(Yes, it is an old wedding bromde, but it fit the new Superman Returns movie so well.)
SOMETHING OLD
The new movie picks up exactly where the old 80’s Superman II movie left off. Where Superman/Clark loved Lois Lane. (Seems they had a kid…. Shhhsh!) The new star who plays Superman looks uncannily like Chris Reeve, the actor of the 1978 movie version. But the Superman franchise goes back a long ways, given comic books beginning in 1938, novels, movies and television series all about the Man of Steel. Brandon, and his Director friend Bryan Singer (of X-Men fame) build heavily and true on all the old legend and myth of Superman.
SOMETHING NEW
The new unknown actor, following in the steps of another largely unknown, who played the part in 1978 – Christopher Reeve, this new actor is Brandon Routh, from Iowa, is now a virtual millionaire from the profits of this new Superman movie (but still too broke to own his own car or apartment) Brandon is the Something New in the new Superman movie. He already has my sister swooning.
SOMETHING BORROWED
What was borrowed from the previous Superman movies is John Williams wonderful musical score. That, and borrowing old footage of Marlon Brando as Jor-el, digitized and reformatted with a new compuer generated speech. Well, who wouldn’t use the old Willams and Brando in their new movie, if it were available? What could anyone use that would be better?
SOMETHING BLUE
What will amaze people who see this movie is the easy way Brandon wears the blue suit. It looks very natural on him, like it he belongs in it. The director’s choice in this actor is excellent. In fact, Brandon Routh performed a number of screen tests for the part, not knowing that he was the only actor doing so. He thought there must have been dozens of others also testing. He had the part long before they told him. Brandon also brings a confidence to Sups, and an endearing awkwardness to Clark.
SOMETHING CHRIST-LIKE
(Bryon Singer) “There are certainly Judeo-Christian allegories that are undeniable,” Singer said. “I was a Jewish kid who grew up in a Catholic neighborhood and I went to a Christian youth club … all these things play into your subconscious and they find a way into your work. Sometimes it’s by happenstance, and sometimes it’s intentional. And to deny them and say, ‘Oh, I didn’t notice’ would be absurd, particularly in this movie when there are certain things happening.”
The Christian overtones that come with the character aren’t exactly new, Singer pointed out — starting with the idea of the character borne of the DC comic book’s creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
“In the Superman origin, there was very much a Moses story happening,” Singer said. “The parents who send the child down the river to fulfill his destiny — and in ‘Superman,’ the family El, send Kal-El to Earth. It was a Moses allegory.”
Singer, on the other hand, takes the imagery and dialogue references in a different direction.
“Here, we deal more in saviors and the aloneness of saviors — the cross they bear, so to speak,”
Then, Singer added an interesting observation about their people’s unique connection to the character:
“Many people like to say they wish they were Superman, because he’s strong and he can fly. But what I think what those people are really saying is that they wish they could do what Superman can do.”
“They do not wish they were Superman, because Superman wants to be two people; he wants to be the human that he is shaped like, but he’s not,” Singer said. “This stuff goes back to the original, (when Jor-El says) ‘They can be a great people, Kal-El — they wish to be. They only lack a light to show the way. It is for this reason, above all their capacity for good, I send them you, my only son.’ So, to be able to draw upon that is very exciting.” (Source: Tim Lammers, NBC5i.com)
The singular thing that we all love about such movies is the redemption, and the freedom won, that is contained in them. James Cameron with his Titanic, Steven Speilberg with The Color Purple, Schindler’s List, and Saving Private Ryan (in fact, most all of his movies) LOTR, Narnia, Luke saving Anakin, Indiana Jones, Dark City, . . . I would even go so far as to say that you could not have a real blockbuster without this “gospel” being present in it. Things that speak of our better natures, of our hopes and dreams, of a future that is better than our past (as glorious as some of it was). It seems that Superman Returns also has this DNA within, which is why it will do very well at the boxoffice.
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Filmed in the new Hollywood backlot of Australia, loaded with new and different film effects, this Superman movie rocks with ultra-speed flying, bouning bullets, sinking cities, burning metal in the sky, and plot twists and turns in abundance.
And, you only thought that a man could fly in Christopher Reeve’s movie. Wait till you see how different Brandon Roush’s flying is!
How could it not kick it up a notch or three, considering what we have to compare it to lately? LOTR, X-Men III, Spiderman (I and II), MI-3, StarWars, and all of the Pixar movies – this movie will not be ashamed to be in their company at all. And it is different enough so that no one will feel they wasted their time watching it. Instant classic. One to add to your collection.
Enjoy!
Regards,
Roger Born
“A Sig is a terrible thing to waste”
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