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Superman
Returns DVD Review  Official
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SYNOPSIS
He's back. A hero for our millennium. And not a moment too soon, because during the five years (much longer in movie-fan years!) Superman sought his home planet, things changed on his adopted planet. Nations moved on without him. Lois Lane now has a son, a fiance and a Pulitzer for "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." And Lex Luthor has a plan that will destroy millions - no, billions - of lives.
Filmmaker Bryan Singer (X-Men) gives the world the Superman it needs, honoring the legend everyone loves while taking it in a powerful new direction. Brandon Routh proves a perfect choice to wear the hero's cape, leading a top cast that includes Kate Bosworth as Lois and Kevin Spacey as Lex. And the thrills - from a sky-grapple with a tumbling jumbo jet to a continent-convulsing showdown - redefine Wow. "I'm always around," Superman tells Lois. You'll be glad he is.
DVD FEATURES: DISK TWO
Requiem for Krypton: Making Superman Returns
- PT. 1 Secret Origins and First Issues: Crystalizing Superman
- PT. 2 The Crystal Method: Designing Superman
- PT. 3 An Affinity for Beachfront Property: Shooting
Superman
- Superman on the Farm
- Superman in the City
- Superman in Peril
- PT. 4 The Joy of Lex: Manacing Superman
- PT. 5 He's Always Around: Wrapping Superman
Resurrecting Jor-el - This featurette shows how Jor-el is digitally restructured for this film. Although the first few seconds are quite interesting...the overall feature itself actually becomes quite annoying with the repeated "You don't have to remember me" stated over and over and OVER again.
Deleted Scenes - The Date, Family Photos, Crash Landing/X-Ray Vision, Old Newspapers, Are You Two Dating, Martins and Wigs, I'm Always Right, Jimmy the Lush, Language Barrier, Crystal Feet and New Krypton.
CRITIQUE
The latest resurrection of Superman is visually pleasing. While I am sure a new crowd, that never knew Superman, played originally by Christopher Reeve, will be happily entertained and pacified, I found myself a little creeped out. It's not that this is a bad movie - it is a good movie...but, I found it a little hard to swallow with the apparent parallelisms to that of the Christopher Reeve films. This is a new Superman and should have had a new, fresh feel. To me it felt more like someone trying to re-invent the wheel.
This is surprising to me considering it is the WB that marketed the hit TV series Smallville, which is a recount of Clark Kent's childhood and the ever-evolving, plot-thickening tale of how he and Lex became enemies from a friendship, etc. Smallville, at least, is a fresh new look into the Superman saga (and they even used Reeve in some of their episodes...bringing the old in with the new). This fresh approach is why the television series is so popular. It's a shame they didn't try the same approach to this film. Even Lex seemed very Gene Hackman-like. For those of you that are not familiar with the "old" Superman - this movie will probably be perfect for you.
As far as DVD features go: In Requiem for Krypton, part one is actually a little boring, taking away from the overall DVD extras experience. I recommend not watching that one. The other parts within this DVD special bundle have some interesting footage, mostly having to do with set, character creation and the behind-the-scenes work involved in bringing this production to life. At times I felt things dragged on a bit too much, but overall the creation of Superman Returns is just as interesting as the film itself (maybe more in certain instances).
The feature, Resurrecting Jor-el, was more annoying than anything else. The deleted scenes are swift, but some are quite fun to watch. If you are a fan of this latest rendition of Superman you most definitely do not want to miss having this sure-to-be collector's edition of the DVD. Don't let my apprehension about the film deter you.
© 2003 All Rights Reserved, ACED Magazine