Superman Returns (2006) (1 Viewer)

[Ric Easton]

Although, Lois always seems to find some nice digs.

 

[WillG]

I thought the same thing as well, but I was able to write this off as Lois just following a lead the she never imagined would be as dangerous as it turned out to be. However, on a second viewing, this opened up a new plot hole for me that I don't think has been really discussed here. If an old woman with that much of a fortune died and named an criminal such as Luthor as the sole beneficiary of her estate, wouldn't that have been a massive news story? Wouldn't Lois have known exactly who was going to be at that residence?

And speaking of Lois, on that second viewing, I was a bit dissapointed. I was reminded of her line in S:TM "A husband, two kids, a mortgage and a dog. I would go bananas in a week" I know that once the kid actually comes, it changes perceptions just a bit. But, I would never have pictured Lois as so doting, and as a person who would go from "A Hamburger with everthing on it" to whatever weird diets that they kept describing.

Of course, I still liked the film, but nitpicks are truly mighter that the praise, huh?

 

[Phil Florian]

On a side note, I don't suppose you have ever read the Warren Ellis parody comic called "The Pro," have you? If you have, you know what I mean. If you haven't...well, it is a hoot. And shows what would have happened if Superman DIDN'T do the Molecule Chamber in Superman 2.

 

[Phil Florian]

Actually, they did. Not every single event (like a 2.5 hour movie needs that kind of padding) but they did show examples of Superman saving the day around the world. I don't remember all of the images but we have him breaking up a bank heist and the Convenience store camera footage showing him save people. Do you want to see ALL the people he saved around the world??

Ric, if I were you, I would skip current Infinite Crisis crap. It was a mess and not worth the time and effort put into it. There were moments of fun (The Villain's United stuff was good, I thought) but the overall thing was a depressing and confusing mess. And they killed a favorite characer of mine (don't know if you got there, yet, so I won't say) for which I will never forgive them.

Instead, go read the non-canon but more entertaining Superman stories. I would read "All Star Superman" series, currently ongoing, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely. It is outstanding stuff and more in tune with what makes the character interesting than anything done with his "mainline" stuff for decades (imho). I would also recommend the Kurt Busiek mini series called "Secret Identity" which is, to my mind, an amazing Superman story. Both capture the epic and the personal Superman story in a way that a monthly book trying to balance continuity and an ever changing rogue's gallery can't. Check them out.

 

[James@R]

Yes, exactly. They showed...a grainy image of a convenience store camera! Wow.

Of course I don't expect them to show each and every rescue, but at least one global act of heroism would've been nice. Even Superman III managed to show enough of his South American weather rescue to keep things interesting.

Random news reports are no match for actually seeing Superman saving the day in some foreign locale. I'm not talking about an elaborate sequence that would've padded the film, just enough to show that Superman really had returned to the entire world (and not just Metropolis).

 

[Adam Lenhardt]

Part of what I loved about Bosworth's Lois is that she ISN'T super-mom. Witness her picking the kid up late. Witness the way that Richard and Lois paid absolutely no attention as Jason wandered around banging into stuff with the trash can over his head. And the kid's diet might be screwed up, but I got no impression she'd given up the fast food. Richard even questions her getting exotic food at one point when the kid can only eat two items on the menu, and she has to justify it to him.

 

[PeterTHX]

He could have left a few diamonds crushed from coal...

Besides, who's to say he didn't return with the money like when Clark gave the diner owners the cash after he trashed it teaching the bully a lesson in "Superman II".

Or else, like in "The Incredibles" he has an "understanding" with the government and they pick up the tab.

Or they cut the scene of the bill from his HMO arriving at the Fortress...

 

[Rob Gardiner]

Ric,

I haven't read UP UP AND AWAY but I understand that at least one major plot point in that story is set up in INFINITE CRISIS, so it may be best to read all that material in chronological order.

I'm going to second Phil's recommendation of ALL STAR SUPERMAN. The idea behind the All Star line is to present iconic, recognizable versions of DC's major characters without any ties to monthly continuity. (I imagine that a non-comic book reading filmgoer who walks into a comic book shop for the first time after seeing SR would find anything related to INFINITE CRISIS practically incomprehensible.) Grant Morrison's concept is that these are the present-day adventures of the Silver Age era Superman. The sillier aspects of Silver Age storytelling, such as the complete lack of scientific believability, or the over-reliance on implausible coincidences, are jettisoned, but all the fun, wonder, and imagination remains. It is truly a breath of fresh air. These days I only collect graphic novels and certain back issues. ALL STAR SUPERMAN is the only regular title I buy. It is bi-monthly (due to Frank Quitely's slow pace on the art) and #5 comes out next month, although the shops in my area all have #1-4 still on the shelves. Grant Morrison has long been my favorite comic book writer, and seeing his take on the greatest superhero of all time is like a dream come true.

Morrison was interviewed by Newsarama here: http://www.newsarama.com/DC/AS/AllSt...n_Morrison.htm and he offers the following "tease":


The hardcore fans on the Superman message boards are calling this the best new Superman comic to appear in over 20 years.

