Guess I was dead wrong.
I thought critics would hack "Superman Returns" to death, noting about how
needless it is, how pointless it, the continual remakes, etc., etc. -- not
to mention those of us who can't see anybody in the title role other than
the late Christopher Reeve.
** The advance reviews on the June 28 release of "Superman Returns" are
not only good -- they're spectacular. Variety, the Hollywood Reporter,
Time and Newsweek are among those that have weighed in on the quality of
this film.
** What I find most novel, beyond explicit dedications to both Mr. and
Mrs. Reeve, is the return of John Williams' theme music, the return of the
late Marlon Brando -- a surprising performance by Brandon Routh that seems
purposely designed to bring the late Chris Reeve back to life -- and
continued references to a script that is shockingly better than expected.
** The first story below is a summary by Reuters. Below that is a review
I pulled from my subscription to Variety, followed by reviews by Time,
Newsweek and the Hollywood Reporter.
-koose.
==========
Tuesday, June 20, 2006 - REUTERS
NEW SUPERMAN MOVIE
DAZZLES CRITICS IN FIRST REVIEWS
NEW YORK (Reuters) - "Superman Returns," which opens in the United States
next week, is receiving knock-out first reviews from critics, with
newcomer Brandon Routh tipped to win over audiences as the latest
crime-fighting "Man of Steel."
Hollywood's two trade newspapers, Daily Variety and Hollywood Reporter,
gave the movie strong reviews, with The Reporter describing it as "a
heartfelt Superman movie that plays to a broad audience thanks to an
emotionally troubled Man of Steel."
Daily Variety critic Todd McCarthy said director Bryan Singer had
imprinted the Warner Bros. movie with its own personality.
"'Superman Returns' is never self-consciously hip, ironic, post-modern or
camp. To the contrary, it's quite sincere, with an artistic elegance," he
said.
Routh won praise for his apparent effortlessness -- with his resemblance
to Superman predecessor, the late Christopher Reeve, not going unnoticed.
The movie's plot has Superman returning to Earth following a mysterious
absence of several years.
Back home, an old enemy plots to render him powerless once and for all
while the superhero's great love, Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), has moved
on -- or has she?
Newsweek said Singer, who left the popular "X-Men" franchise to make
"Superman Returns," did the right thing from the start of "this gorgeously
crafted epic" by showing respect for the most foursquare comic superheroes
of them all.
The magazine added that "Routh may or may not be a real actor, but he
effortlessly lays claim to the iconic role, just as Reeve did.
Indeed, he virtually duplicates Reeve in the way he plays Kent as a
diffident, awkward Midwestern colt."
"Next to Singer's champagne, most recent superhero adventure movies are
barely sparkling cider."
Time magazine said Singer and writers Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris had
revived and revised the story's premise.
"The result is an action adventure that's as thrilling for what it means
as for what is shows," Time said.
The film is Superman's first big-screen appearance since the 1987 movie
"Superman IV: The Quest for Peace" starring Reeve.
==========
June 18, 2006
VARIETY MAGAZINE
FILM REVIEW
"Superman Returns"
By TODD MCCARTHY
A Warner Bros. release, presented in association with Legendary Pictures,
of a Jon Peters production in association with Bad Hat Harry Prods.
Produced by Peters, Bryan Singer, Gilbert Adler. Executive producers,
Chris Lee, Thomas Tull, Scott Mednick. Co-producer, Stephen Jones.
Directed by Bryan Singer. Screenplay, Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris;
story, Singer, Dougherty, Harris, based on characters appearing in comic
books published by DC Comics; Superman created by Jerry Siegel, Joe
Shuster.
