Superman Returns: A Retrospective

Whether we accept it or not, there are a lot of Critics and Superman Fans who are still hung over from Christopher Reeve's take on Superman. Don't get me wrong, it is a great Superman movie, perhaps even the greatest, but that Superman Classic looks so outdated now by current standards. Singer's Superman Returns was exactly an attempt to hold on to that nostalgia while trying to push the Superman story in the big screen forward. In fact, most critics love Superman Returns more than Man of Steel. And many Superman fans are still pinning on the good old days of the joyful, charming, and brighter Superman as portrayed by Reeve. Nothing wrong with that really. But Warner Brother's meddling and lack of patience has continually hi-jacked any efforts to put Superman back in the big screen as a respectable figure. If they would have been patient enough with Singer, maybe the sequel to Superman Returns would have been bigger and more exciting after establishing the status quo of the present Superman via Superman Returns. If one could remember, Singer's first X-Men wasn't that much of a big movie, but it laid down the groundwork for the sequel X-Men 2 to be a bigger and more exciting movie.

Brandon Routh as Superman

Before the Snyderverse these were who WB was banking on

I personally blame the success of Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Trilogy for steering Superman into the "Dark, Serious, and Grounded" territory. While the Reeve and Routh Supermen were more on the wonder and the amazing, Snyder's take (with Nolan's blessing if you could remember) grounded Superman in the real world scenario of a post 911 world. I have expounded on that here. WB thought that the massive success of The Dark Knight Trilogy is something that they should build on in contrast to Marvel's more GP friendly movies. But is that really how to do Superman movies? For those who have been following my posts about the DCEU, I'm a staunch defender of Snyder's vision. I was heavily invested in what his idea was and how he would present his mythology. But the grand scale that he tried to convey with the limited screen time given to him to utilize just couldn't make his vision work. And the Josstice League mangled movie burned Snyder's vision to the ground. But if there's one thing that WB learned from this experience, it is that now they are beginning to treat their Comic Book movies in accordance to the Character's characteristics. And so far, we have Aquaman (Action-Adventure), Shazam!(Comedy-Adventure) and the upcoming Joker (Rated R) movie as our examples.

Marlon Brando and Christopher Reeve

Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor

Now as for Superman, Singer's Superman after all should have been the right treatment for Superman. Superman Returns generally retained most of the Christopher Reeve Superman's mythology as a quasi-sequel. Part action, part adventure, part romance, and part drama, it had all the elements that made the Reeve Superman a well love classic. But too much reverence and nostalgia for the past Superman film rendered the movie to a fault. The plot basically was a retread of the first Superman movie plus some extras that Singer was building on. Marlon Brando (Jor EL) made a cameo by using old footage and combining it with CGI technology. The Villain (Lex Luthor) was the same, the motivations (Real Estate) of the villain was the same, Superman's action scenes were basically the same showcase of what Superman can do. Even the Superman romance with Lois in flight was a rehash of the Superman and Lois "Can you read my mind" date. Superman drowning in the sea because of Kryptonite was also a rehash of Superman drowning in Luthor's mini-pool because of a Kryptonite necklace. In fact there were a lot more in the film that looked like a scene by scene reconstruction of the old Reeve Superman. But then, Singer's love letter to the old Christopher Reeve movie was his attempt at re-establishing the Superman mythology that most people remembered. And most of it generally worked for those who continue to love the Reeve Superman. But for the new generation of Superman fans, it felt lacking. The advent of technology should have made Superman's adventures bigger and grander. Fans were looking for a Superman that punches (in Superman Returns I don't remember Superman land a single punch, but these fans were overwhelmed by the punching that Cavill's Superman landed though).     

Only Lex Luthor did the punching and kicking

The ending shot to Superman Returns was very similar to Christopher Reeve's Superman ending shot.

Superman Returns had its share of problems. And the 5 year absence of Superman that was established after Superman 2 made him an absentee dad when it was surprisingly revealed that Superman had a son with Lois. Superman Returns wasn't really a bad movie if it was given a chance to continue its story. Singer had established some surprising plot threads that he could have used for the next movie. And in my next entry, I've managed to dig up the rumored synopsis to Singer's Superman Returns sequel.