Movie Review Superman Returns

Superman Returns (2006) 

Directed by Bryan Singer 

Written by Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris 

Starring Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, James Marsden Kevin Spacey, Parker Posey, Frank Langella 

Release Date June 28th, 2006 

Published June 27th, 2006 

The title Superman Returns has more than a single meaning. The title in the literal sense refers to the fact that the man of steel is returning to the big screen for the first time in nearly 20 years. In the movie universe the title refers to Superman having disappeared from earth for five years in search of the remains of his home planet of Krypton.

This search for home is at the heart of the new Superman flick which recasts the legendary superhero, now played by newcomer Brandon Routh, as a lonely hearted romantic with unrequited passion for Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) and an earnest will to protect mankind from all hurt and pain.

Superman Returns is a pseudo sequel to the first two films in the Superman series starring Christopher Reeve. Ignoring the last two installments, a pair of embarrassing failures, Superman Returns takes on the task of reinventing Superman while remaining beholden to the original films.

Five years after leaving without a trace, mild mannered reporter Clark Kent returns to his job at the Daily Planet. Not surprisingly, soon after Clark's return, Superman arrives and is immediately put to the test rescuing a space shuttle mission that nearly causes an airline crash. Intrepid reporter Lois Lane happens to have been on the rescued plane but her reunion with Superman is short-lived.

Back at the newsroom Clark/Superman finds that since he left, Lois has given birth to a son and is engaged to Robert (James Marsden) an editor at the paper and the nephew of the Planet's managing editor Perry White (Frank Langella). Assigned to the return of Superman story Lois is far more interested in investigating how her plane and the space shuttle came to lose power in mid-air just as the power went out across the entire eastern seaboard.

Lois has a hunch that the power outage is linked to the legendary bad guy Lex Luthor who, out on parole because Superman failed to testify against him at trial, has stolen his way to wealth and used it to discover Superman's fortress of solitude. In finding the fortress he plans to harness its power crystals to create a whole new continent for himself even if it means sinking the east coast.

The film takes on an episodic feel early on as director Singer attempts to draw together his varying plot elements.

Episode one, explains how Lex Luthor got out of jail.

Episode two, Superman returns to the Kent family farm and his mother, played by Eva Marie Saint. This episode also attempts a quick recap of young Superman discovering his powers.

Episode three, the plane crash rescue. This is by far the best episode in the film as Singer harnesses a special effects masterpiece in Superman's return to his super good deeds.

And the film continues this stop and start of episodic melodrama and action at the expense of establishing a solid dramatic rhythm over its long runtime of two hours and thirty minutes.

Superman Returns is the height of CGI special effects rendering a believably powerful and compelling Superman. His feats of strength and speed are exciting and eye-catching. Check out the space shuttle and plane crash scenes and also a scene where Superman rescues downtown Metropolis from the falling globe from the top of the daily planet building. Routh's poise in this scene is classically and iconically Superman.

However, when Clark Kent slips out of the Super suit the film comes to a screeching halt. Here Bryan Singer's slavish devotion to the original films becomes burdensome. Richard Donner's version portrayed the Daily Planet as a throwback to the My Gal Friday, fast talking, down and dirty days when female journalists were dames and everyone was out for the big scoop. Singer's vague attempts to recapture that are disastrous.

Singer also tries to evoke those unique qualities of Clark and Lois that Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder made memorable. Thus you have the charismatic but humor challenged Routh attempting Reeve's swift witted nerdy Clark Kent minus the wink and a nod. Then you have Bosworth trying out Margot Kidder's flighty but quick on her feet comprehension, something Bosworth fails miserably at.

Brandon Routh makes a great Superman. He has the physicality, good luck and soulfulness that evokes the best qualities of his predecessor Christopher Reeve. What Routh lacks is the wit that allowed Reeve to play the duality of Superman and Clark Kent. Routh lacks that knowing glint in the eye, that subtle wink and nod that Reeve brought to Clark Kent that helped audiences accept Superman and his nerdy alter ego.

The bigger problem for Routh however is his co-star and love interest Kate Bosworth. Though lovely, Ms. Bosworth is a lightweight dramatic presence. When compared to Margot Kidder's tough and unconventionally sexy Lois Lane, Bosworth is blown away. Where Kidder and Reeve burned up the screen with romance and wit, Routh and Bosworth could barely strike a match. Bosworth is an emotional cypher.

Brandon Routh also gets little help from co-star and arch-nemesis Kevin Spacey. Evincing more petulance than menace, Spacey chews scenery nearly as well as Gene Hackman did back in 1978 but where Hackman brought charm and wit to Lex Luthor, Spacey brings sneering, mustache twirling, buffoonish-ness to the role.

Superman is a god like character, seemingly all knowing, thanks to his super hearing and ability to see through any substance, he is also benevolent and compassionate. The script does not play up Superman's god like qualities, they are inherent in the characters backstory. The problem is the film does not attempt to deconstruct this image. Superman begins the movie as god and though he faces temporary physical setbacks, his character is never challenged thus he does not have a great arc.

In Batman Begins and Spider Man 2, arguably the two greatest superhero films ever made, the main characters had their morality and their personalities challenged and played big dramatic arcs. Superman however is so sure of his place in the world and is so earnestly engaged that he seems bland. He is challenged romantically but because the love interest is so passionless the challenge is not all that dramatic.