Clark Kent/Superman - Brandon Routh
Lex Luthor - Kevin Spacey
Jor-El - Marlon Brando
Lois Lane - Kate Bosworth
Richard White - James Marsden
Perry White - Frank Langella
Martha Kent - Eva Marie Saint
Kitty Kowalski - Parker Posey
Stanford - Kal Penn
Jimmy Olsen - Sam Huntington
Jason White - Tristan Lake Leabu
Ben Hubbard - James Karen
Brutus - David Fabrizio
Bo the Bartender - Jack Larson
Gertrude Vanderworth - Noel Neill
"Why the World Doesn't Need Superman" reads the title of a piece that wins
Lois Lane the Pulitzer Prize in "Superman Returns," the latest big screen
revival of comicdom's strongest and fastest hero.
Not only is she wrong in the context of the story (not to mention real
life), but she'll be wrong in the court of public opinion once the world
gets a look at this most grandly conceived and sensitively drawn Superman
saga.
Sure to rate with aficionados alongside "Spider-Man 2" and, for many,
"Batman Begins" on the short list of best superhero spectaculars, pic more
than justifies director Bryan Singer's decision to jump ship from the
"X-Men" franchise, and will pull down stratospheric B.O.B.O. around the
globe.
What is it about the current climate that has produced three major
releases within a month's time that hinge on the hitherto unsuspected
offspring of legendarily childless figures -- Jesus in "The Da Vinci
Code," Satan in "The Omen" and the title character here?
It's an odd development, although it does provide a promising springboard
for future series entries, something not enjoyed by the three increasingly
dispiriting sequels to Richard Donner's entertaining Christopher Reeve
starrer.
New version tips its hat to the 1978 picture in numerous ways; it's
dedicated to Reeve and wife Dana; it recycles John Williams' main musical
theme; Marlon Brando once again appears, albeit mostly vocally, as
Superman's father; and newcomer Brandon Routh bears a conspicuous
resemblance to Reeve.
Nonetheless, Singer imprints his handiwork with its own personality.
Despite its acute awareness of what's come before, "Superman Returns" is
never self-consciously hip, ironic, post-modern or camp.
To the contrary, it's quite sincere, with an artistic elegance and a
genuine emotional investment in the material that creates renewed
engagement in these long-familiar characters and a well-earned payoff
after 2½ hours spent with them.
After an opening credits sequence devoted to an explosive illustration of
the tremendous energy forces in deepest outer space, screenplay by Michael
Dougherty and Dan Harris ("X2: X-Men United""X2: X-Men United") returns
Superman, briefly, to the farm where he was raised (memory flashbacks
neatly recall his learning to fly) after a five-year absence.
Soon turning up in Clark Kent guise at the Daily Planet to reclaim his old
job, he's nonplussed when he learns his beloved Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth)
has a son, Jason (Tristan Lake Leabu) and a good-looking significant
other, Richard White (James Marsden), the editor's nephew, and has made
her name as banner-carrier for the anti-Superman lobby.
But the Man of Steel nonetheless proves he's worth having around. Old
nemesis Lex Luthor (a shaven-headed Kevin Spacey) is up to no good again,
harnessing power from a perfect crystal and announcing his return by
causing power outages and creating mayhem on an intended airborne space
shuttle launch (yes, that's Richard Branson on the shuttle crew) that
sends the plane carrying the shuttle and reporters, including Lois, out of
control.
Arriving a half-hour in, sequence is a doozy, as the burning jet
eventually plummets straight for the ground (unavoidable shades of "United
93") until being gently stopped at the last second by the Caped One.
As far as the public is concerned, Superman has made a triumphant return.
But Lois remains unimpressed, to the point that a rebuffed Superman takes
a lonely flight to Lois' waterfront home (with its gorgeous view of
Metropolis) in order to use his X-ray abilities to eavesdrop on her
seemingly enviable family life.
Sequence, and all that comes after, renders rubbish all the uninformed
pre-release media stories about a gay Superman, as what Singer and his
writers are offering here is an elaboration on the theme of Superman (or
most any superhero) as an outsider.
Brando's Jor-El is heard to tell his son (in dialogue from the Donner
version) that he'll always be "different," an "outcast" who can pass as a
human being but will never truly be one.
