Comments on: Super Film Review

By: The Mahablog » The American Way

The Mahablog » The American Way — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 12:25:54 +0000

[...] Goldberg tells us that “conservative talk radio has surely gone overboard in bashing the film,” which I say is one good reason to go see it (although there are others). But even though Goldberg admits the “American Way” line might irritate some overseas audiences, he sniffs about a “cosmopolitan” outlook “that sees national boundaries and geographic loyalties as quaint and even backward.” And taking a swipe at the majority opinion in Hamdan that stipulates the U.S. must honor its old commitment to the Geneva Conventions, Goldberg says there’s nothing wrong with kicking off the shackles of international opinion and being the Lone Ranger. [...]

By: maha

maha — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 15:59:29 +0000

coreyed — agree.

Re the negative reviews — This film has a muted quality that applies to the characters as much as the colors. All the main characters are turned down several degrees from earlier films, by which I mean they are more realistic, less cartoon-y. Frank Langella’s Perry White is a realistic big-city newspaper managing editor, for example. Kate Bosworth’s Lois Lane is warmer and a lot less, well, slapstick than Margot Kidder’s Lois Lane. Kevin Spacey’s Lex Luthor may be an exception, because his acts are over-the-top, but Spacey plays him very quietly and coldly instead of manically. Routh’s Superman seems to me to be both more alien and more down-to-earth than previous Supermen, although the performance is subtle, and some reviewers complained that he lacked personality. IMO the muted quality made the film more of a romantic fantasy — in which “real” people get caught up in a fantasy situation — than action adventure, in which the characters mostly exist to carry forward the action. Since I prefer romantic fantasy to action adventure, I was perfectly happy with this. But I suspect the muted qualities just didn’t work for some people.

By: norbizness

norbizness — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 14:39:45 +0000

No Otisburg, no deal.

By: coreyd

coreyd — Tue, 04 Jul 2006 03:50:18 +0000

gotta agree with ya on this one. i don’t believe i have ever enjoyed a film quite so much. admittedly, i’m a HUGE superman fan, so some bias exists…but artistically, i was stunned. in a good way.

the negative reviews stung me a bit; seems to me many viewers (& reviewers) didn’t know what to make of such a high calibre, old-fashioned film. in this day of overwhelming special effects and underwhelming storylines, audiences have come to expect non-stop action/special effects/elaborate fight scenes, ala the matrix or star wars episode iii.

i can only pray that the masses find themselves repeatedly drawn to the experience, spawning a character-driven renaissance of sorts.