Well, it’s an epic. Right from the opening credits, the cosmogonic ambitions of “Superman Returns” (2006) are evident. Then, two and a half hours of “action” showcase the $260 million budget and Brian Singer’s invaluable sense of style in every frame. Perhaps style, ambition, and money ultimately overshadowed the daunting fact that this remake took six years to make, cycled through three directors, and had dozens of candidates for the lead roles. The question of “what’s the point?” lingers in some places, but “Superman Returns” doesn’t fall apart, become tiresome, or even irritate with the vulgarity of the genre.
Ironically, the only irritating thing is the classic Superman costume in the style of 1930s comics. It’s clear that it’s essential, but the costume encapsulates all the questions about the comic book source material (there were very few such questions about the timeless “Batman Begins” (2005)). The beginning, stylized with cars and settings reminiscent of the 30s, quickly transitions to “modernity,” but within the comic book context, this is not justified. Singer knows this, as he makes the transition so smoothly and quietly. In “modernity,” a guy in tights and a cape only undermines the declared cosmogony with the frivolity of his retro-super-abilities. Why is he retro-flitting under the circus dome instead of using zero-transportation? It’s ridiculous. If Superman were created today, he would be completely different – with a different Planet Krypton (where he disappeared for as long as the movie took to make), and a different motivation for his duality (when television hadn’t even started, being a newspaper reporter was the ultimate dream). After all, the plot was conceived today, and if Superman were depicted like the Terminator, without tights, it would only strengthen the motivation of the events, and the comic could even be taken seriously. It’s evident that Singer tried to work with the “universal” “natural” plot, and tried to reconcile real and comic book time. However, the enduring traditions of the 30s confine him to a set of ridiculous, outdated conventions. Singer’s kingdom is too small; there’s not much room to roam. “Superman Returns” is viewed without much emotion.
However, this criticism in no way applies to actor Brandon Routh. He is one of the three pillars on which Singer based his project, and it’s clear why he was chosen after such a long search. Routh’s resemblance to the late Christopher Reeve is almost mystical, with only slightly different eyes. Throughout the film, you can’t help but notice the resemblance, seeing a clear example of the omnipotence of cinema, which even encompasses death. For the success of his face, age, and height, you forgive the fact that Routh is a rather average actor. Especially since, alongside him, Kevin Spacey is incredibly charismatic as Lex Luthor, the second “pillar” of the project. He even devises super-villainous plans like a real person, with humor and composure, with normal human reactions in a bathrobe after a bath. He’s relatable, almost like a regular guy. Spacey arguably outshone Gene Hackman from Donner’s film, and largely contributed to the “modern” look of the comic. The third “pillar” is precisely the alternation of Lex’s “line” and Superman’s “line,” each of which has its own plot development, stylistic solution, and set of attractions. It is precisely due to this alternation that the action doesn’t simply accumulate, as in “Mission: Impossible III” (2006), but rather interlocks and keeps you entertained.
Singer happily gave the entire backstory with Krypton in a single title card and easily got rid of it. True, he later indulged in memories of how the boy Clark Kent (Kal-El) turned into Superman, but only briefly and with the attraction of the first flight in the rye. Then the film is built clearly “object by object.” Superman returned to Earth, Lex Luthor got out of prison, and until their paths cross, we are led to the center of the plot by a series of good and different evidence of the power of cinema:
Well, this is far from a complete list of effects, but it would be foolish to describe the huge final “object” with all the bells and whistles worthy of mention. But the apotheosis is almost operatic in its scope of elements (the music, by the way, is also symphonic throughout the film). It exists, the ends meet from Atlantis to Krypton through Metropolis, and therefore the film has come together. It is worth noting that within each of the scenes there are many small attractions, very neatly fitted together, so what is retold above is not a spoiler. You just need to take into account that all the fashionable aerial, aquatic, and tectonic cataclysms that are now fashionable, Singer did not shoot self-sufficiently, as in some “stealths” or “poseidons,” but in a single formation with the ladies present here. With a firm knowledge, probably from English costume cinema, what fashionable shoes Kate Bosworth needs to take off in order to stand on Superman’s feet before he begins to levitate. Of course, Singer overdid it with the sentimentality between Lois and Superman, but what the heck – this is also a heavy legacy of the 30s. And the solution to the situation is generally sound, and, most importantly, he did not overdo it with computer effects at all with their insane abundance. You can even forgive the understatement of why Luthor wants to destroy America. You can think, “who would then buy plots of Atlantis if there were plenty of prairies.”
The lack of humor, of course, is not justified by any cosmos, which is why the sequel to “Pirates…” overtook the remake of “Superman” by a couple of points in the American charts with a slightly smaller budget. But it is curious that neither “X-Men: The Last Stand” (2006) nor “Superman Returns” lost from the change of places of Brian Singer and Brett Ratner. Craft in Hollywood is the cosmic heights.
Key Scenes and Effects
- Lex Luthor in the Arctic finds an ice-crystalline palace, in the depths of which (Here it is!!! Here it is!!!) the notorious digital image of Marlon Brando appears (the late father of Superman from Donner’s film).
- Superman, to begin with, saves his beloved Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) along with an entire airliner that failed to detach from the space shuttle (in order not to deprive you of your own pleasure, you should not emphasize the sequence of this weighty “object”, but the end in the stadium is very, very).
- Lex Luthor, meanwhile, is experimenting with stolen crystals on a model of one-story America (the funniest thing is that the crashes and explosions are made precisely on the model with human figures cut out of tin).
- Superman saves all the people in the whole world from explosions and crashes, from Bombay to London, including Luthor’s girlfriend (Parker Posey), to whom Lois Lane is jealous, who lives with another and has a child (a separate attraction - from the very beginning it is clear that the child is not from another, and you just have to wait until he shows his Superman abilities).
- Lex Luthor demonstrates to his henchmen what he wants to do with America.
- Superman, during a bank robbery, repels a flying bullet directly with his blue eye.
- Lex Luthor begins the transformation of the Earth.
- Superman saves the Lane family from a sunken yacht.
- Lex Luthor is building Atlantis.
In vain attempts to prevent him from building, Superman gets a kryptonite feather in his side…