06-29-2006, 04:59 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-29-2006, 05:30 PM by Occhidiangela.)
OK, I admit it, I can now be accused of being un-American. I did not care for the latest Superman movie. I took Missus Occhi and my son last night. Maybe I expected too much from the director who brought us the first two Xmen films, which I enjoyed thoroughly.
I am sure many people will like this film, and the SFX were very well done. The story writing was half baked, even though there were a lot of worthy elements introduced. They suffered in execution.
See it on a big screen, if you see it: the SFX are that good. My DVD-TV video set up at home would not do the SFX justice.
Let's accentuate the positive first.
Mild Spoilers Follow.
****************************************************
1. Marvelous special effects, and good blending of special effects with the actors and settings.
2. Kevin Spacey, though he is stuck trying to replay the Gene Hackman Luthor's real estate re-alignment scheme, is convincing as a guy who is smart, survived prison, resourceful, and ruthless. His delivery almost makes one think he is Luthor, rather than Spacey. With one small complaint, his reduced ability to appraise the potential value of land, his Luthor is well played. I blame bad writing.
3. The kid was cute, his dad the pilot was heroic.
4. Jimmy Olson kept the bow tie.
5. The Space Shuttle / Airliner scene was pretty good, apart from the injuries the non-seat-belt-wearing Lois did not sustain from being tossed about an airplane's cabin under various abrupt G loads.
Son's comment on that sequence: "You are supposed to put your own oxygen mask on before you try to help someone else with theirs." I am so proud of my boy. :D He turns 14 today.
6. Excellent polishing of the musical score, John Williams comes through yet again.
7. Eva Marie Saint returns as Superman's Mom, yay! Classy lady.
8. Comment on the true value of a Pulitzer versus an Oscar. Great line.
9. Lois's husband, though hobbled by the writing for his part, makes a nice complement to Superman as man doing his utmost.
10. The Green Kryptonite Shiv was an excellent touch.
11. Great tribute to John Ashton's Gomez Adams and "destroy my own fancy train set" scene with Luthor. :D
===================================================================
Did you get the sense that I was reaching there? I was trying to be nice.
What was wrong with the film. Having seen Reeve's Superman (the first of that entropy ridden series) I hoped we'd get that level of story. We didn't, but we got good SFX and way too much symbolism. The savior/Jesus/Crucifixion/demi-god imagery and wordplay was overbearing and clumsy.
1. A lot of scenes focus on people staring at this, that or the other, for about three seconds too long. Similar to Jackson's emphasis on Big Blue Eyes in LOTR and King Kong. Is this the new requirement at Hollywood film school, as the too-long-drum solo used to be in rock concerts? :P
2. Lois Lane, given the original film that is "five years" prior, is too young, acts too young, and lost the edge that Kidder's independent, Semi Feminist Lois Lane had. She comes off as self-centered, not tough. I think the actress could have done a different turn with better writing, she has a good screen presence.
3. A small sea plane hits a rock outcropping and breaks the rock: no damage to the wing tip. Gimme a break.
4. Lois has no broken bones after three severe tosses about an airliner cabin under g loads, and under the out of control gyration of a flat spin. No bruises. Hair barely mussed. *punches fist through wall*
5. Lois goes flying with Superman, her hair comes back perfect. Her make up is still perfect. At least "I forgot how warm you are" lets us understand why she doesn't get hypothermia while flying with him.
6. Superman catches an aircraft, and stops it from hitting the ground. All to the good, but . . . by the nose? Ask any Audi engineer, a pull is stronger than a push.
With a vertical stop, the nose cone slightly crumples? The nose cone should have crumpled to the next major airframe member, a few feet forward of the cockpit, given that the entire weight of the aircraft in on a non-weight bearing section, meeting with Supe's (very strong) hands as support. Supe is that strong, aluminum and steel in an airliner aren't. Ever seen landing gear? Beefy metal.
This was an unnecessary bit of bad science done to achieve a visual effect (though the SFX were well blended for the sequence) to get Supe to let the plane down gently. Oh, he then rotates it 90 degrees, no one inside gets hurt. As good as SFX are these days, what is with these pointless scenes set in an "IRL" milieu? Supe is secondary world, so all his stuff is secondary world. (Tolkein, On Fairy Stories) His interaction with primary world stuff should be "reasonably faithful" to primary world reality.
