Rating PG
Length 3h8
Release 26.4.2012
Director Richard Donner
About Scientist Jor-El rockets his infant son, Kal-El, to safety on Earth. Kal is raised as Clark Kent and develops unusual abilities and powers to become Superman who fights for truth and justice.
Moon: Full moon as Superman shows Lois ‘a whole new world’
Where to Watch: Own copy
Trailer:
The Good
- Christopher Reeves makes for an amazing Clark Kent and Superman. Its not often someone can get the duel roles rights. It’s more than the glasses too. It’s posture, tone of voice and even facial expressions. You can understand with Reeves why no one would ever suspect Kent as Superman.
The Bad
- It is a long and clunky film. It’s an hour before we get to meet Christopher Reeves as adult Clark Kent and even with that, I got the feeling there was more to be told about the teenage life of the man from Krypton. The film on a whole, feels bloated with characters and half stories.
- Having seen this and the sequel from early childhood and these half-stories made it very easy to get muddled up as to which plot was coming up. Largely to do with the presence of the three Kryptonians that are banished to the Phantom Zone, who don’t reappear until the next movie. I also think I missed Lex Luther’s entrance because of the clunky narrative and my waining attention.
The Ugly
- Marlon Brando. What on earth was all the fuss about this well known name? Am I missing something about his performances? I’ve seen Apocalypse Now and a few other films and I don’t see ‘greatness’.
For Superman, Brando comes across as not being there. There’s no emotion in his performance. Given that he was one of the names that was selling the film, it really is a shame. - Did we really need Superman to use his powers to check the colour of Lois Lane’s knickers?! For that matter, is Lois Lane really that dumb a reporter to inform the whole world about Superman’s inability to see through lead?!
Final Thoughts
Nowhere near as enjoyable as I remembered it and too flawed for its status as a classic. However, it has a good framework for TV storytelling.
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