Monday, July 31, 2006

Superman Returned to


OK, I went to see it again. I don't often do this, but I was so disappointed not to be thrilled first time around that I decided to give it a second go.

Well, I knew I wouldn't like Lois, and I still didn't. But I didn't dislike her as much - I was simply left cold by her, which is a sadness both in Superman terms and in simple human terms: Teri Hatcher and whatshername off Smallville never left me like this. Mind you, Teri reminded me of an old girlfriend, which was a mixed up thing in and of itself, and which always served to heighten my Lois-ward reactions (Typical! Wonderful! Oh no! Oh yes!). What I hadn't remembered was just how much Lois there is in the film.

What I wasn't prepared for was how bored I was by the leisurely pace of the whole thing. For an action film, it was tedious. The opening plane wreck was the best thing in it. Go see it just for that - and then go home; you'll save yourself a lengthy 2 hours and more that serve very little purpose.

Ricky Carvel has a great scoring system for films; and some great views on films he likes and dislikes. He's going to dislike this: on second viewing Superman Returns took a nose-dive down to a 4/10.

3 comments:

Ricky Carvel said...

Marcus,

On my scoring system its amazing how many films come in at 4/10. However, films worth a second viewing all score 7 or more, so by returning to Supes Returns you've elevated it to 7/10 at least... :o)

I really quite liked is for the most part on first viewing, but the more I reflect upon it, the more likely I think it will be that I'll find it dull and annoying on a second viewing. On reflection, the whole Kryptonite island / sea plane bit is very tedious - and that's kind of the middle third of the film.

By way of contrast, I watched the Fantastic Four movie on DVD the other day for the first time. Everyone was really critical of that movie when it came out, so I had no expectations at all. And I really quite liked it. Sure, it was lightweight fluff, but was reasonably faithful to the spirit of the comics and was fairly entertaining. (6.5/10 probably, as I might watch it again) I'm quite looking forward to the Fantastic Four 2, which is in the pipeline...

Marcus Green said...

And now I'm going to have to get the Fantastic Four DVD - a film I also missed because of its bad reviews. I'll let you know when I've seen it!

Marcus Green said...

That's so true!!!!

That's why I am disappointed by it! That's why I am left feeling that something wasn't right! It's a Superman film that's not super cos it's not for men!