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Old July 3rd, 2006, 02:14 PM   #19
jewels
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Bryan, Babysitter came over so we did get to go, kidfree.

Warrior, I hope you get the car running and get to go again soon.

I haven't had so much fun and loved the story unfolding so much in a movie since LotR trilogy. The following is chock full of spoilers:

Every little nostalgic touch was just wonderful, begining with the John Williams score elements and the title sequence. I loved the direction of the words zooming being the opposite of the Donner, "Superman: The Movie" credit zoom. It was a subtle nod to the fact that in this one Superman returns from Krypton at the very beginning of the movie while in the original we were moving toward Krypton to hear his origin story firsthand.

The score was attuned to the story and keyed into some nostalgic connections in the story. Bryan Singer hit it out of the park for me when Supes took Lois flying. Even the score reached back to Lois's "can you read my mind" voiceover in STM.
The scene had all that wonder of the old with the poiniency of the character's change and growth of more than 5 years later. The emotional flux of Lois loving Superman but needing Richard White and Superman loving Lois enough to let her make her own choice was a wonderful thread woven into this movie. Jason's part of that was brought into the mix in ways that seemed natural: the photo on Lois' desk, the drawing Jason did of his Mom, Dad, himself and Superman. I'm not going to get into the moral quandry Jason's existence can cause, I'm not terribly fond of the idea but: Lois loves Superman and Superman loves Lois. Only his need for secrecy and need to shelter his true love from the villians keep them from marriage. You could see that much in the pain they both had over his return and the passage of time. Maybe another weakness of Superman is a need for someone like himself and the companionship and intimacy of a mate. And maybe he never thought he could father a human child. It would be wild if that was the one thing the Kryptonians were wrong about.

Brandon Routh didn't make me forget Christopher Reeves, but he walked alongside Reeves without ever stepping on his toes. Not easy to do and something that Singer's attention to detail was well-used in carrying off. It was a more serious Superman, but one that still had his weaknesses--Lois and kryptonite and that secret that only his mom knows. There was a lot of respect and nods shown throughout to the earlier movies devoid of the mockery towards earlier versions that has plagued and ruined most of the last few years "remake/reimaginings" in film and TV.

Lex Luthor in a land scheme? I will say he has daring fussing with alien tech and trying to keep it Superman-proof. 5 years in prison left him as meglomanical as ever. I think Spacey was fine as Luthor. It was an easy actor-change to accept.

I thought all the acting was excellent, if anything, there wasn't much time for Clark or Jimmy Olsen, but I was suprised that I liked Richard White. I think James Marsden just earned a spot in my short list of actors I like watching. His Richard White was very well realized, and the second best "hero" in the story. He was willing to go back for his fiancee's 1st flame when Superman was in trouble, because he loved Lois and he knew Superman had just saved them a bit before. Only an idealic hero does that sort of thing, and it was nice to see that someone other than Superman was allowed to have some ideals. I also loved the moment when Richard and Jimmie muse about Clark being the same size as Superman, and Clark almost gives himself away in interupting their stares. Eek, but that was good!

I liked that the placement of the scene from the trailer where Jimmie, Lois and Perry are looking at the photo of Supes and Clark enters was later in the movie than I expected it.

I loved the ending mirroring the Donner STM's ending: Superman patroling the space around earth.

From start to finish, this movie satisfied this moviegoers need to see Superman flying again.

Look! Up in the sky!
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