The Superman Returns spoiler thread.

[Flexor the Mighty!]

It was OK. I really dislike the campy movie Luthor. There was too much recycling going on from the first 2 movies, lines, plot elements, etc. Superman's kid is lame. Superman scanning Lois' house with his x-ray vision was creepy, was he hoping to catch her and her hubby going at it? Jeez man, respect privacy!


Some good scenes but it wasn't a great movie.

 

[soulforge]

14. The inability to connect Clark's return to Superman's return? Ugh.

This is one I don't understand. I've heard it from more people than just you, but it just seems to really fly in the face of the core of Superman.

People complain when a movie doesn't stick to it's basic belief. I think this is also your argument when you mention "9. The deaths of thugs? Suck." I think you could be saying that you didn't like that the fight wasn't an awesome battle, but I get more the feeling that you don't think Superman should have left them to die.

The Superman saving everyone thing I can definitely understand, although I don't really have those feelings. I actually felt that he didn't really have any true way of saving them, and just had to focus on saving the millions of people in the world by removing that hunk of rock.

It's a comic book movie. You seriously want them to just connect a and b that Superman is Clark? I mean if so that's going to drastically change the movie. It's one of those suspension of disbelief things where if your gonna bite the bullet and believe in a man with blue tights and red undies flying about you shouldn't focus on his cover being a dorky guy in glasses.

I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and felt it was better than the original even. IMO.

 

[mmu1]

I thought the movie was ok, on its own merits - not great, since I'd have liked to see Superman face something a little more dynamic than a large, greenish rock - but coming from Singer, it was something of a disappointment.

When he did the X-Men movies, he clearly wasn't afraid to do what he had to in order to make good movies out of the material he was working with, and didn't feel confined by the need to stay exactly true to the source material.

That clearly wasn't the case with the Superman movie - it felt in most ways like a rehash of the old movies, and all the silly contrivances surrounding the Superman persona were glaringly on display. It reminded me of the Spiderman movies that way, with their "oh-boy, golly-gosh-darn" dialogue that, for me, was cringe inducing. I don't want an ode to childhood nostalgia, I want an interesting movie based on a comic book.

Thank God for the first two X-Men movies and Batman Begins...

 

[mmu1]

This is one I don't understand. I've heard it from more people than just you, but it just seems to really fly in the face of the core of Superman.

It's clearly one of those things you can't get rid of and still have it be Superman, but I for one would have appreciated it if, rather than drawing attention to what's the corniest, oldest joke in the book, as far as the whole Superman character is concerned, they just stayed away from it as much as possible.

I think the way they handled it in the movie failed as an in-joke, and just served to accentuate the basic silliness of the character. (as did a lot of other things, like having him stop an actual bank robbery)

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Pa is dead, and his mother clearly knew where he went and what he was doing- she even asks him if he found what he was looking for. Her upset is caused by not knowing what happened to him in the meantime, or if he was coming back, but to be fair- it's probably a little difficult to write from hundreds or thousands of light years away.

Hrm. Another poster mentions this as well, so perhaps I missed the dialogue that clued us in on Ma having known. This makes me feel better.

As for Lois- they made it pretty clear that she doesn't really consider Clark much at all- nor did she in the other films (though Kidder's Lois did seem to notice him a little more than Bosworth's). Jimmy and Perry seemed to know about Clark's leaving as well- Perry not really caring (which was odd, frankly, as Kent is supposed to be one of his best reporters).

Even assuming everything you say is true and Lois doesn't see Clark as anything much, Lois and Superman had a relationship. Superman would have told her goodbye. Lois says as much in the movie, and Supes is speechless, largely because, IMO, there really is no good reason why he wouldn't have met with her before leaving, possibly forever. The reason they gave for him not telling her "it would have been too painful" strikes me as .

He has, but only a gradually.

Unless I missed a scene, Clark Kent had still not found an apartment by the end of the movie. It wouldn't have bothered me at all, if they hadn't made a point of the fact that he was looking for a place to live several times throughout the movie. Instead of another stalker scene at the Lane residence at the end, I'd have liked to see him moving in to a new pad. Possibly putting a picture of the kid on the mantle.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

It was OK. I really dislike the campy movie Luthor.

I'm curious. When exactly was Lex campy? When he was plotting to destroy the North American continent? When he shoved a dagger into Superman's side, or was brutally kicking him on the ground?

From comments here and elsewhere, I went into the movie expecting Lex to be cheesy. Instead, I was rather surprised at the degree of brutality Spacey brought to the character. Though he shared a bit of the soft-spoken mannerisms of Hackman's Lex, I found their differences to be profound.

Hackman's Lex wrapped a piece of kryptonite around Superman's neck.

Spacey's Lex shoved a kryptonite dagger into his guts.

World of difference.

 

[Flexor the Mighty!]

His stupid girlfriend was a major part of it. The intro with him scheming the widows money was cheesy. But I just got no aura of menace from Luthor. I never got the impression that he was much more than a criminal who happened to think big and found some Kryptonite. I always preferred the buisness tycoon with a hint of mad scientist Lex from the Superman comics after J. Byrne redid it. Or the Luthor from the JLU series. Luthor from all the Superman movies comes off as a bit of a bumbler to me. He makes these world shaking plans, but leaves key elements for his sentimental girlfriends to screw up. The movie Luthor give me silver age silliness vibes.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

I thought the movie was good, but could have used more energy. I eagerly await the DVD with the cut scenes and commentary and so forth and so on.

I wonder why Luther and his lackies only lived on the boat, and seemed to avoid the big palace. Granted, they cracked part of the house with the first crystal, but it was a big place there should have been other rooms.

So, what happens to Luther (and the spare crystals) now? Presumably Supes can retrieve the crystals left with the rock - if he can endure kryptonite poisoning long enough to move the rock into space, then he can be there long enough to get the crystals. But what about Luther? Presumably, he eats the dog and Kitty, so he's got food but no water. He can single for help with the chopper's radio. Hrm...

Dear God In Heaven!

Luther uses the advanced alien technology to grow that little spit on land he is on into a vast island, but this creates atypical phenominia and later it becomes the LOST island.

Maybe not.

In any event, this was better than no Superman at all. And better than Superman 3, 4 and 5.

 

[Particle_Man]

In any event, this was better than no Superman at all. And better than Superman 3, 4 and 5.

Superman V? Was that the movie that basically was aborted without being finished or released, before people came to their senses and made Superman Returns?

 

[mmu1]

I wonder why Luther and his lackies only lived on the boat, and seemed to avoid the big palace. Granted, they cracked part of the house with the first crystal, but it was a big place there should have been other rooms.

So, what happens to Luther (and the spare crystals) now? Presumably Supes can retrieve the crystals left with the rock - if he can endure kryptonite poisoning long enough to move the rock into space, then he can be there long enough to get the crystals. But what about Luther? Presumably, he eats the dog and Kitty, so he's got food but no water. He can single for help with the chopper's radio. Hrm...

Well, a dusty mansion where someone died recently isn't exactly the most appealing place to live... And considering what Luthor had to do to get that money *shudder*, he's got other good reasons for living on the boat.

As far as the crystals go - unless he's got some super homing-sense, how would he find them? Without talking to Kitty or Luthor, he won't even know where they ended up.