Christopher Reeve and Margot Kidder brought a goofy sort of charm to the romance of the first two Superman films that managed to flame into a pretty good love story. In Superman Returns the romance is a non-starter because star Kate Bosworth is a limp noodle of muddled romantic interest. We can see love in the eyes of Routh's Superman but Bosworth's Lois Lane is a blank slate.

The film asks us to believe that when Superman left without saying goodbye Lois wrote a Pulitzer prize winning story about why the world does not need Superman. We are to believe that she poured all of her sadness and pain into this essay and that, despite being unable to spell the word catastrophic -a joking nod to the first Superman movie- she was honored with journalism's highest prize. But we are only told these things. Bosworth never demonstrates her heartbreak beyond a simpering anger in her voice.

The real dramatic arc of Superman Returns is only brushed over. It's the search for a home. Superman left earth without a word to the people he loved. He went to find his true home and found only ruins. Back on earth his beloved Lois Lane has moved on with another man and though he has his mother and his purpose, Superman lacks a private place in the world. This character arc is sniffed around and hinted at but, sadly, never fully explored.

A series of intermittently entertaining episodes Superman Returns is at its best when director Bryan Singer presents his big action set pieces. When the film slows down and Brandon Routh is out of his super suit the film bogs down. The movie needed to modernize the newsroom setting, smarten up Lois Lane so we don't find her so dithering, and cut a good 20 minutes out of the non-action scenes. Unfortunately it's far too late for these changes.

As it is Superman Returns is a modestly entertaining, visually impressive action picture that lacks the wit and romance that made the original iconic.

Movie Review: Valkyrie

Valkyrie (2008) 

Directed by Bryan Singer 

Written by Christopher McQuarrie, Nathan Alexander 

Starring Tom Cruise, Kenneth Branagh, Bill Nighy, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp

Release Date December 25th, 2008 

Published December 24th, 2008 

Why? Why did Bryan Singer, Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise attempt to turn Valkyrie, the story of a failed attempt to kill Hitler in 1944, into a suspense thriller? As stated in my brief description, it's a FAILED attempt to kill Hitler. Anyone who thinks that is a spoiler needs a history class and not a trip to the movies. The choice to frame the story of German hero Claus Von Stauffenberg as a thriller is a damning choice that dooms Valkyrie from beginning to end.

Tom Cruise essays the role of Klaus Von Stauffenberg as a man who was already disillusioned with Hitler's Germany before he was approached about killing the Fuhrer. Having been sent to North Africa to fight on a losing front of Hitler's war expansion, Stauffenberg urged a higher ranking official to contravene orders and get the soldiers out of Africa.

Before he can give the order the higher ranking officer is killed and Stauffenberg is badly wounded. He lost his right eye and right hand in the attack and was returned to Berlin. There he is approached by Major-General Tresckow about joining a group of Generals and politicians who want to overthrow Hitler.

They think they can get the job done politically. Stauffenberg however, has a more permanent idea. He and others advocate the idea that Hitler must die if there is to be change in Germany. And, he even has a political plan as a backup. It's called operation Valkyrie and if executed perfectly it could allow for an orderly change of power once Hitler is dead.

We know going in that Stauffenberg was executed for attempting to kill Hitler with a bomb at the Fuhrer's Wolf's Lair hideout. The complicated plot was ingenious and the resistance lead by Stauffenberg has been deified by those in Germany desperate for the rest of the world to know that not all Germans followed in lockstep with the evil dictator.

There is more than enough drama in the ideas behind Stauffenberg and company's plot to make an interesting, historic epic. Unfortunately, the path chosen by those involved in the movie Valkyrie is to make a thriller based on the timing and execution of the Valkyrie plot, the one we already know fails. Worse yet, the failure is a piece of forced dramatics involving the weak will of one of the conspirators. 

How much of what we see is history and what is fiction is unknown but what is onscreen fails to be thrilling, suspenseful or even modestly compelling. I am one of the rare few admitted big fans of Tom Cruise. It has become quite fashionable to despise the former biggest star on the planet. I do not subscribe to that fashion. I think Cruise is one of the most charismatic and compelling leading men in Hollywood history.

That makes Valkyrie all the harder for me to watch. To play the Teutonic Stauffenberg Cruise dials down his most compelling aspect. He drowns his charismatic persona in a pool of dense concentration and the tightest sphincter this side of Nurse Ratchet. Generally, Cruise does uptight better than anyone. However, the schtick as in Jerry Maguire or Vanilla Sky is going from being uptight to allowing himself to lose control and go with the flow. Valkyrie calls for Cruise to be intense and stay that way and quickly that becomes stifling.

With his charisma dialed back Cruise's intensity becomes a serene mask of seriousness that just isn't suitable to him. It's the kind of ferocious inner fire that an actor like Joaquin Phoenix exudes with every breath. Cruise is more effective when he mixes aggravation with charm. Stauffenberg as written is charmless and Cruise is ill-suited.

Bryan Singer is too good a director for the film to fail in craftsmanship and there is nothing wrong with the construction of Valkyrie. Where the film fails is in the choice of trying to make it a suspense thriller. It's a simple question - how can you have suspense and thrills when you already know how everything turns out.

As Stauffenberg races from the Wolf's Lair thinking he has killed Hitler we aren't breathing heavy as he is because we know he failed. The scene is tragic but only in our minds. It's as if Singer and McQuarrie don't know it's tragic. To pretend that the outcome isn't known is an act of foolishness that undermines the tragedy and drama of the Stauffenberg plot.