OK, so I finally saw "Superman Returns". I am confused. And to judge by online reviews, both professional and amateur, people's reactions to it are as mixed as my feelings. It was sometimes visually amazing, but generally... wasn't pretty lame?
One thing that irritated me, beyond "plot" points, was how the film makers seemed to have set it as their main goal, way above telling a good story, to make every single shot in the film to be IMPRESSIVE, even when it would not help the story in any way to have a shot be impressive.
Why did the autistic kid not save himself and his parents after he'd proven he has superpowers? How does Luthor figure he has advanced alien technology when the only thing it has proven so far to produced is spiky landfill? Why is Superman a Peeping Tom and somebody who enters people's homes uninvited? Why did Superman go from coma to full power spontaneously without any explanation? How could he lift a whole island with lots of kryptonite in it when earlier a little bit of the stuff reduced him to a rag doll? And so on and so forth.
Update: I just started watching "Smallville". It is surprisingly good. They should have hired those writers for Superman Returns.
Good questions eolake. I never really got into Superman. I liked Batman and Underdog when I was younger :)
ReplyDeleteIt's never been about the plot in these kind of films. Methinks you really need the 'suspension of disbelieve' to make them work. ;o)
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen the movie yet, but I did notice the trailer, where a full-powered Superman gets shot point blank in his eye and it doesn't even make him blink when the bullet flattens against his cornea. (Shpling!)
ReplyDeleteIt seems they really wanted to retain all the kitsch style of a Seventies movie, with super-powers as impressive as can be to please their little fans of that era. I was one of those.
Small problem is, those fans have grown up a wee bit. I dunno, maybe today's kids will like it and not ask questions about plot approximations? Guess this is another one of those kid movies. Excellently made, but a kid movie.
Or maybe Eolake should practice his suspension of disbelief homework with more assiduity, eh? ;-)
Hey, some telepathy phenomenon caused two of us to have the same idea simultaneously. Gandalfe, are you secretly Martian Manhunter? It's okay, I won't tell. (~_^)
ReplyDeleteI was gonna let it go, but I can hold my tongue no more...! :)
ReplyDeleteSuspension of Disbelief is supposed to be for things like seeing a man flying. Not for gaping holes in the plot! :)
I liked a lot of the visuals, but it didn't seem that special to me other than that. I didn't notice the plot holes so much, I just thought the story was kinda blah. I'm more into X Men anyway. Wolverine would eat him alive.
ReplyDeleteAnd honestly, it doesn't surprise me that Superman would be a peeping tom. As goody-goody as he is, he would have to be some kind of closet pervert.
Eolake said...
ReplyDelete"Suspension of Disbelief is supposed to be for things like seeing a man flying. Not for gaping holes in the plot! :)"
Aww, you're just a grumpy old coot! You ain't no fun to go to the movies with.
I'll go watch Winnie the Pooh and the Heffalumps on my own. ):-P
Say, maybe the holes are caused by Superman using his laser-vision a bit too much? Hah! THERE's your explanation, mister incredulous!
Remember also that kryptonite's effect depends moch more on proximity than quantity. The thickness of an island can make an excellent shield. And if it holds a secret base lined with lead to stop his X-ray vision, that'll also block any kryptonite rays from reaching below.
Apart from that, there's this scene under the rain by the end of "Click!", where Morty tells the hero that the note he wrote more than a year ago is in his pocket... and he DEFINITELY isn't wearing the same clothes! Well, at that point I told my parents: "Highly unlikely, but... with Morty around, many things become possible."
It becomes even more possible when you watch the movie till the end, but I'm not spoiling that to those who have yet to enjoy this excellent and fun flick. (I know, "Click!" the flick, lamest pun I've made so far this year. But I still have 10 months to outdo myself!)
*Click!* [SLOW-MO]
There. Now there's even MORE time to come up with worse puns. >:-)
It's funny, how there's more naughty stuff in THIS super-hero movie than in a series called X-Men. ;-)
P.S.: Wolverine is über-kewl badass! I'm impatient for his own solo movie to come out. (I think it's in production.)
I also enjoy following this "different approach" Aussiesuper-hero webcomic. Haven't found a single plot hole so far, very aptly designed. And to think the whole story is posted for free! :-)))
I loved Smallville up to about season five. After that, it took a serious nosedive.
ReplyDeleteWhatever happened to "if it isn't broken, don't fix it"? Buffy BEGAN great too.
ReplyDeleteThese producers never learn. :-P
I don't recall thinking that the last seasons of Buffy were any less good.
ReplyDeleteFunny coinkidinc: I was thinking of mentioning how Smallville is heavily inspired by Buffy. Heck, it *is* buffy, only SF instead of fantasy.
And I've watched four episodes... do *all* the episodes involve kryptonite? I think it's a bit much.
Never got to see Smallville. But I think Buffy became too melodramatic later on. I kind of missed the humour of the early episodes.
ReplyDelete