(Article does contain some spoilers)
In the summer of 2005, my brother and I were celebrating how great of a movie Batman Begins was. Afterwards, my brother, being a Superman fan, began to tell me about the upcoming movie, Superman Returns. He told me about the premise and how he was excited to see Singer’s vision come to screen. I stood in confusion as my brother continued and then interrupted him with “Why don’t they just reboot the franchise, like they are doing with Batman?” He reassured me that it was going to be awesome and the connection between the older ones would be understood with no problem. I doubted him, and for good reason. The movie led to disappointing box office performance and has been scrutinized by comic book fans. Even DC decided to reboot the franchise with a movie produced by Christopher Nolan, mastermind behind Batman Begins and the Dark Knight (if only they had listened to me in ’05). The reboot will come soon, and as we approach the five year anniversary of Returns, people have been looking back at the movie and taking their shots. I noticed this on CBM, especially when a certain article was published dealing with Bryan Singer looking back on Superman Returns. Intrigued, I opened up the article to see what he had to say, and what I found angered me. One of his changes would of choosing a better actor for the role of Superman. Brandon Routh’s performance was a major subject of criticism, but he is not the reason Superman failed to capture the viewers. The main culprit is Bryan Singer.
By the time Singer took on the Superman franchise, he had already directed and helped write the stories for X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003), which were both successful movies. It would only make sense for Warner Bros. to hire Singer to bring Superman back to the world of film. Singer, who has said time and time again he loved the Donner Superman movies, decided to make a sequel to the first two Superman movies instead of rebooting the character. Now, let’s put this all in perspective:
Superman (1978) – Directed by Richard Donner. Starring Christopher Reeve as Superman, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, and Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor. Considered one of the best superhero movies of all time.
Superman II (1980) – The Sequel, The main three cast returned, and I won’t talk about the director due to the Donner Vs. Lester controversy (A story worthy of its own article).
Superman III (1983) – The third movie, directed by Richard Lester. Reeves and Kidder returned to the movie, which most agree was the start of the downward slope of the Superman franchise.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987) – The fourth movie, directed by Sidney J. Furie. The main three actors reunited once again, and the movie was universally panned and considered “the death of the Superman franchise.”
Superman Returns (2006) – The fifth installation. Directed by Bryan Singer, Starring Brandon Routh as Superman, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, and Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor.
What you’re seeing is true. Superman Returns was the Superman movie that broke a 19 year hiatus. Nearly two decades later, Singer decided to make the sequel to Superman and Superman II while ignoring the other two. Superman II was released in 1980, two years after Superman. The gap between Superman II and Superman Returns is 26 years. That is almost three decades, five different presidents, and an ever-changing world of cinema. Now, I apologize to keep telling you something that is obvious. You didn’t need me to tell you the release dates and timeline. You are all smart individuals. What puzzles me is why Bryan Singer didn’t pick that up. His vision caused problems in two different ways: with the audience, and with Brandon Routh.
The audience is the most important part of any entertainment process. Those who pay for the movie are seeking to be entertained. Seems obvious, right? I would think so. You know so. But this movie was still made. Batman Begins was released in 2005 and was the reboot to the Batman franchise that followed a similar format to superman. Two successful movies followed by two movies that didn’t live up. The only difference? Begins rebooted. This led to a chance for new audiences to watch the story of Bruce Wayne. What you needed to know was given to you in that movie, not a series of movies that occurred 26 years ago. People left the movie with the story in mind, where it started and where it was going. This was not what happened in Superman Returns. The storyline reminded me more of a fan film. The feeling I received from Superman Returns was that I was constantly catching up. I was putting pieces of the puzzle together, trying to find out where everything was, and I am a comic book fan. Those who didn’t know much about superheroes, especially Superman, had it off a lot worse than me. People would ask me to explain the story to them because the plot points hindered their movie-going experience (For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, Superman’s kid). Keep in mind that with the explosive success of Spider-Man (2002), comic book movies were brought to the foreground of the movie industry, usually becoming summer blockbusters. New people were beginning to explore the wonderful world of comic book heroes. Superman Returns’ nostalgic story confused viewers, which hit me as ironic due to the estimated marketing budget of $45.5 million. Though it hurt the people watching the movie, it hurt the people making it.
Remember how I said Brandon Routh wasn’t the reason Superman Returns failed to deliver? Here is where I talk about that specifically. Yes, the actor is responsible for his performance. Yes, Brandon Routh wasn’t better than Christopher Reeve. Yes, the odds Routh had to face was so great, even Superman would have trouble being victorious. Putting aside the fact he was playing an iconic hero. Putting aside the fact he had to fill in the shoes of Christopher Reeve. Putting aside the fact the then 24 year old didn’t have star power to draw an audience. He was faced with the task to develop the same on-screen chemistry Reeves and Margot Kidder had almost three decades ago. Superman Returns was a sequel that due to an absence of action and origin relied on romance. The relationship between Clark Kent and Lois Lane became the story. Yes, Lex Luthor had a master plan to rule the world, but it didn’t command the story. The 154 minute movie was dominated by the story of their romance, and instead of starting from scratch and building up their relationship, the audience is forced to accept that it was already established before the movie. It also creates more problems as complex developments of the relationship are present, such as the two having a kid or Lois having to pick between Superman and her husband in the movie, Richard White. Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth couldn’t pull that off. NEWSFLASH: The only two people who could deliver what Bryan Singer wanted were Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder.
Now, as many comic book fans, I wait patiently for Zack Snyder’s reboot. I can only hope that Snyder will learn from Singer’s mistake.
The article that pissed me off and started it all: http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/thefortressofsolitude/news/?a=35362
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