!!!BIG SPOILER!!!
7. Supe is lifting an island into the air. Good, he is that strong. As he does it, the green kryptonite that had so recently weakened him, in trace amounts, grows toward him in large crystals. He keeps on lifting the island. This is a complete contradiction within the storyline, and is bad writing. Unless the sun charges him like a battery against Kryptonite and he slowly loses charge near kryptonite? AH, BUT HE STARTS WELL BELOW THE CLOUD LAYER!
And there is more. Part of the Green Kryptonite shiv, (that Lois took out earlier) is still in him, but he isn't neutralized by it as he was mere minutes before. So, kryptonite weakens him to mortal strength, but he can with a green kryptonite shiv in him fly up to find the sun above the clouds and recharge? Now, if the little plane had flown up above the clouds, into the sun, and then he recharged, it might work. That would be playing fair.
This plot hole is a core weakness in the resolution of the conflict, and a violation of Superman canon: green kryptonite renders him mortal. This is in no way faithful to the Supe- Green Kryptonite dynamic. Plot Hole, internal inconsistency, and completely un necessary. (See how a few seconds on the plane "Get me up to sunlight!" would have resolved that.)
Plus, there was no need for any of the GK Shiv to remain in him for removal in the hospital later. Lois pulling it all out with the pliers makes for more sense, and stays consistent, and lets him get back to Supe ness. Bad writing, bad editing.
Singer screws the one plot device that allows Luthor to present Supe with a major set back, which forces Supe to rely on mere mortals. But it gets better. Lex has Supe powerless by field influence of Green Kryptonite, then sticks a Kryptonite shiv into his ribs, but doesn't finish him off? Just lets him fall off a cliff? This from the guy who hates Supe so passionately? Lex, the well portrayed ex con, fresh out of five years in prison, who makes the Kryptonite shiv in the first place? *slams head into wall*
The Writing For This Film Sucked harder than a Hoover on a Naugahyde couch! And don't get me started on that "Lets Copy The Titanic" crap with the broken in half yacht. Blah.
8. Cute kid. Does a lot of big eyes staring. Sporadic development. Seemed like a cute piece of luggage for the film, though I got the impression he was supposed to play an important role. OK, to be fair, he's one mean piano player. ;)
9. The pretty boy who played Supe. Good line delivery, decent screen presence, good Clark Kent, and . . . moody, brooding, pouty Superman. I don't care if he looked a bit like Chris Reeve, he was eye candy, not The Man Of Steel.
10. Supe and Lois "relationship" and the tension of the very valid set up: he's off for five years, she moves on, the jilted lover who deeply misses him, and it is awkward when he returns. She starts a family. But the awkward never seems to move along, it gets stuck in silence, stares, emoting, and very jerky interaction. This could have been the killer feature of the movie, the rich personal interaction that made the story resonate, particularly with her loyalty to her husband and his gentlemanly patience with her as a foil.
It fell flat. I also didn't care for Supe as a voyeur, spying on Lois and her husband.:angry:That is not Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
11. No helicopter (S-76 in this case) without external tanks, that has flown one way to an island off the coast of New York, has the fuel/range to reach a tropical island from NYC aka Metropolis. Lex' last scene was a complete cheat, but I liked it because it was funny.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Neutral.
A. "I did Superman." That line sorta works.
B. Edna says "No Capes!" and I am starting to agree. :lol:
C. The paternity of Lois' kid, and the uncertainty her husband has about Lois and Supe, sorta work, but don't get enough treatment to work fully.
D. The Mini Gun, Supe, and the revolver slug to the eye. I liked the crook with the flak jacket withstanding the cops' pistol slugs.
E. The growing crystals, being secondary world, were an good follow up to how Supe built his Fortress of Solitude. The heat of transformation (either heating things up, or more likely, cooling things off as the energy transforms into matter and acts as a heat sink) could have been accomodated for, given how well the SFX were in general. Given the rate and scale of that transformation happening in the primary world, I was glad to see the tremor/earthquake hit Metropolis. Good job on that one.