For quite some time, Lois maintains her resistance to Superman, while he
can't help but do what he does best -- save the day for those in dire
jeopardy (in a truly internationalist, although markedly nonpolitical,
spirit, as TV news reports testify).
Pushed by editor Perry White (Frank Langella) to get an interview with her
old flame, Lois finally meets him on the roof of the Daily Planet's
splendidly retro office building, whereupon Superman takes her on a
nocturnal flight that beats Howard Hughes' airborne date with Katharine
Hepburn in "The Aviator" any day.
By this point, it is clear Singer's take on the impossible love between
the two has nothing to do with the old joke that Lois doesn't see the
resemblance between Superman and Clark Kent (something picked up on
quickly by her son) or the problems of finding a place to change into
tights and cape, but perhaps quite a bit to do with themes of loss and the
tragedy of fate as classically expressed in opera or ballet.
There are dramatic passages where, in another context, one could easily
imagine any of the three leading characters breaking out into arias of
regret, confession, desire or intent, just as Superman's incredibly
graceful and often slow vertical ascents and landings, as well as his
moments of reflective isolation, create the frissons of expressive dance
movements.
Topping off these aspects is the evocative, darkly lyrical score by John
Ottman, continuing in his unique dual role for Singer as composer and
editor (with Elliot Graham).
The sometimes ethereal qualities of Ottman's work, amplified by
significant choral strains, provide an emotional dimension -- and show up
Williams' "Star Wars" thematic variation for the bombast it is.
Luthor's dastardly plans involve kidnapping Lois and her son aboard his
sleek boat, giving Spacey a big scene in which he can really rock and roll
with some very choice line readings.
The villain really does seem to have Superman on the ropes at one point,
but after a somewhat distended final stretch, the real climax comes in a
touching scene between Superman and little Jason, who may or may not be
super himself.
Regular Singer cinematographer Newton Thomas Sigel has contributed
significantly to giving the film a fantastically clear, clean and stable
look; "Superman Returns" is an unalloyed pleasure simply to behold.
Production designer Guy Hendrix Dyas and costume designer Louise
Mingenbach have anchored their work in the '50s -- an old-fashioned
newsroom with modern accoutrements, coats and ties for the men, sharp
professional wear for Lois and other women -- but without any cloying
self-consciousness. Visual effects are super throughout.
One can praise newcomer Routh very highly indeed simply by saying that he
carries this giant film with apparent effortlessness. Thesp possesses a
winning, appealing personality that nicely complements his rangy,
black-haired, blue-eyed good looks.
Parker Posey has a bit of a field day playing Lex Luthor's sassy floozy.
The only semi-disappointment in the cast is Bosworth.
First off, she seems too young to have been working for the newspaper for
more than five years and to plausibly have had her kid for the same length
of time.
More significantly, she comes off as flinty and cold for too long, denying
Lois a beating heart beneath the brusquely professional m.o. You never
get a strong sense of the woman inside the newshound with an unrivaled
inside connection to the most famous man in the world.
Camera (Technicolor, Panavision widescreen), Newton Thomas Sigel; editors,
John Ottman, Elliot Graham; music, Ottman; "Superman" theme, John
Williams; production designer, Guy Hendrix Dyas; supervising art director,
Hugh Bateup; art directors, Damien Drew, Larry Hubbs, Catherine
Perez-Mansill, John Pryce-Jones, Charlie Revai; set designers, Andre
Chaintreuil, Ed Cotton, Robert Johnson, Joshua Lusby, Victor Martinez,
Andrew Powell, Michael Turner; set decorator, Brian Dusting; costume
designer, Louise Mingenbach; sound (Dolby Digital/DTS/SDDS), Salty
Brincat; supervising sound editor/sound designer, Craig Berkey;
re-recording mixers, John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff, Dave Campbell; visual
effects supervisor, Mark Stetson; visual effects and animation, Sony
Pictures Imageworks; visual effects, Rhythm and Hues Studios,
Framestore-CFC, Frantic Films; special effects supervisors, Neil Corbould,
Dave Young; assistant director, Jeffrey Wetzel; second unit director, Dan
Bradley; second unit camera, Ross Emery; stunt coordinator, R.A. Rondell;
casting, Roger Mussenden.
