the Dalaverse

"Superman Returns" spoilery review: I loved it. It cut my bitterness after X3, both because of and despite Bryan Singer being at the helm. I really just love Bryan Singer. He can do the big film, but he also gets all the little things perfect, tiny moments like the little boy and Cyclops exchanging a smile at the train station in X1; like the Scrabble pieces rattling along the board at Ma Kent's house, like the close-up of Lois taking off her shoes and stepping on Superman's feet to go flying, like the shot that fades slowly and beautifully from the Metropolis street to Lois in her study. He puts these little touches of art into big-budget action epics, and it makes those movies feel intimate even when all the shit's getting blowed up. Singer is all about the set-up, and he never fails to deliver. The Lois/Superman storyline never got lost within the context of the Big Damn Villainy plot (*coughBrettRatnercough*), and I was always aware of the undercurrents of identity.

Brandon Routh is...well, he's just beautiful. A lot of scenes were shot with this soft painterly light, especially at the Daily Planet, which flattered everyone and everything but made Routh almost too pretty to look at. Seriously, there were a couple moments when I thought he was CGI, but no, he really is just that gorgeous. God. Okay, that aside, I thought he was great in the role. I can vaguely remember watching some of one of the Superman movies in a hotel room one summer -- I can't remember which -- but I really have no basis other than "Lois and Clark" and "Smallville," and this is a far better Superman/Clark Kent than either of those two. With that pretty a face and in that role, it would be easy to go vapid, but Routh put a lot of compassion and expression and humanity into his performance, and his repitition of Jor-El's words at the end brought a tear or two to my eyes. I loved watching Superman fly; Routh really got the joy and pride in it across. And it would be, after spending his days as Clark Kent. Basically I grew to appreciate this character as I never have before. What I find fascinating -- and what didn't really make an impression on me until I saw the movie -- is how each of his faces, Superman and Clark Kent and Kal-El, is at once the real him and a performance, and how each of them can be both a burden and a blessing. Brandon Routh gave me all that, and made me want to read the comics and see the previous films to find out if it was there all along.

In all honesty I was expecting Kate Bosworth to suck, and one of the greatest pleasures was finding out that she totally didn't -- in fact, I thought she rocked it. Her Lois was not bland as I've been reading in the reviews (nor fucking annoying like Terri Hatcher), and I actually cared about Lois as a character and about her relationship with Superman, with her son and with Richard. In fact, I kind of loved her. I'm still afraid of her protruding bones, but you couldn't see them beneath her intrepid reporter's clothing (and her Pulitzer dress was incredibly beautiful and classy, not cheap-sexy like the stuff they put Kirsten Dunst in for "Spiderman"). My one issue with Bosworth, which has nothing to do with her performance and isn't really her fault, is that she just looks too young, to have that son and to have this long-standing thing with Superman and to be Lois Lane. But Bosworth was good enough that it didn't bug too badly. Lastly -- and this might sound weird -- I love that Lois actually gets knocked around, on the plane and on Lex's ship, and then she gets to rescue Superman. It rinsed the traces of misogyny from X3 out of my mind.

Kevin Spacey was smarmy fun as Lex Luthor (even if he wasn't Michael Rosenbaum-esque sexy; I think I threw up a little during that opening scene with the old lady). I'd love to see him interact with Superman in a prequel, to see how the whole ball got rolling. I liked the Evil Plan, too, especially not really getting it until he showed Lois the maps, as Kitty didn't. Speaking of whom, there were a few good moments there, but on the whole I think the role was beyond Parker Posey (and I say this having liked her in previous films). A better actress could have made her redemption more believable. The kid was cute; Jimmy Olsen too (aha, so he was Luke from Tiajuana in VM! Thanks, imdb!) And James Marsden was great as always. Richard was pretty well fleshed out as a character, not just The Other Guy; he had good chemistry with Routh, Bosworth and the kid, and it made the rooting-for-whom issue that much messier and more satisfying, because Richard? Totally knows everything. The scene between Lois and Richard in the car at the hospital was wonderful and subtle and one of my favorites.

So, yeah. Two thumbs up from Dala, on acting and character development and plot and effects (hellooooo eyeball bullet, and that's how you do flying *coughBrettRatnerHalleBerrycough*) and the execution of it all. Up there among the top superhero movies, when yesterday I wouldn't have even considered myself a Superman fan. Bring on the sequels, or prequels, I'm not picky. I could see it again, too -- Dad would love it. I wonder if good Clark/Richard, or Superman/Richard, or Superman/Lois/Richard fic has started popping up yet...

Bed now. It's going to storm like crazy, so we might maybe have tomorrow off. I bet Tim is glued to the radar right now.