Superman Returns

[Vanessa]

Teaser trailer's up over at Yahoo. Opinions? Thoughts?

Checkout this little tidbit on the costume:

The production has apparently gone with a costume design that abandons the look of Superman of the last 30 years or so, in favor of one that hearkens back to Superman's 1930s/1940s roots. I'm particularly reminded of the Max Fleischer cartoons of the early 1940s. Heck, not only is he wearing the traditional red underwear on the outside (something I would have guessed they would have done away with), but he's got a little "S" on his belt buckle too, something *rarely* seen on a Superman costume. Just when I was expecting Bryan Singer to strip away the more ridiculous aspects of Superman's costume (after what he did with the 'X-Men' and that movie's rejection of the traditional costumes), he and his production designers did the exact opposite of what I expected. And you know what... I love it. After all those threats from former screenwriters and directors that they wanted to inject "Matrix"-ish elements into this movie, here we have a completely retro superhero costume, and it is *exactly* what I think this movie needs. Bravo.

 

[Vanessa]

Also, for those interested, if you blip on over here you can watch the director's video journal.

 

[Matt Deckard]

I'm a super big Superman fan (I do dress like Clark Kent on Occasion (though the Superman shirt is hidden under my dress shirts)). The film is supposed to be connected to the ones in which Christopher Reaves starred. I have watched the preview several times and been reading all the info. I just hope it can live up to what was done in the first movies with Reaves. I talk about Indiana Jones and Elliot Ness and many other idols I had as a child, though I have always aspired in one way or another to be the type of man... the Super Man without the powers... that Christopher Reaves portrayed in those movies.

Superman II is one of my favourite films.

Listen to the theme on the trailer... I hope they use the old music in the film.

I hear they are reviving Brando to play Jorel.

 

[Kt Templar]

I think many people here will like the look at least of the new film. The Daily Planet is very Deco and unlike the 70-80's movies Singer has deliberately tried to avoid modern clothing - it really dated those films. There's a lot of 40's 50's styling and some of the chararacters will sport trilbys.

 

[Quigley Brown]

Was that Brando's voice doing the narration? Maybe they're using it from the 1977 film.

 

[Nathan Flowers]

That is Brando. The recording was taken from a bit from the original that was cut.

 

[Dalexs]

From what I've been reading, they are using quite alot of Brando that was cut from the original. I guess they really want their moneys worth out of him.
The trailer definately has a few bits from him.

I'm actually starting to get excited about this film. It took so long to get made. Hopefully they will do it right.

Dalexs

 

[Chad Sanborn]

Wooo Hooo!
I love Superman...He is the only super hero who dresses up to look like a normal person. All the others are normal people who dress up to look like super heros.

Chad

 

[Vanessa]

I'm not too worried about the movie. I have great respect for Bryan Singer. My only consolation for him not doing Xmen 3 was that he was heading up Superman.

 

[Sefton]

I'm also glad to see that they are going for a classic look for Superman's costume. Superman is the one superhero who should definitely not have a wardrobe change. His appearance is too strongly afixed to the golden age to accept any kind of drastic alterations. I wish they would have brought Batman back to his original look...

The first Superman movie is still one of the best superhero films. It'll be hard to fill Christopher Reeve's big red boots... I'm hopeful for this attempt.

 

[Doh!]

I will absolutely be seeing this one, but the look of the costume bothers me -- I'm not a big fan of the smallish, 3-dimensional "S" on the chest, and the "S" on the belt really seems redundant. In the comics, Ma Kent made the suit for him out of his baby blankets, and that really added a nice touch to the mythology.

The Chris Reeve version was much closer to the one I grew up with in the comics (even the Geo. Reeves TV version was better than this). Still, Bryan Singer is a good director so I'm sure we'll be getting our money's worth.

 

[Feraud]

I am not too thrilled by the look of this one. The trailer shows nothing in the way of story. I do not need/want to see a Superman origin story. The costume looks a bit too...something to me. I cannot put my finger on it but do not think any super man would be caught dead in those hip huggin' bikini briefs. [huh] I know they are red and blue tights but come on...

 

[Doctor Strange]

The idea of Ma Kent making the costume from Kryptonian blankets was dropped when Superman was rebooted in the comics in 1986... Now, there is nothing special about the fabric, but Superman projects his aura of invulnerability about a half-inch around his body (which means that the cape frequently gets damaged, but not the suit). Frankly, I think the older approach is better.

I am *profoundly* worried about this film. Bryan Singer did a great job on the X-Men films, but trying to squeeze another set of films, with a different cast and at a very different time in our cultural history, into the period after the 1978 and 1981 films seems a very tricky proposition. I am bothered that this film takes place later, yet the actors are considerably younger than Reeve and Kidder were. (In fact, the guy playing Clark/Supes is *younger* than Tom Welling on Smallville is - WTF?!?)

I have loved Superman my whole life - I learned to read on Superman comics in about 1960, watched the old George Reeves show for years (he is *still* my favorite interpretation of Clark - not a bumbler like Chris Reeve's, but an actual grown-up who is utterly believable as a crusading reporter, and who is viewed as a menace by criminals just for that reason), have owned the Fleischer cartoons on every media I've collected (starting with Super 8 and 16mm film)... I loved the first two Reeve films (though I didn't like his overdone Clark or the campy villains)... I thought Lois & Clark was a worthy and fun attempt at something different, giving Lois top-billing (I thought Dean Cain was a good Clark, but way too wimpy for Superman); and I really liked the late-90s Animated Series... (And I also enjoyed Smallville for a couple of years, but it just got too stupid after a while.)

