This is really good news! It’s about time that Warner realized the potential of their massive superhero franchise and got their feet together. This reminds me of The Incredible Hulk, which was quite a refreshing reboot for the series and a great movie.
Initially, I thought of titling this post, “Best. News. Ever.”, but with much thought I realized it wouldn’t be fair. I’ll explain this in a bit, if you’ll kindly spare the time. The last Superman movie to be released was Superman Returns in 2006, directed by Bryan Singer. Many people dismissed it as boring and clichéd and it didn’t help that it didn’t scrape enough bucks for the big tycoons at Warner. So, a sequel was a no-no for the bosses, that is, until they discovered the huge gold mine they had through the immense success of The Dark Knight. (Which was really an excellent film, read my review.)
Now this is just unfair to the talented Bryan Singer, who obviously put in immense effort into “Returns”. The movie clearly had high production values, fantastic art direction and set pieces , a quality cast, beautiful special effects and a fantastic soundtrack. If it were released in the 70s, along with the Christopher Reeve films, it would have struck gold. No, I think the main problem with “Returns” was that Singer tried too hard. Superman Returns was a good film, just not in line with contemporary standards.
Take for example, Brandon Routh, who plays the titular character. I believe Routh is a good actor from the way he portrayed himself in the movie, but Singer drained of much of his potential by forcing him to emulate the late Christopher Reeve. In fact, Brandon Routh had to apply a lot of visible makeup just to make his face look more like Mr. Reeve. Face it, Mr. Singer, Christopher Reeve was a fantastic Superman, but you need to be original and step out from the shell of the previous movies.
“Returns” is riddled with jokes and homages to the old movies that would make fans laugh but puzzle many younger viewers. The movie tries too hard to fit in with the old series when in fact it should be promoted as a new film with a rebooted storyline. Director Christopher Nolan did the right thing with Batman Begins by starting anew, something Bryan Singer should have done.
Another problem was that while it tried to be old-fashioned, it threw in some very weird, supposedly “contemporary” themes into the mix. People be warned, spoilers ahead! In “Returns”, Superman has a son with Lois Lane, who is currently together with another man. While I’d appreciate some drama in superhero movies (done so excellently in Spider-man 2), one does not humanize Superman by making him an illegitimate father!
As such, I am very pleased that Warner is attempting a reboot with Superman. No doubt Returns was good movie, which I would still recommend. You can clearly see how well done and polished the whole movie was and I enjoyed it very much. However, this doesn’t mean that everyone will, because not everyone is a fan. So, I sincerely hope that Warner will prove to the world that Superman is a hero for modern times, and also one of its greatest!
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