Superman Returns!

"They are a great people Kal-El, they wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way."
~ Jor-El (Superman : The Movie)


For those of you who know me, you will know how insanely stoked I am about the forthcoming Superman flick entitled "Superman Returns" - coming out June 28. I have been a huge Superman fan my entire life, and I cant wait to see this movie on opening night.

I hold the original Superman movie, aptly named Superman : The Movie, in such high regard, that I have repeatedly crowned it a landmark in cinematic achievement, not based upon effects, plot or storylines, but based on how that movie told the perfect story of Superman, and did it stunningly, considering it was released in 1978.

Consider the cast:
Christopher Reeve - flat out brilliant. He is the standard by which all future Supermen will be measured. It is a gross understatement to say he was, is and always will be the perfect Superman.

Margot Kidder - palpable. She played Lois Lane exactly how she needed to be played. Toughness with a touch of vulnerability whos knees melted when the caped wonder was near. She would have been great in the following films had she not aged faster than a sliced apple... jeezus she looked rough in the rest of the flicks -- they even had to resort to the 1960s softening shots when she had closeups because her skin looked like a defalted balloon.

Marlon Brando - excellent. Commanded the screen to such ends that his role of Jor-El will be reprised in this newest installment of the Man of Steel. Its saying something when one line can harken such vivid memories of a singular (albeit brief) role and that today's movie would be lesser if it didnt include him.

Gene Hackman - spectacular. So perfectly cast that it was almost a detriment. I only wish he had donned a bald head for these movies - as opposed to that ridiculous Tony Montana-esque wig. His wicked humour and profound believability as Lex will make it very tough for Kevin Spacey to fill his shoes.

The rest of the bit players were fantastic too: Jackie Cooper as Perry White, Glenn Ford and Phyllis Thaxter as Jonathon and Martha Kent, Terrence Stamp as Zod (briefly) and even Marc McLure as the annoying Jimmy Olsen.

The only people I didnt like in the film were Ned Beatty as Otis (Otisburgh? OTISBURGH?) and Valerie Perrine as Ms Tessmacher -- both were pointless characters who could have and should have been cut from the start. And dont even say how Ms Tessmacher saved Superman at the end of the flick by kissing him and making a deal to save his life -- that could have been done a number of ways.

Anyway -- that movie was so good that it stands the test of time to this day - special effects and all. I would (and do) watch that movie again and again and again... the whole helicopter rescue scene at the beginning hooks me in every single time without fail. I wish I were kidding.

Superman II followed closely on the successful heels of the first movie in 1980. While this movie was mired in legal grumblings and struggling storytellers, it still managed to hold up and make a very very good showing at the box office. The plot has some holes, mainly due to the fact that they switched directors 2/3rds of the way through the film, but that doesnt take away from the overall effect of the movie. It was still awesome. Remove the lame "giving up my powers for mortal love" drawn out storyline and it would rival the first movie in its greatness. The three baddies from The Phantom Zone were fantasticly evil, led by Stamp again as General Zod ("Kneel before Zod"), and their battle in downtown Metropolis was the best part of the movie.

Now this is where the 2006 version of Superman comes in. From what I can gather, the basic premise is that Superman left town (=Earth) not long after the big scrap with Zod and company in search of his home planet of Krypton, which he believed (with the help of some astronomers) to still be in existance. 5 years later, Superman returns to find Lex Luthor out of jail and exceedingly wealthy (thanks to his late heiress wife), Metropolis more or less the same and the Daily Planet still buzzing. The big difference is that Lois Lane is now engaged to the nephew of Perry White (Jack) and she is the mother to a 4 or 5 yr old son (conveniently aged, no?).

Superman/Clark Kent gets back into the swing of things, you know, balancing that whole secret identity stuff, saving lives, taking notes, etc. However, during this, he has to win back the favour of a scorned Lois, who claims that the world does not need a savior (this would be Superman for those of you who are falling behind), and in essence, neither does she.

Lex gets down to business by reviving the old Fotress of Solitude and causes trouble by harnessing the power of the now defunct Krypton and all its mighty Kryptonian technology (remember those cool green crystals?).

The rest of the flick will undoubtedly be Hollywood standard issue with a Bryan Singer signature flavour (and I am so glad he is directing this movie) -- Superman vs Lex with the world at stake, and somehow Lois Lane is caught up in the middle. How it ends, well, we'll all just have to parade to the theatre to find out.

From the dozen or so trailers and clips I have seen and ten or so reviews I have read, this movie will be a blockbuster, there is no doubt of that. Will it be received well by those venemous critics? We'll see. But I can tell you this... I'll be there to see for myself... and when I do, I'll give you the fully fan biased opinion of this movie... this movie I have been waiting 26 years to see... I just hope it was worth the wait.