Author Topic: Superman Returns  (Read 10929 times)

Parker

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Re: Superman Returns
« Reply #75 on: July 01, 2006, 10:21:53 PM »
From what I've heard, studios really rake in the bucks when it comes time for DVD sales.

Oh--and CNN's saying that it took in 21 million on Wednesday, which is the 11th best one day opening on record, so that's not awful.  I hope it does well--I'd like to see the series back.
« Last Edit: July 01, 2006, 10:25:09 PM by Parker »

Spriggan

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Re: Superman Returns
« Reply #76 on: July 02, 2006, 12:19:43 AM »
True, I forgot about DVDs, but it still seams strange that they would gamble making up 100 million or more just in DVD sales.
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Re: Superman Returns
« Reply #77 on: July 02, 2006, 12:21:56 AM »
Saw it today, liked it.

Has some really good scenes, and I liked that it makes so many references to the older movies.

Still, Kate Bosworth was horrid. Part of the problem is she's trying to play a person 10 years older. I just never felt she was Louis Lane during the film.
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Re: Superman Returns
« Reply #78 on: July 02, 2006, 05:00:35 AM »

Sprig,

Companies make movies for the LONG haul.  That's why some movies, like Waterworld, are considered flops to the general public, but actually very profitable.  Foreign sales, DVD sales, movie channel sales, and finally TV sales all add up to making quite a bit off of a movie, in the long run.  You have to think like investors.  In a lot of investing, it takes a while before you see a return.  How long was it before Amazon became profitable?

I saw it, and liked it.  I disagree about the acting.  I thought Superman did an excellent job.  Sprig is right; he isn't as charming as Clark Kent.  However, I think that's because of Singer, not because of the actor.  

I a lot of superman interpretations, it's projected that Clark Kent is the real man, and Superman (personality wise) is an act.  That's why you get tension in shows like Lois and Clark where Clark wants her to love him for himself, not for the cape.  However, in this movie, I got the feeling that Singer saw the Superman as the real person, and Clark Kent as an act he puts on to throw people off.

Therefore, the movie didn't focus at all on Kent, and Brandon's acting was quite in line.  I thought he did a nice homage to Reeve in his acting, and it was one of my favorite parts of the movie.  Of course, Spacy did a MUCH better job, but that was to be expected.  Lois, as has been mentioned, was meh.  

I very much enjoyed the first act.  I loved seeing Superman be Superman, right down to lecturing people after he saves them.  

My complaint, then, is the third act.  As Ookla said, the evil plot on Lex's part was just plain weak.  Then, Superman's great sacrifice to stop that plot fell flat to me.  He didn't need to do it.  It didn't really mean anything.  Plus, add on that that the reason he COULD do it was unexplained...and, well, yeah.

Tell me.  Why is it a lot of these Superhero movies stop paying attention to plot in the final scenes?  Is it just me?  X3 was a very bad offender in this area, and I remember both of the other X-Men movies being weakest at the end.  
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Spriggan

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Re: Superman Returns
« Reply #79 on: July 02, 2006, 07:27:43 PM »
I think part of the problem with this movie was the actual Luthor plot was always sidelined by the romance and by the time the movie dealt with it you just didn't care.

I'm starting to think all directors need to take a lesson for George Lucas on editing and movie length.  He refuses to make movies longer then 2 hours because it forces him to remove things that don't need to be in there and distract from the story.  Both Singer and Peter Jackson would be wise to start following that advice, not everything a director thinks should be in a movie should be there for the theatrical release.  That's what DVDs are for.

As for reviews for Superman, I think this Box Office Mojo review best describs my thoughts on it.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/reviews/?id=2102&p=.htm

Quote
It also introduces Lois, miraculously younger than she was 26 years ago—and the age difference impairs her character's ability to get swept up by Supe. At the low end of twentysomething, Lois (Kate Bosworth) now drives a luxury car, has a child out of wedlock, lives in a mansion with her boss (James Marsden), to whom she is not married--sleeping with Perry White's (Frank Langella) nephew hasn't helped her afford a haircut or a sitter for the kid--and, by the way, she has a Pulitzer.

