Sunday Movie Matinee: Superfilms!

Sunday Movie Matinee

Superfilms!

I was asked for my thoughts on the new Superman movie Man of Steel.  I could have just done that, but after watching the first three Christopher Reeve movies with a few friends last night, I feel the need to talk about the new movie in reference to the old.  The reason for that: I feel much of the criticism of the new film is due to referring to what has gone before.

Superman: The Movie (1978) 

Though the character was born in the late 1930s, and it was preceded by a few big screen and small screen representation, this movie is where most people look for their definitive vision of Superman.  I could almost declare that this is THE most iconic portrayal of the character, but I won't do that. 

This is a drawing by comic artist Gary Frank.  He draws Superman as if he's Christopher Reeve.  Undeniably, it has had an effect.  But I think its mostly due to rosy glow of nostalgia, and not due to cinematic perfection or character rendition.  Don't get me wrong, I have affection for this movie, but only for two reasons: Christopher Reeve and John Williams' score. 

It tells a good origin story for Superman, and has a few fun scenes with Reeve as Clark Kent and an astonishing amount of innuendo with Margot Kidder, who does NOTHING for me.  The Villain and the hero spend too much time apart in the movie, he gives away every possible weakness to a reporter who publishes it, and the writers made a massive boner at the end of the movie.  The main reason I can still enjoy this movie, and I suspect others can enjoy it, is because its old and I grew up with it.  The movie has alot of issues: pacing, plotting, and time travel.

Yes, that happens.  They wrote themselves out of the narrative hole of a character's death with time travel.  This is pretty dumb, and brings Superman from Science Fiction into fantasy, where he doesn't belong.  I think that movie that people intentionally ignore the dumb parts so that they can conveniently call it great and say its better than other things.  That's BS.  In short, its a movie that's only as good as your sense of Nostalgia allows.  It is by no means a perfect movie, and by that merit, it shouldn't be viewed as unimpeachable.  TIME TRAVEL!