I was not overly impressed.
With that said, it was a good movie. Maybe the hype I’ve been hearing since before the movie hit theaters had built it up too much.
Superman/Clark Kent (Brandon Routh) returns after a five-year search for his home planet. He comes home to find Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) with a kid and a boyfriend living with the two. Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) is out of prison and hatching another diabolical plan that would endanger billions of lives. And the man of steel must reintegrate himself into the life of a superhero and a reporter.
I like the direction that Bryan Singer took the movie in though. He modernized it in a way that fits in better with my generation. However, he lost me on the Justice angle. There wasn’t much of one, unless it was supposed to be implied. The few bits from Jor-El helped it a little. But not enough.
He focused most of the film on the Superman/Lois story, which is what many of us wanted to see anyway. Singer portrayed it well, and didn’t fall into a Hollywood-love-story-cliché.
Routh’s performance was on. He was the embodiment of Superman. But, Spacey was better. Mostly, because I was never fond of Gene Hackman’s performance as Lex in the previous films. Bosworth played Lois’ character well enough. And I feel a bit sorry for James Marsdon, who played Lois’ boyfriend. Singer keeps putting him in these roles where he can’t keep his woman.
It is another great story in the Superman saga. Not as great as Christopher Reeve’s Superman I & II, but a story worth seeing.
Hi Justin. Michele sent me over.
I agree with your review. I liked this movie but it definitely had a few faults. In some ways it improved on the original which while at the time was making a nod at campy movies of the past, has become a little campy in its own right. Especially in regard to Lex Luthor as you note above. The Kevin Spacey version looks like it’ll age more gracefully.
I liked the way the theme music harkened back to the Chris Reeve films but I felt they teased too much about the child and his presumed parentage. I guess that’s the setup for the next film.
and in other news: somewhere, someone blogged, and seems tyo have gotten away with it.
here from michele
Hubby and I just watched this tonight. We liked it, I liked it much better than I thought I would. Being a child of the 80s, I saw all of the Christopher Reeve movies first run. I thought Mr. Routh did a good job of assuming the role and persona that I came to enjoy without seeming like it he was trying to, if you know what I mean.
I didn’t like Kevin Spacey as much as I hoped. I didn’t like Gene Hackman at all because I thought he made Luthor a caricature (strange term considering it’s based on a comic, but can’t think of a more appropriate word). I guess I expected Kevin Spacey to come off more menacingly. He scared me more in Seven.
I liked it though.
Hi! thanks for stopping by! I have not seen this movie yet. I will have to check it out. I too was a big fan of Christopher Reeves! So we will have to see if I can handle the new Superman!
Take care
I totally agree. I didnt think it was that good.
And it kinda annoyed me that Lois had to differant coloured eyes!
Thankyou for stopping by
xoxo
I haven’t seen this yet. But I think I will have a hard time, being a child of the 80s myself.
Michele sent me.
Yeah, tiggerprr, I thought Kevin Spacey would’ve been darker in this movie. But, he was so much of a step up from Hackman. I think caricature is the perfect word for Hackman’s performance.
We’ve held off on seeing it. I think part of me is tired of blockbusters. They have huge budgets for major actors and CGI, but precious little depth in terms of writing, acting or production. Still, our eldest son is clamoring for this one. So we’ll likely bite the bullet. If anything, we need to continue our involvement in the movie lineage that began way back with Mr. Reeve.
Who would have thought that nostalgia would help sell a generations-old franchise. Imagine that!
I came here by way of Sugarloaf Mountain and David. I am going to have to look for “cheesecake cream cheese.” Thanks for the review of Superman!
Carmi, you should definitely watch it because “we need to continue our involvement in” these films whether they are good or bad.