason apologises because he wants to be normal - or perhaps that he thinks Lois wants him to be normal (and therefore Richard's son?).
3. Jason realizes he might be the only way they can get out of the locked room. He gathers what courage he has and walks toward the door -
4. And Richard opens it. And Jason is relieved he can be just a kid again. So when the boat splits in half and starts to sink, he is just a kid depending on grownups for survival.
Which brings me to the part I'm most upset over: Superman in Jason's bedroom.
I'll admit that it's a great scene. This is Superman realizing that he isn't alone, that he isn't the last of his kind. He's experiencing fatherhood for the first time in his life and because of this, he automatically assumes that the kid will grow up to be Just Like Dad. It's a very human flaw and I applaud the filmmakers for including it.
However.
The idea that people with superpowers are destined to become superheroes is a pet peeve of mine. People should be allowed to choose what they do with their skills and talents.
BTW - until I read this thread, I had no idea that Lois didn't know Clark and Superman were the same person. I may have to rent the DVD again just to see it from this perspective.
- lazy
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"You're like some kind of link machine." - rhonderoo It didn't stop being magic just because you found out how it was done. DARK SIDE FHTAGN lazykbys fanfic index (click and scroll dowwwn): http://boards.theforce.net/m/b1/17609715/r17736763
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darth-sinister
Title: Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Jun '01
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Date Posted:
12/7/07 12:41pm
Subject:
RE: You'll believe a man can fly... Again. Superman Returns!
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Clark isn't telling Jason that he will have to use his powers. He's just telling him that he will come to experience life the same way that he has, which was the same way Jor-El has.
lazykbys_left posted:
I suppose I should explain. There's an old Chinese saying: "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime." And in my mind, superheroes are fish givers. They save lives. They fight crime. They rescue kittens from treetops. But is it just me, or do we never get to see where a superhero arrives and is told, "Thanks for coming, but we have the situation under control" - and it really is?
That's because most police officers can't deal with super powered individuals or stop all disasters. And in the case of bank robbers, guys who are invulnerable save the lives of those who aren't.
lazykbys_left posted:
One exception - sort of - is Spiderman 2, where Aunt May tells Peter that Spiderman inspired her to hang on just a little bit longer. Yes, she was eventually saved by him. But he couldn't have done it without her. Perhaps the saying I'm looking for is this: God helps those who help themselves.
Superman helps everyone. And I can't help but wonder if he's unwittingly encouraging people to be dependent on his being there in the nick of time. IIRC, there was a line in the movie about people wanting him to do things they could do for themselves. I wish they could have expanded on this.
He's not unwittingly encouraging people to be dependent on him to save their lives if necessary. The only thing that he objects to is when they ask him to make it rain or some other such thing. Anyway, Lois only wrote that article because she was made that he left without telling her good-bye. He was telling her that this is why they need him. That they call for help and because of his powers, he has to do something. That was how Jonathan, Martha and Jor-El raised him.
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