F. The humor was strained, though not for a lack of set ups. There were a few gems. My son's favorite line had to do with small dogs and dining.
Such potential, such a weak payoff for the money spent.
Occhi
I am sure many people will like this film, and the SFX were very well done. The story writing was half baked, even though there were a lot of worthy elements introduced. They suffered in execution.
See it on a big screen, if you see it: the SFX are that good. My DVD-TV video set up at home would not do the SFX justice.
Let's accentuate the positive first.
Mild Spoilers Follow.
****************************************************
1. Marvelous special effects, and good blending of special effects with the actors and settings.
2. Kevin Spacey, though he is stuck trying to replay the Gene Hackman Luthor's real estate re-alignment scheme, is convincing as a guy who is smart, survived prison, resourceful, and ruthless. His delivery almost makes one think he is Luthor, rather than Spacey. With one small complaint, his reduced ability to appraise the potential value of land, his Luthor is well played. I blame bad writing.
3. The kid was cute, his dad the pilot was heroic.
4. Jimmy Olson kept the bow tie.
5. The Space Shuttle / Airliner scene was pretty good, apart from the injuries the non-seat-belt-wearing Lois did not sustain from being tossed about an airplane's cabin under various abrupt G loads.
Son's comment on that sequence: "You are supposed to put your own oxygen mask on before you try to help someone else with theirs." I am so proud of my boy. :D He turns 14 today.
6. Excellent polishing of the musical score, John Williams comes through yet again.
7. Eva Marie Saint returns as Superman's Mom, yay! Classy lady.
8. Comment on the true value of a Pulitzer versus an Oscar. Great line.
9. Lois's husband, though hobbled by the writing for his part, makes a nice complement to Superman as man doing his utmost.
10. The Green Kryptonite Shiv was an excellent touch.
11. Great tribute to John Ashton's Gomez Adams and "destroy my own fancy train set" scene with Luthor. :D
===================================================================
Did you get the sense that I was reaching there? I was trying to be nice.
What was wrong with the film. Having seen Reeve's Superman (the first of that entropy ridden series) I hoped we'd get that level of story. We didn't, but we got good SFX and way too much symbolism. The savior/Jesus/Crucifixion/demi-god imagery and wordplay was overbearing and clumsy.
1. A lot of scenes focus on people staring at this, that or the other, for about three seconds too long. Similar to Jackson's emphasis on Big Blue Eyes in LOTR and King Kong. Is this the new requirement at Hollywood film school, as the too-long-drum solo used to be in rock concerts? :P
2. Lois Lane, given the original film that is "five years" prior, is too young, acts too young, and lost the edge that Kidder's independent, Semi Feminist Lois Lane had. She comes off as self-centered, not tough. I think the actress could have done a different turn with better writing, she has a good screen presence.
3. A small sea plane hits a rock outcropping and breaks the rock: no damage to the wing tip. Gimme a break.
4. Lois has no broken bones after three severe tosses about an airliner cabin under g loads, and under the out of control gyration of a flat spin. No bruises. Hair barely mussed. *punches fist through wall*
5. Lois goes flying with Superman, her hair comes back perfect. Her make up is still perfect. At least "I forgot how warm you are" lets us understand why she doesn't get hypothermia while flying with him.
6. Superman catches an aircraft, and stops it from hitting the ground. All to the good, but . . . by the nose? Ask any Audi engineer, a pull is stronger than a push.
With a vertical stop, the nose cone slightly crumples? The nose cone should have crumpled to the next major airframe member, a few feet forward of the cockpit, given that the entire weight of the aircraft in on a non-weight bearing section, meeting with Supe's (very strong) hands as support. Supe is that strong, aluminum and steel in an airliner aren't. Ever seen landing gear? Beefy metal.
This was an unnecessary bit of bad science done to achieve a visual effect (though the SFX were well blended for the sequence) to get Supe to let the plane down gently. Oh, he then rotates it 90 degrees, no one inside gets hurt. As good as SFX are these days, what is with these pointless scenes set in an "IRL" milieu? Supe is secondary world, so all his stuff is secondary world. (Tolkein, On Fairy Stories) His interaction with primary world stuff should be "reasonably faithful" to primary world reality.
