According to a group of Talent Agency insiders (whatever those are), Superman Returns needs to make $ 200 million in America or there will be no sequel. This was said by Warner Bros. president Alan Horn, who is clearly a little worried that his 250 million dollar movie is not going through the roof as much as was expected. According the same sources, a second Superman movie will also have to cost significantly less than the rumoured $ 250 million dollars that Superman Returns cost to make. Apparently the budget will be more in the vicinity of $ 150 million, which is quite a significant cut. At the moment, the gross in America stands at close to $ 150 million, with a few potentially strong weekends ahead. I'm hoping Warner Bros will stop complaining and just greenlight the sequel, since Superman Returns is (at least in my opinion) a really great movie.
As much as I enjoy the Superman character and want this movie series to continue based on high ticket sales, let me tell you why this movie failed with me and so many others. And there are a good number of reasons. Where do I start? Let me just itemize SOME of the things Warner Bros. did I didn't like, and the things Warner Bros. didn't do you that it should have done. I hope Alan Horn reads this...
1. The initial scenes that once again tortured us with Superman's birth history and adoption by the Kents were a colossal bore. You hear me, Alan??? They were a colossal bore##$@@## I don't ever want to see the Kents cluttering up the screen again. I'm sick to death of them. Dragging us through that tired crap really depressed me and right at the start of the movie. Great.
2. Don't show us any more film of Clark Kent before he was Superman. How many times do we have to endure this??? No one cares. Start your damn film with Superman as Superman and end it with Superman as Superman.
3. The scene showing Lex Luthor and friends locating the Fortress of Solitude (with no apparent difficulty getting there), walking in as though they own the place, standing in one the coldest places in the world with no visible signs of them actually being cold, showing us that Lex Luthor knew that there was a crystal container platform, where it was and how to raise the platform holding the crystals, was ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. Since when is the Fortress of Solitude so easy to find, so easy to penetrate (given that it's supposed to be constructed of advanced alien technology) that there isn't even a simple burglar alarm?? They walked into Superman's fortress as though they were on a guided tour. I mean, you must think the viewing audience is a bunch of imbeciles to buy into this childish nonsense. Breaking in to Superman's fortress. Unbelievable.
5. Ending the action sequence of the damaged Air Force 1 so abruptly by having Superman place it on the middle of a baseball field was a very poor decision. Nobody wanted the scene to end when it did and certainly not like that. All that foreplay and no orgasm. Wrong again, Alan. You would have done better to have the plane split apart and then have Superman rescue each passenger in his chair as they were falling, tumbling, through space -- setting each rescued passenger down directly below the point in the sky where he caught them (that could have been nowhere near any other passenger). Seeing some placed (in their chairs) on rooftops, some in parks, others on sidewalks, the beach, etc., would have been much, much better. The ovation was superfluous and gratuitous.
4. Don't bunch your special effects scenes showing Superman using his powers. All of sudden, we get one scene after another, all nearer the beginning of the movie, showing the Man of Steel doing this and doing that. The scene with Air Force 1 was the best example shown in the entire movie but, as such, it was shown too early in the movie. Nothing came close to that action sequence at any point as the movie progressed. That's crazy. People go to see Superman movies because they want the movie crammed with visual displays of his powers -- and not all shown at once and not the best shown first. What do we get at the end? Superman lifting an island into space. Is this a great special effect? No. Hell no. Another boring use of film. Why don't you have him instead lift Martha Kent and fling her into space? At least that would be one good way to end her painful appearances on screen.
4. Now, take this to heart, Alan, and I mean this when I say -- GET RID OF LOIS LANE, JIMMY OLSEN and PERRY WHITE. I can't think of three more tedious supporting characters. These people are annoying in the extreme. They are nothing but anchors around Superman's neck. I'm sick to death of his misplaced infatuation with an utterly common woman. Superman should be dating supermodels. Jimmy Olsen is always presented as a near idiot, Perry White as a buffoon. Lex Luthor, the only character with at least some potential to be realistic and important, is nevertheless always shown to be the same cartoonish character instead of making him genuinely evil (without his stupid errand boy and bimbo girlfriend around). And you know, Alan, even after all this time, I still can't forgive Warner Bros. for using Gene Hackman as the original Lex Luthor. Why not a Barnum & Bailey clown?? As they are, Jimmy, Lois and Perry are nothing but parasites who bring Superman down to their pathetic level. Get RID of them. Let Superman go. He shouldn't be tied down anymore to this lackluster female or a knucklehead copyboy. This is 2006. Let Superman move on. We had to again endure a deliberately concocted campy schmaltzy atmosphere in this movie as though we're all still in the 1950's. Forget this. That time is long over. Wake up, Alan. It's fifty years later.
5. Superman needs -- repeat, needs -- to be an edgier character. He needs to show anger. He's almost portrayed as a big, even slightly goofy, guy. Forget it. Make him like Blade. Cool. Detached. Capable of great violence when justified. Push the envelope with this guy. He is Superman, not Superwimp. Pit him against the invading aliens of Independence Day. Do something original for a change. All of the scenes in which you showed Superman using his powers were, in fact, minor tests for him, given his powers. He smiled when shot in the eye by a bank robber. He should have picked that guy up and thrown him a quater mile into the river. And since when is guiding a damaged aircraft to a soft landing some big deal for him? It isn't.
6. Don't ever, ever, EVER, make him appear weak on screen. What is it with you Warner Bros. idiots that you think people want to see Superman lose his powers? Do you really think we pay to see Superman because we want to see him be beaten up by a couple of ordinary thugs? Are you completely nuts? I don't give a damn if your stupid producer or director was attempting to create art by "resurrecting" Superman after he (once again) lost his powers. Now you get this, Alan, and you get it good -- in every effing Superman movie, he loses his powers. I'M SICK OF THIS!!! Leave him alone. If you're going to do anything to him, make him stronger, you dumb bastard.
OK, that's enough. This movie was alternatively disappointing and aggravating. If you guys knew what you were doing, Superman Returns wouldn't have bombed at the box office. Look, you need to have real people screen movies such as this in order to avoid these kind of gaffes and poor judgments. Clearly, whomever you do have performing this task for you (and they're probably just a bunch of buttkissers, telling you what you want to hear and not what you need to hear) is unfit to critique movies. There is so much room for improvement in Superman Returns that if I were asked to review this movie before you released it, IT NEVER WOULD HAVE BEEN RELEASED. Better yet, it never would have been made as it was. Routh was fine as Superman and excellent as a Reeve clone. What you need, though, is a Routh Superman who is greatly offended by killers and criminals, not one who just tolerates them and slaps their wrists. Show us a Superman movie in which he does not smile. When you can do that, it will be the first great Superman movie.
Posted by: Dean Klein | July 21, 2006 at 09:52 AM
Dude, ya can't get rid of Lois Lane! Jimmy and Mr. White, ya probably but Lois is like one of the main characters not to mention superman's girl. He also has a child with her appearently. And also that thing about making superman lose his powers... I think that's a fairly good idea! When superman lost his powers, the movie got exciting and suspensful! Well anyway I hope they make more superman movies in the future. I liked Superman Returns better than any of the original Superman movies.
Posted by: Steve Piercey | July 24, 2006 at 04:16 PM
agree with you steve... thought it was great!!although dean has alot of very valid points,like them walking into supermans home like it was a tour!! handling crystals like they were his own!! also struggling to stop a small plane when hes fine lifting a full size island of cryptonite into space?? anyway it was still good, just hope they listen to some of deans points if not, do what dean says, leave it and move on!!! george
Posted by: george mcneil | August 08, 2006 at 02:48 PM
ok, I'll admit SOME points in that big long bombardment of nothingness made sense, but really to me it just seemed like the guy has some secret grudge against Alan. To be honest, I'll agree about the Lex Luthor just WALKING IN to the Fortress of Solitude, knowing EXACTLY how to raise the platform and get the crystals, and seeming to not be cold at all when it's suppose to be below zero weather. And nother thing that got me that I'm suprised not too many people argued about was the fact that Lois actually managed to conceive Superman's kid ( Mallrats anyone?). But, the points like Superman looking like a wimp, he's suppose to be a good guy, the Boy Scout, that's how he's always been. If you don't like it, go play with your Hulk action figure and stop badgering Superman.
Plus the thing with the Air Force 1 incident. I thought it was good. I mean, it was a nice way of letting everyone know Superman was back, what would you rather have him do Dean, be in the paper with the photo of him holding a kitten and a title "Superman Back! Saves Kitten From Tree"??? Come on, it was a horrible accident that he came just in the nick of time to save everybody.
And with the Kents. They raised him, they made Superman what he is. They have every RIGHT to be in the movie. Like I said, if you don't like it, go play with your Hulk figurine while yelling "HULK SMASH!" at the top of your lungs with Legos. And Jimmy Olsen and Perry White are both Clark Kent's boss and fellow employee that are key elements to Superman's knowing of incidents and job. So STOP WHINING!
Over all though, I really liked the movie. I mean, its a good way to bring Superman back into the new age cinemas and begin recapturing the soul and spirit of Superman everybody grew up with back in the 60s and so on. I hope they come out with another one within the next couple of years.
Posted by: Dustin | September 05, 2006 at 03:19 AM
Superman stands for the United States of America and should be viewed as a true American. Truth, Justice and the American way. Although he is a FICTIONAL Character he is still my hero and I love every single SUPERMAN MOVIE!! and SUPERGIRL!! ie, only 1 of those. Thanks Warner Bros.
Posted by: Jay | November 17, 2006 at 07:10 AM
SUPERMAN IS A REPUBLICAN and stands by BUSH!!
Posted by: Tom | November 17, 2006 at 07:11 AM
Bush, Superman- Well Samething!!
Posted by: Jay | November 17, 2006 at 07:13 AM
i really like the movie superman. even some scenes but some of your argument as well, im sorry to say but they suck. Any character should be allowed in the movie because they have an important role as background, as who he was and who he is and this shit and nonesense. however they might be boring but hey face it cannot be perfect. As for superman loosing his power was i found that was awesome because its a great suspence. and for superman's kid to him use his strengh to save his mother and kill the guy, i found that hilarious and good. what i would like to see is more of the child learning to control his abilities.
and id wish for zod try to creat crypton on earth just like smallville stuff. so kallel and superman junior kick his ass. and for the time the 50's are past and boring. a present setting would be greatly appreciated
with all the technolodgy. And the producers should try more to show each kallel abilities becaus their quite cool. now superman look as hes a wimp, they should show him more as cool guy. People here are complaining about the movie but i enjouyed it a lot. i think we should give a lot credits to the producers and the actors, for i hope gratly to have another one.
Posted by: steve | November 30, 2006 at 05:12 AM
the cast and the spetial effects were great but the story sucks!! I think the producers didn't think too much about it,they just wanted to make money. Superman is an icon to me and the movie doesn't reflect what he should be. The way the movie begins is ok and they should have shown him flying around the space, looking for krypton and then having him back into earth. Also, they could give him more action scenes such as savig more people and not just bearly showing that on a tv news. I think we all want to see superman saving people and showing all of his powers, right ?
regards to all of the Superman fans!! We'll be in touch !!
Posted by: Charles | December 07, 2006 at 05:24 PM
I for one thought that the movie was good, but I sort of agree with the gentlemen with his distinct anger management problem. The next Superman movie should consist of the following...