Reviewed at Warner Bros. Studios, Burbank, June 14, 2006. MPAA Rating:
PG-13. Running time: 154 MIN.
===============
June 19, 2006
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER
FILM REVIEW
"Superman Returns"
By Kirk Honeycutt
The Superman who returns in "Superman Returns" is a different Man of Steel
than we are used to seeing.
In "Superman: The Movie," the film by director Richard Donner in 1978, the
late Christopher Reeve rescued the iconic superhero from high camp with
the sincerity and warmth of his acting.
His Superman was a romantic charmer.
Director Bryan Singer positions this new film as a sequel to Donner's
film, and his Superman -- played with winning fortitude by newcomer
Brandon Routh -- is less a Man of Steel than a Man of Heart.
While Routh is the same age as Reeve when he played the role, Routh's
Superman is older in spirit.
His Superman has known heartbreak and loss. He thinks about his late
father and must consider the possibility that he might have a son. He
even faces his own mortality.
In other words, Singer wants to put human emotions into his alien
superhero, and for the most part, he succeeds.
Not that the other kind of Superman movie turns up missing.
The hero's rescues are spectacular thanks to the marvels of digital
effects.
And its villain, Lex Luthor, and Luthor's female companion, Kitty
Kowalski -- deliciously played by Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey -- spice
the film with extravagant comedy.
So old fans can rejoice even as this "Superman" wins new fans from among
those who normally don't care about superheroes.
Singer and writers Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris imagine that the
superhero has vanished for five years.
During that time, he has searched the far reaches of space for his home
planet of Krypton and has determined that, yes, it is a destroyed planet.
Now, returning to Earth, he discovers that absence has not made the heart
grow fonder.
His mom (Eva Marie Saint) is overjoyed to see him, of course. But Lois
Lane (Kate Bosworth) has won a Pulitzer by penning a story, "Why the World
Doesn't Need Superman," and the world has more or less forgotten its
savior.
Superman in his Clark Kent guise gets his old job back at the Daily Planet
from editor Perry White (Frank Langella).
Day 1 on the job, Lois is in deadly peril when a space shuttle launched
from the back of a jet fails to disengage and rockets into space with the
jet still attached and Lois onboard. Fighting through fire and molten
debris, Superman brings the disintegrating plane in for a soft landing in
a crowded baseball stadium before he and Lois can lock eyes for the first
time in five years.
Well, he certainly knows how to get the girl's attention.
But Superman can't overcome the obstacles he faces in the new realities in
Lois' life: Not only is she still angry at him for disappearing without a
word, but she has a son, Jason (Tristan Leabu), and a fiance, Richard
White (James Marsden), the editor's nephew.
Meanwhile, Lex, newly sprung from prison, plots to use Superman's own
"crystal technology," married to Superman's Achilles' heel, kryptonite, in
an ingenious scheme to ignite a new land mass in the Atlantic that will
swamp North America while creating a gigantic real estate venture for him.
These evil machinations barely leave Superman and Lois much time to
reflect on their relationship.
But clearly, Superman must wonder who Jason's father is even as he adjusts
to a role reversal that sees Lois and her fiance coming to his rescue!
Times have indeed changed.
To underscore the link to Donner's film, designer Guy Hendrix Dyas borrows
here and there from John Barry's original design elements, composer John
Williams' "Superman" theme is woven through the film, and Singer
incorporates footage of Marlon Brando as Jor-El, Superman's long-dead
father, into the early segments.
However, this Superman does represent a new generation of flying.
Superman doesn't so much fly as float.
He can levitate a few feet or thousands of feet in the air. He's a Michael
Jordan who never comes down.
His nighttime excursion with Lois in the skies above Metropolis is
reminiscent of the romantic moonlit ride Reeve gave Margot Kidder, his
Lois, a ride that thrilled female viewers a generation ago.
