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Bryanthemadposter
Reviews
Superman Returns (2006)
Best Superman film yet.
"You don't really love that guy you make it with now do you? I know you don't love that guy 'cause I can see right through you." The Clique, Superman
"You wrote that the world doesn't need a savior, but every day I hear people crying for one." Superman, line of dialogue from the film
Superman Returns comes to us nearly twenty years after the last Superman movie. The question on everybody's mind then: was this film worth the wait?
The story opens with text on the screen informing us that after astronomers found Krypton, the planet of Superman's origin, Superman disappeared without any warning. We in the audience don't have to wait too long for him to come back, but the rest of the people in his life had to wait for five years. During that five years Lois Lane had a son, violent crime in the city rose dramatically, oh, yeah, and Lex Luthor got out of prison.
Of course at the same time Superman comes back, so does Clark Kent (Brandon Routh) who informed his coworkers at the Daily Planet before he left that he'd be off globetrotting and doing some soul searching.
Of course, not long after he gets back, Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) gets into mortal peril. There was a funny moment in the Superman cartoon that was made during the late nineties where a group of terrorists hijack a plane on which Lois is a passenger. When she stumbles another passenger asks, "Are you okay, Miss Lane?" At this the hijackers adopt a stricken look. "Lane?" one of them says. "Lois Lane?" She nods. "The one that Superman is always saving?" Her lips curl up into a smug grin and she nods again. And of course, Superman saves the day. It wouldn't be a Superman movie if Lois Lane wasn't getting herself into life threatening situations every third scene or so. Indeed, one wonders how she lasted five years without him. But soon we stop caring because we get to see some spectacular effects as Superman makes his first public appearance in five years. And the people rejoice.
And as usual, Superman is news, big news. As such, Perry White (Frank Langella) assigns his entire staff to find out everything that they can about Superman. In doing this, he pulls Lois off of another story that, really, is more important. Lois, being Lois, pursues the story anyway and gets herself kidnapped by Luthor (Kevin Spacey), who has a plan to *gasp* destroy Superman.
The plan is better than any he had in the earlier films, which is no surprise, as in this film the script, acting and characterizations are all better as well. Routh delivers his lines in a style very similar to the late Christopher Reeve yet still makes the performance his own. Bosworth is far superior as Lois lane (not to mention better looking) than Margot Kidder and Kevin Spacey plays Luthor with just the right blend of sophistication and insanity. James Marsden (Cyclops from the X-Men films) also makes an appearance as Richard White, Perry's nephew and the future Mr. Lois Lane. I really didn't much care for Marsden as Cyclops, but his character here is believable. It would be easy, I suppose, to make Lois's new beau a thumb-sucking weenie to act as a convenient plot point to create tension, but director Bryan Singer (who brought us the first two X-Men films) rises above this temptation. The result is an intelligent film that pays tribute to what was good about the 1978 film while making it better, and not just as a special effects extravaganza, and brings Superman into the twenty-first century.
I hope this team does more with Superman. "Superman Returns" is a solid, well done film, and it would be a shame to ignore the vast amount of talent that it brought together.
Spider-Man 2 (2004)
A genre has been restored.
I went to see the most recent installment in this particular franchise with high expectations. The problem with high expectations is that they often set us up for disappointment; we expect insight into the human nature from a movie and we get a mindless action flick. In the case of Spider-Man 2, however, my expectations were surpassed beyond what I had even thought would be reasonable.
As a longtime fan of the superhero genre (one of my favorite movies growing up was the first Superman movie) and as someone who makes it a hobby to study human nature I have to say that I came out of this movie more excited than I was when I went in . . . and I was plenty excited going in.
Spider-Man was probably one of the first superheroes of his kind; he puts on the costume because he feels he has to, not for vengeance, for justice, or really even for penance, but because he owes it to his uncle. He struggles with his finances, relationships, grades, and his job. And perhaps most importantly he's starting to wonder whether or not it's worth it all anyway.
Tobey Maguire returns to his role as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man and as always it is how the actor plays the super hero's allegedly mortal alter ego that really counts. And mortal he is. Somewhere along the line Spidy's powers begin to fade. I was staunchly against the organic web-shooters when first I heard of them, but by the time I had finished watching the first movie I didn't care anymore, they never even registered with me in this one, despite the fact that their organic nature was integral to the plot.
Why are his powers fading? The movie never clearly comes out and says so, but one gets the impression That there's a measure of self-denial in being Spider-Man and that Peter is tired of it.
One of the major reasons would be Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst again, thank God). Peter struggles with the same thing any superhero would and that's protecting the ones he loves, when it becomes obvious to him that being Spider-Man is costing him so much, including this woman, he's not so sure that he's willing to pay that price. So he gives it up.
Possibly the line that sums this movie up more than any other is delivered by Peter's Aunt May when she says that she believes that there's a hero in everyone. While she's speaking of that elusive part of human nature that tells us the difference between right and wrong, we all know that Peter's inner hero is more manifest--not to mention needed. Dr. Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) is terrorizing the populace and when he inadvertently makes the fight personal for him, Peter Parker finds that perhaps being a hero is a destiny that he can't run from.
