FFVP Review - SUPERMAN RETURNS

SUPERMAN RETURNS

The strains of John Williams familiar theme music from “Superman: The Movie,” the cascading titles that started it and the resurrection of Marlon Brando’s ghost as Superman’s father Jor-El nostalgically harks back to director Richard Donner’s original film with Christopher Reeve and whets the appetite for “Superman Returns.”

It’s been five years in movie time since Superman left earth in search of his roots and the remnants of the planet Krypton, nineteen years since Reeve’s last stint as the mild mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper in “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace”; but twenty six years since Superman did battle with the super villain convicts from his home planet in “Superman II” which have the same ingredients as the original that sparked director Bryan Singer’s youthful imagination.

This time “Superman Returns” follows the same construct as the original. Superman shows up out of blue, rescues a plane in distress and is reunited with Lois Lane. Lex Luthor is out of jail, marries well, inherits a fortune and concocts a new diabolical scheme to subject the planet earth to his will and recreate the landscape with crystals from Superman’s icy Fortress of Solitude. He uses the same crystals to make an island fortress of his own that sprouts up like blades of grass on a Chia Pet. Those same said crystals give birth to a proliferation of Kryptonite that will bring Superman to his knees at the feet of the vengeful Lex Luthor. In between these highlights, we learn Lois is a single mother with a five year old son, a Pulitzer Prize winner for her newspaper story about the world not needing Superman, and she’s engaged to the hunky nephew of the Perry White, editor of The Daily Planet. The action has all these characters bouncing off of each other like atoms in a reactor to heat up the story.

Still, there is more surface than substance in “Superman Returns” with the special effects taking center stage. Newcomer to the silver screen, Brandon Routh is an impressive looking Superman. He bears just enough of a resemblance to Christopher Reeve to momentarily put the memory of his cheeky charm on hold. Routh gives Clark Kent the somber presence of the prodigal son who has come back home unsure of his welcome but confident enough to know he fits in. Kate Bosworth is dressed down to shed her Babe-a-licious image from her “Blue Crush” days. Here she is the mature woman with a foothold in a man’s world in the dressed down role of Lois Lane role. And Kevin Spacey! His Lex Luthor is over the top without being too cartoonish. He’s all menace and mayhem - a bully - but with a contagious sense of sick humor. He’ll kick you when you’re down but when he wants to turn on the charm, it’s enough to win the heart of a dying widow (TV’s original Lois Lane, Noel Neil) who is not above leaving him her vast fortune on her deathbed. And when he has Superman down for the count….

The rest of the cast is fleshed out by James Marsden (Cyclops in “X-Men”) as Lois’s fiance. He also happens to be editor Perry White’s nephew. He plays Richard White as a starch collar who is not above the heroic gesture, but without the superpowers. Frank Langella is editor Perry White. (Did he ever get chance to say “Great Ceasar’s Ghost!”?).

The always welcome Eva Marie Saint (“On the Waterfront” - “North by Northwest”) makes a brief appearance as Clark Kent’s adoptive mother. Parker Posey is a one of the weak links in the movie as Lex Luthor’s less than gamy girlfriend. The one person who has the best moment in the entire movie is Tristan Lake Leabu who plays Jason, Lois Lane’s asthmatic son.

Throughout most of the movie, the question most asked in the minds of the viewers is, “Is Jason the son of Superman?” There is one scene with a piano that drops a hint with a capital ‘H’ that he probably possesses Superman’s genes. It’s a teaser that more than begs the question and opens up the door to a world of possibilities for more than one sequel. Let’s not forget that Bryan Singer established a working model for future films for the “X-Men” movies with the introduction of new characters in small roles who claimed a bigger part of the action in the sequels that followed. It’s a bold movie if that’s the case and one that I’m sure will pay off in dividends with Singer’s proven track record.

“Superman Returns” is not as thrilling as I hoped it would be, but for anyone too young to have seen the originals with Christopher Reeve on the big screen, “Superman Returns” is a must.

You’ve seen “X-Men” number 1 and “X II” both directed by Bryan Singe. Now go back and look for his first film and the big hit that followed and jumpstarted his career.

Bryan Singer’s first full length feature that few have seen

“Public Access” (1993) - This got critical attention at the Sundance Film Festival and paved the way for the financing of “The Usual Suspects” but for the life of me, I don’t remember it ever being released. I found it at the video store. It is an effective yarn about a mysterious stranger who starts a public access show to find out what’s wrong with the community. The acting is marginal, but the images are haunting. And surprise to me, It was actually shot in 35MM with Panavision lenses giving it a first class look. It’s worth a peak just to see the emergence of an artist whose ideas on the nature of evil reached greater fruition in his next two films.

Suggested Video Pix - One huge hit for Bryan Singer and one that should have been.

“The Usual Suspects” (1995) - Who is Kyser Soze? That tag line and the unique story about a gang of crooks hoodwinked into working for a master criminal launched Singer’s career. With a stretch of the imagination, the unique abilities of each crook can be seen as parallel to the abilities of the X-Men.” It’s an ensemble piece as well that garnered a Supporting Oscar for Kevin Spacey.

“Apt Pupil” (1998) - Ian McKellan, who appears as Magneto in “X-Men,” plays a Nazi War Criminal hiding out in suburbia in this surprisingly mature examination of the nature of evil. The research behind this must’ve had some influence on the opening scene in “X-Men.” This is one of those films that demands to be seen more than once. It got trashed by the critics but I found it deeply disturbing.