This high-wire act would have gone for naught if Routh had not so capably
filled the Man of Steel's costume.
Like Reeve, he is just right physically, looking at times like the old
comic book drawings of Superman.
There is honesty in his acting where the emotions that play across
Superman/Clark Kent's face and body come from deep within.
Bosworth's Lois is a torn woman, highly ambivalent over the return of a
man she has tried to hard to forget.
And young Leabu does a nice job in conveying the innocence and curiosity
of a boy with a new hero/authority figure in his life.
The oh-wow technical wizardry behind "Superman Returns" accomplishes two
things:
It makes you appreciate the huge advances in visual effects since 1978 but
also appreciate the considerable accomplishments of Donner's team back in
the day.
SUPERMAN RETURNS
Warner Bros. Pictures Warner Bros. Pictures presents in association with
Original Pictures a Jon Peters production in association with Bad Hat
Harry Prods.
==========
Sunday, Jun 18, 2006
TIME MAGAZINE
The Gospel of Superman
The Man of Steel goes godly in a mythic parable that --
Don't worry -- delivers the action-film goods
By RICHARD CORLISS
A big summer action movie!
About the very first comic-book hero! From the director of X-Men!
The arrival of Bryan Singer's Superman Returns is exciting news to three
groups: the very young, the perpetually adolescent and those cautious folk
in the film industry who believe that the best way to make a box-office
bundle is to clone the old Man of Steel story for a new generation of
consumers.
It turns out that Singer and writers Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris had
excellent reason to re-create the Superman saga, dreamed up in the '30s by
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and elaborated on in countless comics, movie
serials, TV shows and feature films.
Singer, Dougherty and Harris went back to the story's premise, reviving it
by revising it. Beneath the artifacts of camp and cape, they located a
rich lode of myth.
Just as important, they resolved to take it seriously.
The result is an action adventure that's as thrilling for what it means as
for what it shows.
The film is a kind of stepchild to the Superman movies of 1978 and '80.
Superman (Brandon Routh) has been away from Metropolis for five years,
searching for remains of his home planet, Krypton.
He's back on Earth just in time, since his very arch enemy, Lex Luthor
(Kevin Spacey), has been sprung from prison and has a plan--diabolical, of
course--to debilitate Superman using kryptonite crystals and, with the big
guy out of the way, make the world miserable and profit from it.
Returning to his cover ID as Clark Kent, Daily Planet reporter, our hero
has an awkward reunion with Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), who loved him as
Superman but not as Clark.
Lois has three new acquisitions: a Pulitzer Prize for her editorial "Why
the World Doesn't Need Superman" (clearly, she was in deep denial over the
fellow who deserted her), a boyfriend named Richard (James Marsden) and a
young son, Jason (Tristan Leabu).
Who is Jason's father?
If you don't want to know just yet, read no further.
But we must discuss it, for this is where the movie displays its
impressive ambition and cunning.
Earlier versions of Superman stressed the hero's humanity: his attachment
to his Earth parents, his country-boy clumsiness around Lois.
The Singer version emphasizes his divinity.
He is not a super man; he is a god (named Kal-El), sent by his heavenly
father (Jor-El) to protect Earth.
That is a mission that takes more than muscles; it requires sacrifice,
perhaps of his own life.
So he is no simple comic-book hunk. He is Earth's savior: Jesus Christ
Superman.
Using snippets of Marlon Brando's performance as Jor-El from the 1978
Super-man movie, in which Brando passes on the wisdom "The son becomes the
father, and the father becomes the son," Singer establishes his own film's
central relationship. It is not romantic, between Lois and Clark.
It's familial--the bond of two sets of fathers and sons: Jor-El and
Superman, then Superman and Jason.
Each parent tells his child that he must surpass the old man's feats,
improve on Dad's legend.
Poignantly, this strength, this divinity, isolates Superman from Earth's
humans. He can save them but not be one of them. Lois can love him but
never understand him.