This is the best comic book movie that I have ever seen, maybe even better than that 1978 masterpiece starring Christopher Reeve. It was made by a team that seems to care about their audience and respect their intelligence. It's a movie that has turned a genre that's been taken less than perfectly serious into something that will be hard not to. Spider-Man 2 represents everything that's right with this genre.
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Very interesting. CONTAINS SPOILERS
Does anybody remember, that show? I think that it was Laugh In with the Little German guy who would pop up occasionally and say "Veeerry intereshting . . . but schtoopid." I had that same feeling when watching the latest, and God willing final, installment of the Matrix series. I was of course curious to know how the series would resolve itself but found myself more than a little disappointed in the film's outcome. But it was interesting.
I think that's why I'm so disappointed. Instead of fulfilling the promises made by the hype of the films. The story, which itself is a retread of the tired old dream sequence, props to the filmmakers for giving it a unique twist though, is predictable, second rate and by the end of the film has degenerated into action clichés. Instead of delving into what the Matrix really is, instead of exploring ways to build a new life from the rubble of the old, we get to see a lot of things get blowed up.
But all of that pales in comparison to the finale when Neo daces Smith for the last time. I found myself praying, "Please, Lord, don't let them resolve this entire thing with a *fistfight*!" But then I saw the ending, and I thought that even a fistfight would have been preferable to the deus ex machinas that was . . . well, quite literally that.
It doesn't surprise me that Trinity would sacrifice herself for Neo (told ya there were spoilers), and i didn't really surprise me, though I did roll my eyes at the absurdness of it, when Neo died all stretched out ala crucifixion.
My only hope is that he stays dead and this film series can never rise again.
The Matrix Revolutions (2003)
Very interesting. CONTAINS SPOILERS
Does anybody remember, that show? I think that it was Laugh In with the Little German guy who would pop up occasionally and say "Veeerry intereshting . . . but schtoopid." I had that same feeling when watching the latest, and God willing final, installment of the Matrix series. I was of course curious to know how the series would resolve itself but found myself more than a little disappointed in the film's outcome. But it was interesting.
I think that's why I'm so disappointed. Instead of fulfilling the promises made by the hype of the films. The story, which itself is a retread of the tired old dream sequence, props to the filmmakers for giving it a unique twist though, is predictable, second rate and by the end of the film has degenerated into action clichés. Instead of delving into what the Matrix really is, instead of exploring ways to build a new life from the rubble of the old, we get to see a lot of things get blowed up.
But all of that pales in comparison to the finale when Neo daces Smith for the last time. I found myself praying, "Please, Lord, don't let them resolve this entire thing with a *fistfight*!" But then I saw the ending, and I thought that even a fistfight would have been preferable to the deus ex machinas that was . . . well, quite literally that.
It doesn't surprise me that Trinity would sacrifice herself for Neo (told ya there were spoilers), and i didn't really surprise me, though I did roll my eyes at the absurdness of it, when Neo died all stretched out ala crucifixion.
My only hope is that he stays dead and this film series can never rise again.
Small Wonder (1985)
Good show . . . except for a few small details.
It's always the small details that make or break a production. I once asked my dad how Sean Connery could be in Highlander 2 as he died in the first one. "Small details," said my dad.
I asked him how the students in "Head of the Class" could be in high school for *five* years when high school is *four* years and they're supposed to be the geniuses. "Small details," said my dad.
He asked me how my grades could be so low, how I couldn't memorize a list of twenty-five vocabulary words when i could remember every little nuance of every stupid show or movie ever made. "Small details," I said.
While I was recovering, I discovered this show. It was apparently about a robot who looked just like a young girl, who could memorize the copyright page of a history textbook in two and a half seconds (Dr. Soong would be proud), but couldn't remember the lesson she had learned on being more human in the previous episode. Small detail.
Also her identity as a robot was supposedly a secret, but her voice makes Steven Hawking's sound smooth and natural. Small detail.
And nobody noticed that she wore the same *$@#% dress for God knows how many years? Small detail.
And what about the fact that she actually grew up as the show went on? Small . . .
Wait a minute, this wasn't a good show. This show sucked! I've had major dental procedures that I liked more than this show! In the end, "Small Wonder" is just one big small detail (big . . . small . . . ummmm . . . well, you get the point). Something to be swept under the rug and forgotten.
Mr. Dressup (1967)
The show I most looked forward to.
Growing up I watched quite a few shows that I still remember fondly. "The Polka Dot Door" springs to mind as does "Sesame Street". But nothing quite calmed me down and made me listen quite so much as "Mr. Dressup". I've always wanted my own Tickle Trunk and the desire to live in a treehouse still hasn't been flushed from my system. I'll miss this show. I'll miss the others as well, but not in the same way. All the other shows were shows that I watched in my childhood. "Mr. Dressup" was a *part* of my childhood.