I have to agree that I am partial toward Spiderman, and then comes Batman and the superhero that comes last is Superman. So I would have agree that, I would not give justice to Superman’s new movie “Superman Returns” (SR). I think I am not fond of Superman because I grew up with Phantom and Mandrake and Bahadur. Spiderman was a cartoon film on the TV and one of my favorites. Superman comics were not available in India. Spiderman arrived every week as a cartoon strip in Sunday newspaper. The first time I saw Superman; I had grown up and had grown out of my superhero fantasies. When I saw Superman 1, I did not think much of the movie. Even our Hanuman could fly. Nothing great about Superman.
So there was not much excitement when “Superman Returns” released in Amsterdam. Actually it was released one month after US release and one month after “Krrish” released. I think the makers of SR were scarred of “Krrish” scoring over Superman in terms of popularity. But after 1 month in Amsterdam, “Krrish” is still in theatres and yesterday after almost a week in theatres, the hall was empty for SR. No! I am not suggesting anything.
Coming back to SR, it’s a story f Superman. Superman returns to earth after searching for his destroyed planet krypton. In the five years, much has changed. Lex Luther is freed because of Superman not attending his hearing and Lois Lane is engaged and has a son. After Superman gets his old job back, lex luther has big plan to grab land and kill millions of people. He steals crystals from Superman’s “Fortress of Solitude” to build masses of land in the sea.
The movie is a continuation of Richard Donner’s “Superman II” story so there is not much novelty in the story. Lex Luther wants to own a lot of real estate. To do that he has to destroy some already existing land so there will be a demand for new land.
Director Bryan Singer had directed the first 2 “X-Men” movies and he has enough experience to direct a superhero movie again but this time Superman is not as great. The movie has as I said nothing new to offer. The story is same old. Its slower for an action figure movie. At one time, I found the movie so slow that I was yawning.
Brandon Routh is Clark Kent/Superman and slips easily into Christopher Reeve’s shoes. He looks, smiles and talks like Reeve becoming the next Superman with ease. There is not much scope in terms of acting. He just has to smile the Superman smile. No past like Batman, no confusion like Spiderman.
Brandon Routh fits perfectly as Superman.
Kate Bosworth is Lois Lane and is ok. She is angry on Superman for leaving her and quite ok in her role. Kevin Spacey is Lex Luthor. The role was essayed by Gene Hackman in earlier Superman movies. The problem with Lex Luthor is he is an ordinary mortal not worth of being Superman’s enemy. The only thing he has is the brain and the evil plan. Kevin Spacey is again kind of Ok in the movie but then the role does not offer much scope too. Amrish Puri would have been a perfect Lex Luthor. He had done many of such roles, destroying earth and all that crap.
SR uses the original music score of the original Superman movies which is good. The main hero of the movie and the only thing that makes the movie worth seeing are the special effects. Watch the bullets being fired on Superman on the terrace, or the land coming out of the sea or the jet falling from the sky. We had SR in 3D format too but we saw in normal format. Most of the sequences are shot to enhance the effect of 3D. As for Superman flying, he does not flies but floats. He kinds of glides which is not much fun.
So SR is a big letdown but as I said my not liking Superman in the first place could also make me not like SR. As for competition between Krrish and Superman, Krrish is still running in the theatres here.
Rating: 5/10
Hi full2,
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cheers
pragati
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cheers
pragati
Hey Punds,
Happy Friendship Day!
Hi Punds,
Yes, there were so many wonderful comics from those good old days – Phantom, Mandrake, Superman, Batman, our very own Bahadur …. plus the ones like Detective Moochwala, Shikari Shambhu …… and then more ‘phoren’ ones like Asterix & Tintin.
All the exchanging of comics among school friends, reading them from libraries … especially during school summer vacations etc .. etc ….. “~ yaad aa gaya mujhko guzara zamaana …”
For you and all those interested …. here is a website to read the ASTERIX & TINTIN comics online …
http://www.7ven.net/default.aspx?page=comics
cheers.