Superman Returns

Don't listen to the fanboys - It's good, but not great.

I saw it last night at the newly refurbished IMAX 3D theatre (formerly Megascreen) so i was very excited about seeing it not only because Superman is one of my all time favourite superheroes but also because IMAX 3D is uber cool. At least it;s meant to be. For the first 20 minutes the audience sat there looking at no picture as the projectionist repeatedly had to restart the movie and try and fix it - ffs you would think they would test it before running it wouldn't you? And then when we finally got picture, the sound went. Grr, i am thinking of going down today to get a refund because it totally spoiled the opening ten minutes which looked amazing.

Anyway onto the film, I had relatively high expectations when going into the movie because i had seen some absolutely glowing reviews from AICN and a number of other sites although in retrospect perhaps i should have paid more heed to the naysayers like Roger Ebert who only gave it 2 stars. I wouldn't go that far but it certainly isn't perfect. There are a number of amazing action sequences, especially the one with the plane crash but overall the story lacks depth - when you think about the plot and the method of Lex's global takeover - real estate? come on.. Kevin Spacey was good, not quite what i expected from him though.. he plays it rather straight instead of having fun with the role. Brandon Routh is good also but besides looking frighteningly similar to Christopher Reeve i didn't feel any connection with him. Unlike Batman Begins where the story (imo) was much stronger and privaleged over the set pieces Superman Returns works the other way round.

Also Lois's son, they could have done more work on that subplot.. i am sure it will play a role in the sequel but aside from the piano incident they didn't really go into much detail about it. Reminded me of that conversation Brody and TS have in Mallrats re Superman and Lois haha.

One more thing - It's long, almost King Kong epically long. 157 minutes, and it did at times feel that long. Some movies can get away with a long running time because the story has depth and draws you into the world but this one is more a number of excellent action sequences dotted around a slow and unimaginative plot. This could have been exaggerated by the uncomfy seats in the IMAX theatre, I don't know. Just a warning.

I do like it though, whenever the Superman Theme kicks in i went all giddy and started banging my feet on the floor, it is so fucking EPIC. One of the all time great movie theme songs, trust me whenever that score kicks in it takes the movie to a whole new operatic level of kickass.

The 3D thing felt more like a gimmick to me, maybe that is because this was the first time i had ever seen a feature film in IMAX 3D - the technological spectacle was destracting me from the narrative. I am sure once i have gotten used to the technology it won't stop me from immersing myself with the story. I might have to watch it in one of the normal screens to reasses my perspective. There are only 4 or 5 sequences from memory which utilise the technology, the second sequence being by far the best. Is it worth $20? Hmm, maybe for novelty value.

So overall a high 7, low 8/10. It's interesting in that all the fanboys hated on X-Men 3 because it went so far away from the story while i loved it and they have been having group wanks around this one proclaiming it the greatest superhero movie of all time, which i disagree on. Its a hell of a lot better than most of the comic book adaptations but i still rate Spiderman, Batman Begins, V for Vendetta over this one.

+ Score
+ Brandon Routh really looks like Superman
+ Some amazing action sequences
+ Did i say the score? Oh? I did? Thats because it's fucking epic!
+ Just seeing the man in tights on screen again after a 19year hiatus

- Simplistic Plot
- Under utilised minor characters
- Characters seeming to not have any fun with the role
- Running time