Supes...
So, I went to see Superman Returns last night. Man, I really liked it. That’s pretty much it. I am going to write a little bit about it here...but will let you know when I actually talk about the movie itself.
I went to see the movie at the Chinese theatre on Hollywood Blvd, which I think is the second best screen in Los Angeles. (I think the best screen is the ArcLight Dome, but it’s almost a three way tie between the Fox in Westwood, the ArcLight Dome and the Chinese theatre.) They don’t have reserved seating, so I prepped myself to wait in line (I now am back to saying that, as opposed to waiting “on line” like they say in NY) by going to the comic book store (where there was an absolute avalanche of new books this week) to help me pass the time. Not surprisingly, I didn’t read that much at all, spending my time talking to some guys in the audience who were spending their summer as interns at AFI.
The stretch where the movie theatre (you might as well call this place a palace, it’s a fantastic building) is, all the way down to the Hollywood and Highland monstrosity is LA’s version of Times Square, specifically 42nd street between 8th and Broadway. This is where people who live in LA become cynical New Yorkers--but it really seems to be limited to this block, which is always inundated with tourists, people hawking t-shirts and other crap, and people dressed like superheroes and other characters. I think people who live here are annoyed by the crowd and the cheesiness of it all, but I also think they see this circus, they see the guy dress liked a balrog, or the dude who has been Superman for a decade or two, and a lot of them realize that...well, make a few bad decisions and, well, that could be you, you know? I mean, those guys do all right, and I am not actually knocking them, it’s gotta be difficult doing it day after day but...damn. I mean, wow.
Of course, I would rather dress up like Charlie Chaplin than be one of the total losers that were dressed in full on foam airplane seat costumes. There was some airline touting low fares to SF and other places for $59...this guy was talking to the crowd (terrible job #1, doing bad, branded stand up for an unappreciative, captive audience) with a trio of airplane seats (terrible job #2, standing there all day in this huge foam outfit in the blazing sun...I mean, what does one think about as one puts on that costume at 8 in the morning? How bad could leaving LA and returning home actually be?) while some other people were filming Yet Another Documentary About Crazy Fans Who Wait A Few Hours To See The Latest Genre Movie Because No One Have Ever Done That Before, with some rabid Christians throwing flyers around for good measure, muttering about how we were wasting our time, savior this, savior that. Please...just give me a break and proselytize down the block, okay?
Anyway, it all ended up working perfectly. We got pretty much perfect seats (unfortunately, the absolute best seats do not exist--there’s a center aisle in the way) and had plenty of time to get waters, go to the bathroom, etc. The trailers were mostly forgettable, except for the much-hyped Spiderman 3 teaser, which was fine. (Teasers tend to be pretty forgiving in terms of getting an idea of how “good” a movie’s gonna be.)
(Real spoilers here.)
The film opens with a literal bang--the destruction of Krypton. It’s gorgeously handled, and introduces the credits wonderfully. I must say, when the opening credits started, I was SO HAPPY...they use the original credits style of the first film! This was such a gift, a geeky gift to the fans. The crowd was just so PUMPED, cheering and clapping when the “S” appeared--it was a brilliantly choreographed initial sequence..you knew it was coming and it just built up wonderfully. I really loved it.
Obviously, a lot of a great action sequences in the movie. All over the place, so well edited and paced. I liked it when you saw the 747 or whatever carrying the space plane (I actually did a report on a similar X-Plane in college) and it just didn’t look that good, it just looked kind of fake, then the camera pulls out and you see that it’s a promotional video used by the character ON that very plane, talking about what is happening. Then, of course, you see the “real” plane, which looks waaaaay better.
Just so damn cool.
I was worried about Brandon Routh’s performance, I will admit, but I was more than pleasantly surprised at how good he was. He echoes Christopher Reeve’s performance so ably, but adds a few welcome nuances. As I was watching, I realized that, in a way, he has a slightly...detatched look in his eyes. (I think the photographs of Superman on the posters and stuff make him look soulless, to be honest, there seems to be no spark in his eyes at all.) But in the film, I can see, perhaps, what Singer was thinking. There’s a detachment, a quiet, alien, feel to his demeanor. Superman, Kal-el, Clark Kent...he’s an outsider wherever he goes, and there, for the first time, was a subtle physical element to this idea. Maybe I am rationalizing what could be labeled a hollow performance (I don’t think it was), but whatever. It’s not like Neo from the Matrix, Keanu Reeves, where that’s just the way Keanu acts, or is...I dunno. I will ruminate later.
Yes, Kevin Spacey is great, but I think Parker Posey almost upstages him. She’s terrific. Spacey was both funny and terrifically evil, but I would have liked a scene or two where we could see really why he hates him, more than just “Superman doesn’t share his powers with humanity,” type thing. Kate Bosworth was good, she didn’t have the gritty edge that Margot Kidder had, but I didn’t mind so much. I was just so happy, honestly, that the movie was so entertaining. Yes, it dragged a bit at the end with the three endings, but I didn’t care, I was actually just sad the movie was coming to an end.
I have to get some work done, so I will have to end this here. Gonna be a busy day, I have a doc appointment, an audition, dinner with Nick, then packing for SF...see you later.
Thursday, June 29, 2006