The next Superman movie has got to have a super villian!! He always ends up saving Lois Lane like a million times, loses his powers, way too nice, and doesn't get to use the full potential of his powers. Have him fight a super villian from the comic books like Darkside or Doomsday, who have always been formidable opponents for him, especially Darkside. Forget bringing Zod back. He is already dead. Have Superman form an unlikely ally in Lex Luther to give the movie some edge. I'd like to see him lose his temper and burn down a skyscraper or destroy a condemned building or something. Make him so upset that he is on the verge of killing Lex Luther. Also have them put the yellow "S" back on his cape. The new one looks cheesy without it. The "S" on his chest is too small! This is Superman people! That symbol should be the first thing someone sees. More, more, more superpowers! More fight scenes! More special effects! More violence! More celebrities! Great actors like Robert Deniro or AL Pacino or Samuel L. Jackson or Jamie Foxx. At some point, Lois HAS to learn the truth! Since she has his son, it's only appropriate. The next movie should also be able to introduce Superboy. He should know that Kal-El is his father. Kal-el should have the chance to train Jason to be Superboy.
All in all, the sequel has got to be better than Superman Returns. It was good, but not great. The sequel has got to deliver that knockout punch that it has missed with this movie...
Posted by: TK Da Man | May 03, 2007 at 08:40 AM
Superman is an icon that deserves to be a little more emotional. The fact that Warner Bros tried to keep this movie a little more like the originals is fine, but because of the success of Spider-Man, I think that it's time to base him off of his Justice League portrayed character. This Superman shows anger (which in my opinion is a sign of weakness) and confusion. I mean probably because of the villains he faces, but still you get the point. He's a little more human and I think the movies would appeal a little more to the population.
Posted by: Fernando | May 03, 2007 at 08:27 PM
I agree Superman should be better Lois has to find out about his secret he should geta chance to train his son and the move should be jammed packed with superman using his powers to the fullest with his son right by his side getting some good old fashioned OJT superhero style and i would like to see him against ither darkside or brainiac emerge on the scene as he trains his son now that would be a great movie
Posted by: Hassan Bilal | September 24, 2007 at 10:49 PM
well i am a superman fan to the bone, but i have to agree with dean not his anger but his comments. it is time that superman got some villains in the movies. i mean the man has tons of enemies and superman returns did not even at least introduce one. and what is it with lex being left on an island while superman flies off into the sunset.come on guys is time we start portraying superman with what he can really do more fight scenes more power usage scenes and for god sake Martha Kent should have been dead by now she was dead in part4 where the hell did she return from? but all in all the movie was good but next one give him a villain or two plus lex. my choices Metallo and maybe brainniac or that space guy on the bike
Posted by: Dave | October 07, 2007 at 05:32 PM
Supermans cool saw him on gottv.blogspot.com
Posted by: Taylor | February 01, 2009 at 04:51 AM
This comment is in reply to the gentleman (Dean Klein) complaining about the Last Superman movie.
1. If you had paid attention to Superman 2 you would know that Lex Luthor had located the fortress using his 'little black box'.
2. To suggest that the people could survive a free fall outside the plane through the atmosphere is stupid. The scene made more sense the way it was done. So, get over it. The people would have either suffocated or fried.
3.You can't get rid of Jimmy, Perry, and Lois they are from the comic book. Do some research before you suggest that. Those characters have been in the comics since Superman was first printed in the 1950's. To get rid of them is to get rid of Superman.
4. Lex Luthor is a criminal who wants to kill Superman. In order to do so, he must exploit Superman's weakness. It would make no sense to have him battle Superman since Lex doesn't have superpowers. That would make the movie short and really boring. You really need to think before you rant about how poorly you think Bryan did. He did an excellent job.
I would suggest that you take some time to research the story of Superman and quit making dimwitted comments about what you think should happen.
Posted by: FrankNaves | February 23, 2009 at 01:15 AM
Marvel and DC should team up...and bring all super heroes in on combination...for the final battle...maybe an alien super power that has gathered the galaxies evil minds...to destroy earth and a few other good planets...
the final scene should be 4 of the best super heroes from each comic travelling in a speed of light unit to get to the ultimate alien...who can be destroyed only by light but on his planet light does not exist....
Posted by: Ron | March 25, 2009 at 05:13 AM