Superman Returns

As you all know by now, I’m a big fan of Superman (so is Aaron). So, we made sure that we got to see Superman Returns on opening night, last Wednesday. However, we were both a bit disappointed with the movie. It wasn’t horrible, but it wasn’t anything near as amazing as it could have been. The actors that played Superman/Clark Kent (Brandon Routh) and Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) were great, but I thought the character of Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) left a lot to be desired. The plot of the movie was a bit lame and I thought the action sequences and special effects were a bit lacking. I think part of the problem is that the directors were using the first two Superman movies as a benchmark for improvement on this movie. When you compare this movie to the first two Superman movies “Superman Returns” looks AMAZING. However, with the great special effects and exciting story lines in the current “Smallville” series (which the most recent generations identify with as the "Superman story"), I expected more from the movie. If the writers of "Smallville" can come up with a new, exciting story line and impressive special effects each week for the “Smallville” series on the small screen, I thought they could do even more incredible, Superman-like things for the big screen version of “Superman Returns.” I was also very bothered by the lack of interaction between Clark and Lois in “Superman Returns.” In the movie, Clark returns from being gone for 5 years and Lois barely even says “hello” to him. It was a strange dynamic that seemed very unfitting for the age-old Superman story.

(Another point of irritation…what’s the deal with the latex Superman costume??? I’m not a fan of the updated latex-looking dark red cape.)

As we were leaving the movie and were both complaining about it, Aaron said, “They should have asked us for our input.” Because we’re cinematographers in our spare time, you know : )