!!!BIG SPOILER!!!
7. Supe is lifting an island into the air. Good, he is that strong. As he does it, the green kryptonite that had so recently weakened him, in trace amounts, grows toward him in large crystals. He keeps on lifting the island. This is a complete contradiction within the storyline, and is bad writing. Unless the sun charges him like a battery against Kryptonite and he slowly loses charge near kryptonite? AH, BUT HE STARTS WELL BELOW THE CLOUD LAYER!
And there is more. Part of the Green Kryptonite shiv, (that Lois took out earlier) is still in him, but he isn't neutralized by it as he was mere minutes before. So, kryptonite weakens him to mortal strength, but he can with a green kryptonite shiv in him fly up to find the sun above the clouds and recharge? Now, if the little plane had flown up above the clouds, into the sun, and then he recharged, it might work. That would be playing fair.
This plot hole is a core weakness in the resolution of the conflict, and a violation of Superman canon: green kryptonite renders him mortal. This is in no way faithful to the Supe- Green Kryptonite dynamic. Plot Hole, internal inconsistency, and completely un necessary. (See how a few seconds on the plane "Get me up to sunlight!" would have resolved that.)
Plus, there was no need for any of the GK Shiv to remain in him for removal in the hospital later. Lois pulling it all out with the pliers makes for more sense, and stays consistent, and lets him get back to Supe ness. Bad writing, bad editing.
Singer screws the one plot device that allows Luthor to present Supe with a major set back, which forces Supe to rely on mere mortals. But it gets better. Lex has Supe powerless by field influence of Green Kryptonite, then sticks a Kryptonite shiv into his ribs, but doesn't finish him off? Just lets him fall off a cliff? This from the guy who hates Supe so passionately? Lex, the well portrayed ex con, fresh out of five years in prison, who makes the Kryptonite shiv in the first place? *slams head into wall*
The Writing For This Film Sucked harder than a Hoover on a Naugahyde couch! And don't get me started on that "Lets Copy The Titanic" crap with the broken in half yacht. Blah.
8. Cute kid. Does a lot of big eyes staring. Sporadic development. Seemed like a cute piece of luggage for the film, though I got the impression he was supposed to play an important role. OK, to be fair, he's one mean piano player. ;)
9. The pretty boy who played Supe. Good line delivery, decent screen presence, good Clark Kent, and . . . moody, brooding, pouty Superman. I don't care if he looked a bit like Chris Reeve, he was eye candy, not The Man Of Steel.
10. Supe and Lois "relationship" and the tension of the very valid set up: he's off for five years, she moves on, the jilted lover who deeply misses him, and it is awkward when he returns. She starts a family. But the awkward never seems to move along, it gets stuck in silence, stares, emoting, and very jerky interaction. This could have been the killer feature of the movie, the rich personal interaction that made the story resonate, particularly with her loyalty to her husband and his gentlemanly patience with her as a foil.
It fell flat. I also didn't care for Supe as a voyeur, spying on Lois and her husband.:angry:That is not Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
11. No helicopter (S-76 in this case) without external tanks, that has flown one way to an island off the coast of New York, has the fuel/range to reach a tropical island from NYC aka Metropolis. Lex' last scene was a complete cheat, but I liked it because it was funny.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Neutral.
A. "I did Superman." That line sorta works.
B. Edna says "No Capes!" and I am starting to agree. :lol:
C. The paternity of Lois' kid, and the uncertainty her husband has about Lois and Supe, sorta work, but don't get enough treatment to work fully.
D. The Mini Gun, Supe, and the revolver slug to the eye. I liked the crook with the flak jacket withstanding the cops' pistol slugs.
E. The growing crystals, being secondary world, were an good follow up to how Supe built his Fortress of Solitude. The heat of transformation (either heating things up, or more likely, cooling things off as the energy transforms into matter and acts as a heat sink) could have been accomodated for, given how well the SFX were in general. Given the rate and scale of that transformation happening in the primary world, I was glad to see the tremor/earthquake hit Metropolis. Good job on that one.
F. The humor was strained, though not for a lack of set ups. There were a few gems. My son's favorite line had to do with small dogs and dining.
Such potential, such a weak payoff for the money spent.
Occhi
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete