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midnightfae doesn't know who Jimmy Olsen is
Jun. 28th, 2006 01:25 amjetpack_monkeySaw Superman Returns tonight. Awesome. Bryan Singer completely knew how to play my inner Superman fanboy, especially using those opening title credits. I was grinning like an idiot every time John Williams familiar Superman theme played. Singer has made a true sequel to the first two Superman films... and it's fairly brilliant. Brandon Routh is 100% pure farmbred Clark Kent/Superman. Ever the geek in the first, ever the Boy Scout in the second (his cheery reassuring statistic after his first major rescue in the film sold me completely on Routh as the big S).
The award for most convincing translation of a major comic book character goes to Sam Huntington for his portrayal of Jimmy Olsen. I was fanboying the performance to![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
midnightfae and found to my astonishment that she had no idea who this Jimmy Olsen was or why he was significant. She'd never seen *any* of the original four Superman films from the 1970s-80s. There will be a schooling on the finer points of Superman lore. Oh yes.
Didn't love the fact that Singer decided to introduce some fairly major changes to the landscape of the Superman mythos (nothing origin-related, but stuff that just never happened in the comics and never would), but I kind of get it. With film you have an opportunity to take your heroes places that would be really bad ideas in a regular comic book series and they work for 2+ hours of pure fun. I will give Singer the point that he makes the changes work for the film. It's just an adjustment.
Spacey was f'ing brilliant as Lex Luthor. So much in the mold of Gene Hackman and yet a completely independent realization of the same characteristics. I really enjoyed his work here. Delightfully nuts with a deadly undercurrent of that clarity that only the truly insane possess. Loved him.
Kate Bosworth -- acceptable as Lois Lane. She's no Margot Kidder, although I loved that they brought in certain aspects of the Kidder Lane that I figured they'd drop in this modern age. But she was too... I don't know... She wasn't flinty enough. Lois Lane is a hard-edged investigative reporter. Bosworth can't pull that off, and Singer directed around that weakness. Also, way too young for what we're to understand the character has been through. Would've prefered someone else, honestly, although I can't imagine who right now.
Everything put together, Superman Returns was a fantastic romp with enough of a dramatic edge (and hardly a forced one) to keep it from being another disposable superhero flick. It ran a little long, and outstayed its welcome towards the very end, but otherwise, a fitting return for a long-missed cinematic hero.
The award for most convincing translation of a major comic book character goes to Sam Huntington for his portrayal of Jimmy Olsen. I was fanboying the performance to
midnightfae and found to my astonishment that she had no idea who this Jimmy Olsen was or why he was significant. She'd never seen *any* of the original four Superman films from the 1970s-80s. There will be a schooling on the finer points of Superman lore. Oh yes.Didn't love the fact that Singer decided to introduce some fairly major changes to the landscape of the Superman mythos (nothing origin-related, but stuff that just never happened in the comics and never would), but I kind of get it. With film you have an opportunity to take your heroes places that would be really bad ideas in a regular comic book series and they work for 2+ hours of pure fun. I will give Singer the point that he makes the changes work for the film. It's just an adjustment.
Spacey was f'ing brilliant as Lex Luthor. So much in the mold of Gene Hackman and yet a completely independent realization of the same characteristics. I really enjoyed his work here. Delightfully nuts with a deadly undercurrent of that clarity that only the truly insane possess. Loved him.
Kate Bosworth -- acceptable as Lois Lane. She's no Margot Kidder, although I loved that they brought in certain aspects of the Kidder Lane that I figured they'd drop in this modern age. But she was too... I don't know... She wasn't flinty enough. Lois Lane is a hard-edged investigative reporter. Bosworth can't pull that off, and Singer directed around that weakness. Also, way too young for what we're to understand the character has been through. Would've prefered someone else, honestly, although I can't imagine who right now.
Everything put together, Superman Returns was a fantastic romp with enough of a dramatic edge (and hardly a forced one) to keep it from being another disposable superhero flick. It ran a little long, and outstayed its welcome towards the very end, but otherwise, a fitting return for a long-missed cinematic hero.
