Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Well, these last five days have not been as productive as I had hoped. I didn't get up and move any of the days before noon. I'm going to have to change the way I set my alarm clocks to make sure I don't fall back asleep.
Anyway, I saw Superman Returns on monday afternoon. I knew going in that it was over two and a half hours long. So I decided to get there right before the trailers ended. I figured, it was a weekday afternoon, it wouldn't be too crowded. I forgot that it was essentially a holiday since alot of people either got or took monday off to make a long weekend. I also forgot the kid factor. I ended up with a seat in the third row, a little closer than I usually want. I also got stuck near two kids who talked alot during the film, but not as bad as it could have been. The father seemed good at getting the kids to be quiet again.
Also, since I knew the movie was going to be long, I didn't hit the concession stand beforehand, which turned out to be a smart move. Not only did I not have to hit the restroom, it saved me money. One last note on the film's length, it didn't seem long. I never got the feeling that "wow, this film is still going?". On the other hand, it just didn't seem like any more action happened than in a normal length movie.
The movie was very good, but I wouldn't call it great. It's funny that although the action takes place after superman has been away for five years, but both superman and Lois Lane look younger than any version of the character except those from Smallville. It's like they are five years younger, not older, than in Superman II. Other than that, Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth did a good job. The only acting job I didn't care for was, unfortunately, Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. It wasn't that he acted bad, but more the acting decision. Spacey's Lex is grumpy, dour, and spiteful. There's no sense of humor to him. Lex, and other classic supervillians, are best when they seem to enjoy taking over or destroying the world and it's also fun to watch them try. Frankly, I started pitying Lex because you hate to see anybody be that miserable.
In the hype to this movie, I read various angles to the Superman story, most notably "Superman is gay" and "Superman is Jesus". The former I didn't see at all. Yeah, Clark Kent has a hidden identity that involves wearing tight brightly-colored clothes, but that's about as far as that goes. Heck, you could even make the claim that everybody has split-personality, one way they act when they're with some people (say people from work) and another when they're with others (say friends). The "Superman is Jesus" angle is something I could definitely see in this film. You have Marlon Brando doing the voice of Superman's father. At one point he talks about how the people of earth are basically good and also talks about sending his only sun. Plus, except for one case where you could see his face in crystal, his voice was pretty much voiceover, which gave it even more of a God quality.
Speaking of Brando, it simply seemed wrong to have his name and Kal Penn's name adjacent in the credits. Nothing against Kal, but Brando is known for The Godfather, A Streetcar named Desire, and On the Waterfront. Kal is known for Van Wilder and Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.
Also, I was surprised about one plot point which can be seen coming well before it is confirmed onscreen. The surprise to me was that I hadn't heard about it before I went to see it. Actually, one review I read made a reference to it. But I found it to be the type of big plot twist that columnists and reviewers like to talk about, or atleast hint about, and in all the columns I read, it wasn't even mentioned. Of course, maybe the people writing the columns about Superman hadn't seen the movie
Okay, my rating for my movie is that it's worth paying full price to see in the theatre, but not worth it to pay to see it more than once in the theatre.
I was hoping to also write up comments on the first four episodes of the third season of Entourage, but I'll have to save that for my next post.
Anyway, I saw Superman Returns on monday afternoon. I knew going in that it was over two and a half hours long. So I decided to get there right before the trailers ended. I figured, it was a weekday afternoon, it wouldn't be too crowded. I forgot that it was essentially a holiday since alot of people either got or took monday off to make a long weekend. I also forgot the kid factor. I ended up with a seat in the third row, a little closer than I usually want. I also got stuck near two kids who talked alot during the film, but not as bad as it could have been. The father seemed good at getting the kids to be quiet again.
Also, since I knew the movie was going to be long, I didn't hit the concession stand beforehand, which turned out to be a smart move. Not only did I not have to hit the restroom, it saved me money. One last note on the film's length, it didn't seem long. I never got the feeling that "wow, this film is still going?". On the other hand, it just didn't seem like any more action happened than in a normal length movie.
The movie was very good, but I wouldn't call it great. It's funny that although the action takes place after superman has been away for five years, but both superman and Lois Lane look younger than any version of the character except those from Smallville. It's like they are five years younger, not older, than in Superman II. Other than that, Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth did a good job. The only acting job I didn't care for was, unfortunately, Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. It wasn't that he acted bad, but more the acting decision. Spacey's Lex is grumpy, dour, and spiteful. There's no sense of humor to him. Lex, and other classic supervillians, are best when they seem to enjoy taking over or destroying the world and it's also fun to watch them try. Frankly, I started pitying Lex because you hate to see anybody be that miserable.
In the hype to this movie, I read various angles to the Superman story, most notably "Superman is gay" and "Superman is Jesus". The former I didn't see at all. Yeah, Clark Kent has a hidden identity that involves wearing tight brightly-colored clothes, but that's about as far as that goes. Heck, you could even make the claim that everybody has split-personality, one way they act when they're with some people (say people from work) and another when they're with others (say friends). The "Superman is Jesus" angle is something I could definitely see in this film. You have Marlon Brando doing the voice of Superman's father. At one point he talks about how the people of earth are basically good and also talks about sending his only sun. Plus, except for one case where you could see his face in crystal, his voice was pretty much voiceover, which gave it even more of a God quality.
Speaking of Brando, it simply seemed wrong to have his name and Kal Penn's name adjacent in the credits. Nothing against Kal, but Brando is known for The Godfather, A Streetcar named Desire, and On the Waterfront. Kal is known for Van Wilder and Harold and Kumar go to White Castle.
Also, I was surprised about one plot point which can be seen coming well before it is confirmed onscreen. The surprise to me was that I hadn't heard about it before I went to see it. Actually, one review I read made a reference to it. But I found it to be the type of big plot twist that columnists and reviewers like to talk about, or atleast hint about, and in all the columns I read, it wasn't even mentioned. Of course, maybe the people writing the columns about Superman hadn't seen the movie
Okay, my rating for my movie is that it's worth paying full price to see in the theatre, but not worth it to pay to see it more than once in the theatre.
I was hoping to also write up comments on the first four episodes of the third season of Entourage, but I'll have to save that for my next post.
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