SUPERMAN RETURNS was probably the most hyped film of 2006, but like a couple other mega-hyped returns to long-stagnant New Hollywood franchises in the past fifteen years, i.e. STAR WARS EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE and INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, SUPERMAN RETURNS was initially well-enough received but with an underlying backlash that has since developed into a full-blown cult of internet derision.
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| Brandon Routh as Superman. |
That's the real dilemma for such films though, that the existing fanbase has their own strong opinions about the franchise, and the so-called "fanboys" are always eager to damn what they perceive as an overt deviation from the existing property (and with the loudspeakers provided in the internet age, they are often overly zealous in their condemnations), but if it really is just more of the same, then the point of reinvigorating a stagnant franchise is rendered moot. Over the years, the film becomes a punchline as fanboy forums become more and more comfortable bashing a film that they enjoyed initially but apparently just not enough.
As aforementioned, SUPERMAN RETURNS dismisses the third and fourth films that starred Christopher Reeve and plays as a direct follow up to the oft-fan favorite, SUPERMAN II, placed five years after those events, during which time Superman (Brandon Routh) has been away from Earth, presumed by some as an abandonment. Among those most bitter toward his absence is his old flame, Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), who has written a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial entitled "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman", and now has a son and a boyfriend (James Marsden), who happens to be a dashing pilot and the nephew of The Daily Planet's editor-in-chief. Superman's arch-nemesis, Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey), has been released from his incarceration after Superman was unable to testify at his trial, and has since managed to dupe a wealthy widow into naming him her sole heir. With his new resources, Luthor plans a new scheme which involves using stolen Kryptonian crystals from Superman's Fortress of Solitude to create an entire new continent that will make Luthor the most powerful man in the world and kill billions of innocent people as the oceans overflow their borders.
STARRING SUPERMAN IN THE ROLE OF JESUS
As explained early on, Superman was in the far reaches of outer space, searching for any fellow refugees amongst the remains of his destroyed planet Krypton, which some have identified as a major flaw in the film's understanding of the Superman myth, because Superman's steadfast devotion to his responsibility for Earth's safety is supposedly integral to the character. I don't know a whole lot about that, but I think that plot device can be easily identified as what was clearly Singer's strongest point of interest in the character; Superman is a Christ symbol.
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| Honestly, people! It's right there! |
Superman's absence is comparable to a modern world's feelings of agnostic doubt and abandonment by a seemingly apathetic creator, and Lois is preaching the atheistic gospel of a world that needs no savior. In a particularly favorite moment of mine in the film, Superman visits Lois for the first time since his return to Earth, and they share this exchange while airborne above the city:
SUPERMAN: Listen; what do you hear?
LOIS: Nothing.
SUPERMAN: I hear everything. You wrote that the world doesn't need a savior, but every day I hear people crying for one.This short exchange of dialogue holds the keys to heart of this film. As the film nears its climax, Superman confronts Luthor, who wields a jagged shard of Kryptonite which he stabs deep into Superman's ribs and then beats him severely before leaving him for dead. Thanks to the well-placed aid of Lois, most of the Kryptonite is extracted from the wound, giving Superman just enough time to lift the in-process continent outside the atmosphere and throw it into space. Questions about how deadly Kryptonite is to Superman if he can make it through having a shard of it stuck inside his flesh for a prolonged stretch of time aside, this part of the film is basically the "crucifixion". Quite blatantly in fact, as after hurling the heap of rock into orbit, Superman falls back to Earth in a state of unconsciousness and positioned like the cross with his arms stretched outward and legs straight and close together. At this point, Superman is presumably dead or all but so, and in the emotional climax of the film, he is hospitalized as the world hopes and prays. At the point of desperation, Lois runs into the room where Superman is on his deathbed and finds a the hospital bed empty with sheets turned aside, staged precisely as an "empty tomb" scene.
THE CAST
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| Seriously folks, isn't he just super? |
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| Sorry, Gene; you're seriously great though! |
The big improvement cast-wise is Spacey in the role of Lex Luthor, which were probably the biggest shoes to fill, following up the work of the legendary Gene Hackman. And even still, Spacey improves on that interpretation of Luthor vastly. Luthor's deadpan frustration with his incompetent flunkies as in earlier films is maintained, but played down in comparison, and Spacey has few rivals in the industry at perfect deadpan execution, but Luthor's seething bitterness toward Superman, and the world in general, provides some really powerful moments.
The "big spoiler" in SUPERMAN RETURNS was the revelation that Lois' child, Jason (Tristan Lake Leabu), was actually Superman's child, conceived through a romantic tryst that occurred in SUPERMAN II. Maybe I'm ignorant to certain comic book trivia, but I don't understand exactly how Jason's biology works or why, with his usually frail, asthmatic state, but with a single explosion of super strength at one point. I don't know; but I suppose what I most dislike is the little kid with gross, shaggy hair, intermittently huffing on an inhaler. It's just... annoying.