So, given that some of the recent comics-derived films have been good (both Spider-Mans and X-Mens, Batman Begins) and some have been bad (Daredevil, Hulk [though I liked it more than most folks]), and given Singer's track record, I'm trying to be optimistic. But it's very unlikely that this film will - for me - be the utterly wonderful surprise that the casting of Chris Reeve was in 1978, or that the other strengths of the various other adaptations will be equalled.

 

[Zach R.]

Actually, if I remember correctly, the new Superman will be digitally inserted into the footage of CR and Marlon Brando that was shot for Superman II, which was later cut and replaced with his mother doing the expository scenes instead of Brando (because the studio had some sort of legal battle or falling out with Brando).

I heard that a long while ago and haven't seen Superman II in a while either, but I think I've gotten it right. I've always been more of a fan of Green Arrow and Batman myself.

 

[Sefton]

Doctor Strange,
First off, great choice for a screen name. Secondly, I agree about the George Reeves comments. He really was great not only as Superman but as Clark Kent.
As for the casting of Superman, I don't know anything about the actor. It would have been surprising if they had gone against convention and cast a more mature actor. It would be interesting to see and older actor in the lead. I thought the initial idea of casting Nicolas Cage was rather brilliant. Perhaps he wouldn't have been any good, but it certainly would have been unusual and quite a risk. I guess that's why they didn't do it. Wouldn't it be great if they made a Superman movie set entirely in the 40s! Superman vs. the original (and real ) axis of evil....

 

[Doctor Strange]

Okay, I just saw the teaser on E!, and now I'm even more disturbed about this film!

Why do we have to revisit the Smallville period?!? This was, for me, the single best part of the 1978 film, and while it was short, it was *perfect*. Been there, done that - let's move forward! Superman's *returning*, why do we have to revisit a backstory that everyone in the world already knows?

Why bring back Brando? And why emphasize the "that's why I have sent you, my only son" Jesus parallel? It's undoubtedly an interesting wrinkle in the Superman mythos, but since Supes' creators and the vast majority of his writers were Jewish, it's a bit off base. (I have always preferred the theory that Supes was the ultimate assimilated Jew, keeping his real self a secret. As one of the characters in "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" [a *must-read*!] says, "Who else but a Jew would call himself Clark Kent?")

Sure, it looks good. But that's the problem with today's films in a nutshell: special effects and production design are guarenteed to be great, but getting the story/characters right seems to be much harder than it used to be!

Anyway, I remain dubious...

 

[MudInYerEye]

Superman Stuporman. Eh, he's alright but...

Hopefully some visionary genius will make a 40's era film about the greatest superherp of the golden age, C.C. Beck's Captain Marvel (who actually outsold Superman for a deceny chunk of rhe 40's). Unfortuately the Cap'n been all but forgotten for being the vivid, funny, and exciting character he was and is only remembered as a Superman rip-off . Of course he did begin as Superman-esque character but almost immediately branched off into areas Superman never cared or dared to. The comic also featured much superior art and writing. Most of all, the comic never took it self too seriously. Imagine a Cap'n film with villains like Captain Nazi, Black Adam, and Mr. Mind set against the backdrop of the War? Or a live action portrayal of the amazingly bizarre origin sequence? If only they'd clone Fred MacMurray to play the Captain.
Other golden age characters worthy of the royal film treatment include Plastic Man, the Spirit, and The Spectre.
Just my opinion
By the way, I wenr to high school with Singer (I used to deliver their family's Trenton Times every morning). He did pretty alright for hisself.

 

[Quigley Brown]

Okay, I just saw the teaser on E!, and now I'm even more disturbed about this film!

Why do we have to revisit the Smallville period?!? This was, for me, the single best part of the 1978 film, and while it was short, it was *perfect*. Been there, done that - let's move forward! Superman's *returning*, why do we have to revisit a backstory that everyone in the world already knows?

It could be because the new generation of viewers probably hasn't seen the Reeves film (or plans to).

 

[Matt Deckard]

and the vast majority of his writers were Jewish, it's a bit off base. (I have always preferred the theory that Supes was the ultimate assimilated Jew, keeping his real self a secret. As one of the characters in "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay" [a *must-read*!] says, "Who else but a Jew would call himself Clark Kent?")

There is a line in Superman II where a woman says, "Of course he's Jewish", as Superman dives after a child who falls in Niagara Falls.

This film is supposed to take place after Superman II... Sort of a new sequal.
Let just hope they don't do to Superman what they did to Highlander.

 

[Doh!]

"Hopefully some visionary genius will make a 40's era film about the greatest superherp of the golden age, C.C. Beck's Captain Marvel (who actually outsold Superman for a deceny chunk of rhe 40's)."


If they do film that, I nominate Patrick Warburton (Puddy from "Seinfeld") -- he looks more like the comic book character than even Fred MacMurray!