 

[BrettGallman]

Ric, if you're still going to read Infinite Crisis, you can actually go ahead and start reading Up Up and Away, as that's how it was actually originally released. I think the first part of Up Up and Away was released between IC #5 and #6, and because of the whole One Year Later gimmick, there were a lot of questions that Ininite Crisis had to answer. For example, we found out something major about Supes in the first part of Up Up and Away, but we didn't know WHY or HOW it happened until IC #7 came along, if that makes any sense.

 

[Adam_S]

I loved the plane sequence, favorite part of the whole movie, but the entire time I was thinking it was completely impossible for it to be engineered without failsafes manual overrides and redundant interlocks.

liked the weightless moment and little tribute to 2001 there.

anyone else notice the wacky planets in the credits... sort of like what might happen if krypton crystal growing went bad on some of those, very much like what Luthor was planning for Earth.

 

[John Doran]

loved it, also. almost like morrison's one-pager at the beginning of his current all-star run.

glad to see we're still on the same page, chuck. stay well.

 

[John Doran]

and i'm going to third the recommendation.

and rob's description is pretty much unimprovable, right down to the fact that the title is the only non-TPB that i've collected for decades, and the morrison/quitely team-up is (as always) absolutely spectacular.

give it a shot. you won't be disappointed.

 

[Chris Atkins]

Don't care for ALL STAR SUPERMAN myself.... Don't like ALL STAR BATMAN either. I had high hopes for both.

 

[Ric Easton]

Thanks for the comics recommendations, guys. I'll definitely pick up All-Star Supes and give it a try! I think I will also try to slog thru OMAC, Supes/Wonder Woman: Sacrifice and Infinite Crisis, before rejoining Supes in "Up, up and away..."

 

[Larry Sutliff]

Major disappointment for me. Haven't checked out ALL STAR SUPERMAN yet. I'm too busy reading all of the trade paperbacks I purchased this weekend with reprints of vintage Seigel/Shuster and Weisinger era stuff.

 

[Patrick Sun]

See, that's why I was almost begging Chuck to go see SR again because I also didn't see Lois as being this awful bitchy (now even shrill) person, but someone who's now a mother, and gotten all sort of twisted up inside after the love of her life simply vanished for 5 years and then shows up (saving her bacon in the process, once again). I also wouldn't categorize her treatment of Clark as mean, but that Clark's simpleton's advances (i.e., silly elevator scene between the two of them) as 2 trains of thought/action working at cross-purposes, causing much confusion (as "attraction" and "love" can make you do strange things) between people not on the same "romantic" page. Plus, given her home situation for the past 4-5 years, Lois simply treats Clark as a co-worker who's come back after taken half a decade to see the world, not as former flame, but with Clark pushing his own agenda of wanting to somehow rekindle the flames of a relationship with Lois, it makes it seem like Lois is warding off any more suitors, when she probably does it subconsciously, like any other woman in a committed relationship (her being with Richard) but gets hit upon by other men from time to time.

The baggage that comes with most viewers familiar with Superman and the classic Supes-Lois-Clark love triangle is that for that audience, we simply always root for Clark to somehow win over Lois in spite of her adoration of Superman (and never seeing Clark for who he really is), but that dynamic has totally changed with the presence of both Richard and Jason, and that's the bold stroke that Singer and company have added to the Superman mythos, good or bad - time will tell in future installments of the Superman films.

 

[Chuck Mayer]

All-Star Batman is like going on a blind date with a girl everyone said was hot and interested.

But her just-out-of-maximum-security uncle picks you up instead. And it's still a date.

I've already pimped All-Star Superman enough I read Infinite Crisis, and it didn't do much for me. Felt like Deja Vu. You can skip it and read Up, Up, and Away...and not miss anything. The One Year Later titles are pretty good. They are putting some of their best writers and artists on the big three. Morrison and Dini are taking over the Bat-titles next month. That Morrison and that Dini Busiek is taking over one of the S titles. It's enough to make me tolerant of $3 cover prices.

Making Superman cool...a question raised in the BO thread. You'll never make him hip, and any attempt to try will simply alienate the existing fans. One thing the X series has going for it are all the heroes and villains with powers. Spidey, Supes, and Batman all feel the need to explain anyone else who has powers. X-Men just says mutant, and moves on to the good stuff. Why do I bring this up? I don't think the younger fan possibly appreciates what Superman can do. If you could have some other powers (Intergang, perhaps), you could set up a sequence where the bad guys do their tricks, wow the audience, and then get their clocks CLEANED by Superman. You can't make the man hip...but you can make his powers hip Just an idea. No idea how that would work in a Singer film.

 

[Phil Florian]

I think they captured, even if a bit, the nervousness of Superman's appeal to kids. When the news coverage was showing us bits of Superman around the world (not enough! ), Clark nervously looks down at Jason to see if he is into it or not and smiles a bit to himself when the boy seems very interested. That is the big question...is Superman a relevant character to kids these days?

 

[John Doran]

exactly how it seemed to me, patrick. and i thought bosworth really stuck the landing.

 

[John Doran]

yikes....i feel violated just reading the review.

guess i'll be giving the comic a miss.