Superman Returns

So I finally saw this movie. It came out in August in the Netherlands and I saw it after I came back from Peru. I have to say, I liked it and I didn’t at the same time.

The movie was well-written, as far as any Superman movie can be said to be well written, but then, I expected that since the director, Bryan Singer of X-Men fame, was one of the writers. I was really looking forward to the more realistic and less campy take on Superman that I expected Singer would go for, and I have to say, I got exactly what I hoped for… and wasn’t happy with it. Something about it just didn’t work.

I did like a lot the guy that played Superman. I think he looked the part, pulled off the Clark Kent bits well, and did one of the subtlest Christopher Reeve impersonations ever. I swear, sometimes it was like he was channeling the guy’s spirit. Spacey was also great, although I didn’t like the direction they took the Lex Luthor character in. And Parker Posey was fantastic as the ditzy girlfriend.

I won’t give it away, but they took some very interesting license with the Superman character and brought into the movie some story developments that definitely leave you with the impression that this is a bit more adult, a bit more complicated, than your average Superman storyline. That bit was good.

What didn’t work for me was the way that the action and “super”-ness of Superman was toned down to the point that it was almost trivial that he had super powers at all, they were kind of taken for granted and not focused on too much. As much as I thought it would be good to see a movie about Superman that portrayed a more ‘realistic’ portrayal of what it would be like to have such a superhero actually live in your town, I ended up wishing for just a bit more action, just a bit more use of heat rays and super strength.

In the end, it’s a very good installment and hopefully will do well enough commercially that they will keep going in this direction and continue to build on the foundation that this movie provides. I just want to see a bit more Matrix-y kind of stunts before my superhero lust can be satisfied.