Happy Birthday to Meow Rong!!!
I watched Superman Returns yesterday... what can I say, it was worth the watch!! :-) Bryan Singer did an EXCELLENT JOB to the film, staying true to the continuity of the old films (despite being 19 years apart) by bringing back Marlon Brando's introductory speech, John Williams theme wif the classic fonts for the main titles (complete wif cool effects on planets exploding) and also the last scene wif Superman flying into outer space (standard ending for all Suprman films). Oh in case u didnt know, the film is dedicated to both Christopher Reeve (who died of cardiac arrest on October 10th 2004) and Dana Reeve (who died on March 6th this year due to lung cancer) in the end credits.
A few noteworthy mentions:
- At the start of the film, a sickly old lady was shown talking to Lex Luthor and managed to sign the will before dying... that lady was named Mrs Vanderworth and it was she who fought for Lex's release, and in return the bald maniac married her in return and promised to take care of her; her signature on the will would mean that Lex would inherit everything she has, since she didnt want to leave it to any of her family members who had abandoned her. She had two dogs at the start of the film... later when Lex and his henchmen return to the mansion, it was shown that one of the dogs had (gasp) EATEN THE OTHER ONE UP!!!
- Bryan Singer recently explained how the late Marlon Brando reprised his role as Superman's father, Jor-El: "What we did is we went back to footage from the original Superman and re-created Jor-El using computer technology based on references to the Richard Donner film. ... The challenge is that, when you have an actor, you can scan them using a cyberscan and a lumispheric scan to re-create them all the way down to the pores on their tongue or the hair on their ears. But since we didn't have Brando (who died prior to filming), we didn't have the actor. All we had was reference photography and film footage, so we had to reconstruct him in a computer. It was very challenging."
- The film's main storyline concerns an attempt by Lex Luthor (who was released from prison during Superman's absence) to harness stolen Kryptonian technology. Luthor steals several crystals from Superman's Fortress of Solitude, and uses holographic recordings of Superman's father to learn that on Krypton, such crystals were routinely used to "grow" useful objects such as buildings and vehicles, and could even be used to grow entirely new landmasses. Luthor sets out to grow a new continent in the Atlantic Ocean, the size and displacement of which will cause most of the United States to flood. In the ensuing chaos, he will leverage his possession of the crystal technology to become a world superpower.
Another significant sub-plot concerns the paternity of Lois' son Jason, which wasnt revealed til the very end... who is seen as an ashmatic kid at the early parts of the show.
- When Lois and Jason are being held hostage by Luthor, Jason shows an aversion to a kryptonite crystal when it was being held by Luthor. Lex notices this, too, and seems to draw the same connection (he actually FELT the raction). Then when he asked Lois about who the boy's father is, Lois simply replied, "Richard". And then at the same time the boatman informs Lex abt their co-ordinates, and Lex said "Are you sure?", replying to Lois' answer rather than the boatman's transmission.
- When Lois' life was being threatened by one of Lex's henchmen named Brutus, a piano comes FLYING FORWARD at Brutus and KILLING HIM... and it was Jason who PUSHED the piano (his hands were outstretched). He is about to take a breath from his inhaler soon after that, but then he realizes he NO LONGER needs it.
- Moreover, Jason seems to know that Clark Kent is Superman by comparing Clark's face with Superman's face on the TV in the main office, and reacting with surprise. AND as Richard had mentioned to Lois, Jason scored A for science and D for gym... something quite remarkable for a kid who's only 5 years of age.
Like Reeve in the classic movies, Brandon Routh is tall, dark, handsome, and so sincere as to be faintly comical. The character embodies unadorned decency, and that makes others assume he's a square, especially when he has the Clark Kent glasses on. An actor has to be focused enough and bland enough to make that work, and Routh has both qualifications.
James Marsden IMO did a better job as Richard White in this film than as Cyclops in X-Men 3... even without his powers that is. The main flaw is, without his optic blasts, James cant blast open the cabin door when he, Lois and Jason are trapped inside as it was sinking (oh wait, wrong movie... hehe!!! ). But then James managed to display his excellent piloting skills (same as Cyclops' top skills in fixed-aircraft flying in the first X-Men movie) after he saved Superman and when he flew the plane over some Kryptonite rubble... that was one of the top scenes for Marsden! And altho he lacks the chiselled frame of Brandon Routh, James makes up wif his handsome features such as his pretty blue eyes and shiny white teeth!!
Overall I give it 4 out of 5 stars... A MUST WATCH!!!
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