Can you read my mind?
29/06/2006
I had no idea Margot Kidder sang that
All I remember about Margot Kidder was how she had that on-the-edge crazed look, and that she eventually did succumb to manic depression – which she’s managed to get over with some help.
She sang that Superman song. Amazing.
What I really liked about the movie, was the movie experience. There’s really nothing like being in a theatre, when the lights are out, and the curtains gently peep open, and the words are on screen, and John Williams’s Superman theme booms through the sound system. Very Star Wars. Very very movie. Really sets the mood.
I enjoyed the movie, on the whole. I mean, it’s a flaky franchise anyway, Superman. Of all the comics-turned-movies, this is probably the second boringest. I mean, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles was the worst. But Superman is just too 1978. The costume, the styling, the themes, the villian – all reek of a bygone era.
You can take the superhero out of 1978, but you can’t take the 1978 out of the hero. Christopher Reeve used to wear high waisted red briefs on top of his blue bodysuit. Brandon Routh wears a hipster. The daily planet used to be a smoky, hectic and disorganised place. Now it’s a smoke free, smart suit place complete with mounted LCDs. The villians used to be one sided and boring. Oh wait. That’s still the same.
I’m not sure if Bryan Singer was trying to keep the movie morally correct for the times, but there seemed to be a neat little anti-smoking theme. Bad things happened when cigerettes or cigars, for that matter, were lit. But that’s so lame.
Brandon Routh had his hands full with filling the shoes Christopher Reeve left behind, so it was a terrible injustice to him to have him sound and look like Christopher Reeve. It was just not going to happen. He just isn’t charismatic enough to be goofy yet adorable. He just panned out pretty idiotic most of the time.
We’ll just leave Kate Bosworth out of this conversation. It’s going to be the same conclusion all around the world.
But I enjoyed the movie. There was lots of flying, action, great theme song, nice sequences, some bits that were a bit of a cop out, but hey, it was entertainment. And for a good 2 hours or so, even with a really full bladder, I enjoyed it.
So yeah. Superman. Not great. But fun. Watch Batman and drool over Christian Bale instead.
