Look! Up in the sky!

So My Buddy Rob and I went to a special premiere screening of Superman Returns tonight. It was sponsored by the fine folks at Brave New World Comics in Newhall, about 90 minutes south of Bako. MAJOR SPOILERS after the fold, so I'll see you there.


So we get to BNW's new location a little before 5 in order to pick up our tickets, and the lovely Portlyn sets us up. The best part of that whole experience, though, was Portlyn and her sister, Sophia, trying to give us directions to the theatre. Seriously, I haven't laughed that hard in days.

We get to the theatre, grab some chow at the mall's food court and settle in for the festivities. I participated in the trivia challenge, and came in 3rd, largely because I overthought my response to "In Superman: The Movie, where was Luthor's headquarters located?" I knew that there were subways involved, but I was also under the impression that it was in Metropolis, but the only choice given that was in Metropolis was "Under the Daily Planet." So instead of going with my gut and saying "Under Grand Central Station," I overanalyzed it and said "Under the Daily Planet." Man, am I stupid! I knew all the rest of the answers to the other contestants questions! Grrr...Ok, I'm over it. Mostly.

Anyway, as to the film: I enjoyed it a lot. Singer's obviously a big fan of the original film and it's first sequel. The opening credits are reminiscent of those original movies, and it was a very nice touch to see Noel Neill and Jack Larson (Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen from the 1950's Adventures of Superman series) in cameo roles. Also, composer John Ottman does a fantastic job of weaving elements of John Williams' original score into the current film.

I really enjoyed this film. While I originally thought (and still think, really) that Routh and Bosworth look a little young for the chronology to work as it's presented in the film, they did a fine job. Routh gave both Clark and Superman distinctly different physicalities, and his voice in both characters evoked the brilliance of Christopher Reeve. Bosworth's Lois Lane is smart and sassy, but also conflicted and vulnerable over her feelings towards Superman (which I'll talk about a little more farther down). I didn't have much trouble believing that she was an ace reporter, although I thought the beating she took in her opening scene was underplayed in later scenes. And Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor? Brilliant. Oscar-worthy? Probably not, but certainly enjoyable. He managed to summon the sort of manic energy of Gene Hackman's Luthor, while infusing the character with a level of malice and evil simmering just below the surface. Probably the best-cast member of the team.

The plot? Mostly good. Many of the points in the movie are riffs of things that have appeared in the comics (Superman's initial public appearance saving a shuttle, the destruction of the Daily Planet Globe, etc), and that's ok. I'm not a "purist" insofar as I tend to view adaptations of beloved properties as just that: adaptations. I thought the incorporation of several elements from the earlier Superman films, including the Marlon Brando footage, was a nice touch. In all, I thought the story held together well. With one exception.

I'm now going to discuss the plot point that will likely set the blogosphere ON FIRE. If you don't want to know what that point is, STOP READING NOW!


Ok, this whole business about Lois' son being Superman's? I'm having some problems with it. Not because I don't think it's a valid evolution in the story, or because I have some sense of outrage because my "beloved Superman" is being messed with, or even because "that's not how it is in the comics." My problem here is that it seems like a throwaway plot point. It's barely mentioned (explicitly, at least), and both Lois and Superman seem content to dance around the issue. The kid seems like a deus ex machina, in that he serves a particular point in the plot, but does little else. Actually, that's not entirely true. I actually was reminded of a scene in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby.

In Chapter 6, I believe (I don't have my copy handy), Daisy invites Nick and Gatsby over for lunch, and she introduces them to her daughter, who's making her only appearance in the story. Nick observes that Gatsby looked at the child as if he could hardly believe she was real (I'm paraphrasing, obviously). Clark has the same sort of look on his face. He sees what he could have had if he hadn't left, if he hadn't continued to hide his secret from Lois. Also, how is it that the kid seems to figure out Clark and Superman are the same person, but ace reporter Lois can't? That's just a little nit I picked with Rob on the way home.

The obsessive fan-nerd in me wants to continue to rant about how the chronology can't work, since Jason, Lois' son, is clearly older than 5, which is the length of time Superman's been gone, but Superman didn't notice that Lois was pregnant? And how can Richard think Jason's his? Well, to be fair, we don't know what Richard does and doesn't know, at least relating to timelines, so I won't speculate on that here. What I will do is give this film a grade of B+/A- and go to bed, since I have to teach summer school in the morning.