Then there's James Marsden, who appeared in Singer's prior X-MEN and X2, yet again playing the poor pretty boy putz whose heart is in the right place, but the woman he loves is more interested in a bloke with a leading role. Too bad.
ON THE WHOLE
SUPERMAN RETURNS is a good film to be certain, but primarily, it's one of those tricky movies that is ultimately more deserving of admiration than of artistic praise. It is so ambitious; far more so than any previous screen adaptation of Superman, including the Richard Donner films which Singer so clearly adores. While those films were still striving to move beyond the campy reputation that comic book characters had been associated with thanks to the Comics Code Authority and the Adam West-starring television series, Batman, SUPERMAN RETURNS had the benefit to come about in a new age of respectability for comic book films. Even still, then and now, Superman has been one comic book character most particularly immune to contemporary appeal, often saddled with overly convenient abilities and a "boy scout" image.
Even so, Singer opted for a highly reverential approach, while emphasizing the Christian symbolism, which stands as the film's most interesting element, while a melancholy tone has also been applied; this being the film's weakest point. Clearly, the need to provide Superman with an edge was in mind, but the pervasively melancholy tone was overdone. Speaking of edge, while today's action films (many of them comic book adaptations) are prone to prolong action scenes to the absolute extreme, often with ridiculous bombast, it is positively surprising that SUPERMAN RETURNS not only lacks this problem, but that it's mistake is entirely the opposite. There isn't enough action; there are a few action scenes, the only prominent one being a plane wreck rescue, and a couple brief crime interventions, a couple brief rescues in the midst of disaster which is more addressed in dialogue than shown, and finally, throwing a continent into outer space. I'm not sure if Superman getting nearly beaten to death counts as an action scene though, because while it is a powerful scene, I think 'action scene' suggests a certain titillating thrill aspect, which in this case would be sadistic. Anyway, most of these action scenes, especially the plane wreck and basic crime fighting, seem to be out of obligation, wedged into a story that was lacking in action. That said, they do have some pretty spectacular moments, even if in the film as a whole they feel unnatural.
And for a film with so little action, SUPERMAN RETURNS came with one hell of a price tag (film industry accounting is mostly estimated, but not including marketing and distribution expenses, it is estimated at somewhere around $204 million to as much as $270 million (for comparison, $215 million is considered top tier today)), but a lot of that can be attributed to the sky-high costs of the film's heavy use of photo-realistic CGI. The famous "bullet to the eye" shot alone was an enormously expensive rendering job, but probably the most incredible effects work is the most subtle; the late Marlon Brando, who appeared as Superman's father, Jor-El in the Richard Donner films, was brought back in the Cave of Solitude scenes, recreated with a revolutionary combination of computer-generated imagery and deleted footage from the 1978 film. Yet, for all the astounding visual effects work in SUPERMAN RETURNS, there a several shots of a computer-rendered Superman double that are utterly unconvincing, especially when Superman swoops in to pulls a child out from the shadow of falling debris, or young Clark Kent experimenting with his superhuman abilities in a flashback. In some cases, as with some of the effects in the 1978 film, this could be attributed to dated effects in comparison to contemporary technology, but given comparison to other effects in the same film, it's more likely the result of budget demands and/or of certain shots simply given greater attention.
IN CLOSING
Under normal circumstances, SUPERMAN RETURNS would have been considered a success with it's $391 million international gross, but the production costs were so high and such a well known property might have expected greater interest, so plans for a follow up were ultimately scrapped. Naturally, Singer was indignant at the the suggestion that his film had underperformed, but with all costs considered, the film had apparently not clicked with the market; not at least in the way it needed to. In opposition to the internet cult of derision though, SUPERMAN RETURNS has also developed a cult appreciation for the bold yet reverential treatment of the Superman myth, earning praise from film circles in the industry and without, regretful of its commercial shortcomings and full of admiration for its artistic method.
Released: June 28, 2006
Directed by Bryan Singer
Starring: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, Parker Posey, James Marsden
PG-13 for some intense action violence.
Retrospective Verdict: Yet another reboot/sequel undeserving of the venomous backlash bestowed upon it by rabid internet fanboys, SUPERMAN RETURNS is far better than its reputation, fully invested in its sophisticated themes and abnormally occupied with its characters over the action. However, this is not always a great thing, as the few action sequences are largely obligatory, and the tone is depressingly downbeat for a summer blockbuster. Regardless, it is the most ambitious of the franchise yet, reverential as an homage to Richard Donner's groundbreaking work, and aiming far higher.
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