Nothing against Kate Bosworth, in stringy black hair, but Lois is too preoccupied being superwoman to pine convincingly for Superman, who has a vague role as the world's savior. Margot Kidder's tenacious reporter had yet to achieve her career highs and she was a bit of a mess, and the contrast with clean-cut Superman added a deeper dimension to the bond. Kidder and Christopher Reeve were magnetic.

Routh's Man of Steel lacks purpose. He returns to earth after trying to find his home planet Krypton. Barely speaking to his adoptive mother (Eva Marie Saint, looking lost), he randomly flashes back to boyhood (and teases his dog in a way that seems cruel) and he eventually shows up at the Daily Planet building as Clark Kent after an absence of years. When he tries to reconnect his relationship with Lois, she snaps: "what relationship?"


Lois is neither the best nor the brightest, leaving her son stranded, taking him on assignment, dragging the child along as she trespasses and delivering him into the company of a serial killer. How can Lois be the world's greatest reporter at 23 and as street savvy as a supermodel? Welcome to the strange new world of Superman, where the tongue is nowhere near the cheek.

...

Like his core principles, described here as truth, justice and something other than the American way, the Man of Steel is ultimately reduced to near-mortal status. Director Bryan Singer tried to have it every which way--soap opera, epic, modern relevance--and ended up with too much movie and not much to say. That Superman is downsized comes with today's cultural territory: he aches and he broods, the hero with hospitalized feet of clay--this is Superman, right?--and, when he does take flight, he's a speck on the horizon; humbled, insignificant and noticeably smaller than life.
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Peter Ahlstrom

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Re: Superman Returns
« Reply #80 on: July 03, 2006, 03:01:09 PM »
Quote
Who's performance was icy? You must be refferring to a post - we didn't describe anyone that way in the review.

Maybe do a search for "icily" on your review? :)

Quote
He is joined by his moll, Kitty (Parker Posey, of Waiting For Guffman) who icily fills the roles of both Miss Tessmacher and Otis.


Maybe that was supposed to be "easily"? It's kind of an odd typo though.
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Re: Superman Returns
« Reply #81 on: July 03, 2006, 03:05:21 PM »
Quote
I'm starting to think all directors need to take a lesson for George Lucas on editing and movie length.  He refuses to make movies longer then 2 hours because it forces him to remove things that don't need to be in there and distract from the story.  

Except that all 6 Star Wars movies are longer than 120 minutes. And each one is slightly longer than the one before.

Spriggan

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Re: Superman Returns
« Reply #82 on: July 03, 2006, 03:09:26 PM »
I stand corrected, that must be an old quote from him, though his pacing is still much better then most other directors.

It is odd to note that SW EP 3 only had a budget of $113 million and yet had more F/X per sqare inch then either Superman or X3.  Must be a perk of non-union film making.
« Last Edit: July 03, 2006, 03:14:05 PM by Spriggan »
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Peter Ahlstrom

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Re: Superman Returns
« Reply #83 on: July 03, 2006, 10:23:43 PM »
Interesting (spoiler-ridden) review over at Locus:

http://www.locusmag.com/2006/Features/Westfahl_SupermanReturns.html
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Re: Superman Returns
« Reply #84 on: July 04, 2006, 05:33:34 AM »
Great review.  Thanks for the link, Ookla.
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Rak-O-Latern

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Re: Superman Returns
« Reply #85 on: July 22, 2006, 05:23:17 AM »
I saw it ysterday. It was O.K, wouldn't really recommend it. It was too long, and most of the time they were just talking a load of c**p. Superman dies and comes back to live twice for goodness sake, it just so repetitive.

I am Bored with the same endings have someone get killed like superman
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Re: Superman Returns
« Reply #86 on: July 24, 2006, 09:40:40 AM »
how insightful. You're use of the more annoying text formatting functions just makes your point all the more convincing.

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Re: Superman Returns
« Reply #87 on: July 27, 2006, 05:47:02 AM »
I know, great isn't it! No, No , Give me my award later, I insist!
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Re: Superman Returns
« Reply #88 on: January 02, 2007, 12:11:54 AM »
All in all the movie was great, I just wish they'd had Superman and Lane secretly married so five years later she could have been like, "Welcome back dear... oh and that's your son."
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