The movie cogently ransacks elements from all kinds of myths, classic and
modern.
Superman is the god who fell to Earth, enduring a cycle of death and
transfiguration.
And since he has sired a boy who is part human, he could be the Jesus of
the Gnostic Gospels. And Lois? Mary Magdalene!
"O.K., O.K.," we hear you saying. "The thing is profound. But is it a good
movie?"
You bet.
Made with precision and vigor, the film never forgets to entertain,
packing its 2-hr. 33-min. length with cool visions (like Krypton's crystal
cathedral) and spectacular set pieces.
Want some pure exhilaration?
Check out Superman's midair wrangling of an Air Force jet, maneuvering it
back to terra firma to make a gentle belly flop onto a baseball field
during a game.
And for an intimate intensity not often found in action films, stick
around for the creepy encounter involving Superman, Luthor and a stiletto
of kryptonite.
The best Hollywood movies always knew how to sneak a beguiling subtext
into a crowd-pleasing story. Superman Returns is in that grand tradition.
That's why it's beyond Super. It's superb.
==========
June 26, 2006
NEWSWEEK MAGAZINE
Movies:
The Big Guy's Back. We Missed Him.
By David Ansen
There was headscratching and second-guessing when director Bryan Singer
announced he was abandoning his wildly popular "X-Men" franchise to make
"Superman Returns."
Would the Man of Steel fly for a new generation of moviegoers?
Could Singer resurrect the series Richard Donner and Christopher Reeve
revitalized in 1978, which sputtered out in 1987, three sequels later?
Singer did the right thing.
From the start of this gorgeously crafted epic, you can feel that Singer
has real love and respect for the most foursquare comics superhero of them
all, as well as a reverence for the Donner version, which serves as his
visual and emotional template.
In "Superman Returns" (written by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris from a
story they cooked up with Singer), the caped crusader for truth, justice,
etc. (Brandon Routh) returns to crime-ridden Earth after a five-year
detour amid the remains of his home planet.
Back in Metropolis-where, as Clark Kent, he gets his old Daily Planet job
back-he learns that Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) has a nice, good-looking
live-in boyfriend (James Marsden) and a son, and, to add insult to
heartbreak, has won a Pulitzer Prize for her article, "Why the World
Doesn't Need Superman."
Also back from a stint behind bars is master criminal Lex Luthor (Kevin
Spacey) with heinous plans to create a new continent (don't ask) at the
expense of several million lives.
Singer aroused a feeling that I, as a victim of Chronic Summer Superhero
Fatigue Syndrome, wasn't expecting: I felt happy to have Superman back,
as if I'd actually missed the guy.
You know that you are in the presence of kitsch of a very high order when
a comic-book romance can actually produce a lump in your throat. Newcomer
Routh may or may not be a real actor, but he effortlessly lays claim to
the iconic role, just as Reeve did.
Indeed, he virtually duplicates Reeve in the way he plays Kent as a
diffident, awkward Midwestern colt.
Singer cleverly doles out his hero in small portions, so that we're left,
like all those awestruck admirers in Metropolis, wanting more glimpses of
him than we get.
The movie follows form by making Lex Luthor a comic menace. Spacey, who
can do ironic megalomania in his sleep, has a decidedly lighter touch than
Gene Hackman.
Both he, and Parker Posey as his moll, are great fun to watch.
But Luthor's evil schemes are the most nonsensical and forgettable aspects
of the movie.
Singer's real forte is lyricism.
This "Superman," which infuses its action with poetry, soars as a love
story filled with epic yearnings, thwarted desires and breathtaking
imagery: Lois, spied on with her lover's X-ray vision, ascending in a
skyscraper's elevator; Superman, zapped with kryptonite, descending
silently and helplessly through space. (If Jean Cocteau had directed $200
million action movies, they might have looked a little like this.)
Next to Singer's champagne, most recent superhero adventure movies are
barely sparkling cider.
-David Ansen
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