Movie Review: SUPERMAN RETURNS, Part 1 Author: Bill Ramey Wednesday, June 14, 2006 U.S. Release Date: June 26, 2006 Distributor: Warner Bros. Director: Bryan Singer Writing Credits: Michael Dougherty & Dan Harris Cast: Brandon Routh, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, et al. Genre: Superhero/Adventure MPAA Rating: PG-13 OFFICIAL WEBSITE: SUPERMAN RETURNS TRAILERS: www.apple.com./trailers Copyright © 2006 William E. Ramey and ON-FILM.NET. All rights reserved. Sometime during the year 1977, I bought a comic book published by DC COMICS -- probably one of their BATMAN titles. While reading it, I came across an ad saying something along the lines of “You could be in the new SUPERMAN film!” This was how I found out that a new SUPERMAN movie was in the works. In my mind’s eye, I envisioned something along the lines of the 1950s George Reeves television series. That was the only live-action incarnation of The Man of Steel that I knew. I had no idea that somewhere over in the UK, director Richard Donner was helming a film that would become a classic. Something so NOT like the aforementioned 50s TV series. One that would set the standard for all future comic book/superhero movies. And one starring a young unknown actor who would go down as the greatest actor to don the blue tights and red cape to date. In the fall of 1978, marketing for SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE began in earnest. Shots of Christopher Reeve, the new Superman, in various classic Superman poses could be found on magazines in grocery stores across the country. That’s where I got my first glimpse of Reeve as The Man of Steel, and he did look a lot like Superman. Better than anything before and younger. My level of excitement for this film was further increased by the television spots that began to pop up on the tube, as well as by the posters for the film found in theaters. But there was nothing that got me more geeked-up than the tagline for the film: “You’ll Believe A Man Can Fly.” I was at the theater in Port Arthur, Texas on the night of December 15, 1978 for the first showing of SUPERMAN and it blew me away. To this day, it remains one of my favorite movies of all time and in my opinion, has only been surpassed by one film of its genre: BATMAN BEGINS. SUPERMAN was a smash hit and spawned three sequels. With each new installment of the series, the quality of the film decreased -- especially with the last two films. It seemed that after 1987‘s SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE, the series had come to a less than glamorous end. But this is Superman we’re talking about here. An American icon and the first comic book superhero. Surely this wouldn’t be the last we’d see of The Man of Steel on the big screen? Beginning in the early 1990s, efforts began to bring Superman back to theaters. The original producers of the series, Alexander and Ilya Salkind, began putting together a film to be titled SUPERMAN: THE NEW MOVIE. This film would have been a series restart (sort of ala BATMAN BEGINS) with Gerard Christopher taking over the role of Superman. Christopher was the star of the SUPERBOY syndicated TV series. However, in 1993, Warner Bros. bought back the rights to Superman and the Salkind’s days with the character were through once and for all. Thus began the long road that ultimately brought Superman back to cinemas this summer. In between, you had directors such as Tim Burton, McG, Bret Ratner, and Wolfgang Petersen (who was actually set to direct BATMAN VS. SUPERMAN before it went into turnaround) attached to helm a new SUPERMAN. A plethora of writers turned in scripts, among them were Kevin Smith (of CLERKS fame), Dan Gilroy, JJ Abrams, William Wisher, Wesley Strick, and Akiva Goldsman. None of these men could get Superman off the ground, so to speak. During this time, Superman was to be “reinvented” and/or "reimagined." Various scripts had the following, in no particular order: He would be angst-ridden because he was an alien... He would wear all sorts of different suits, except for his traditional red and blue one... He would die and then come back to life... He would impregnate Lois and then return as his son/self... Krypton wouldn’t explode, but be caught up in a civil war instead... Superman would get his powers from his suit... The suit would be alive... He would wear an all-black, “Batman-style” rubber suit and use gadgets... Lex Luthor would be Kryptonian... And at one time, he wouldn’t even be able to fly! Tons of actors were sought for the role at one time or another; many of them being “names” such as Josh Hartnett, Jude Law, and Jim Caviezel. Hell, Nick Cage was actually cast as Superman during the Tim Burton period. Finally, after many directors, writers, and tons of money spent on reviving The Last Son Of Krypton, director Bryan Singer and his writing team of Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris entered the picture. And, so it seems, saved the day. Singer, known by comic book fans as the director of the first two X-MEN films, jettisoned all that had come before him, and decided to go back to the basics. His pitch to the studio was to make a quasi-sequel to the first two Christopher Reeve SUPERMAN films. Superman would be gone from Earth for about five years, looking to see if anything remained of Krypton. He returns to find that the people of his adopted planet had gotten used to his absence and moved on. As had the love of his life, Lois Lane. Lois now has a fiancé and a young child. Yes, Lois is a mom. How is Superman going to deal with that? And the name of the film? It goes by the very appropriately titled SUPERMAN RETURNS. Much like Christopher Nolan and his BATMAN BEGINS, Singer’s pitch won over the Warner Bros. brass and his project was given the green light rather quickly. Preproduction commenced and shooting was set to take place in Australia in early 2005. There was just one thing left to do: find Superman. Taking yet another page from SUPERMAN: THE MOVIE, Singer chose a young unknown for the lead part, just like director Richard Donner had done by casting Chris Reeve. The new Superman would be a Midwesterner from Iowa, Brandon Routh. The remainder of the lead cast was filled out with Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane; Frank Langella as Perry White; Eva Marie Saint as Martha Kent; James Marsden as Richard White; Sam Huntington and Jimmy Olsen; and, Kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor. Fast forward to June of 2006. SUPERMAN RETURNS is two weeks away from hitting theaters. The hype machine is starting to roll at full strength. Early reviews of the film have leaked and most have been extremely positive. And my excitement for this film is reaching an extraordinary level as well -- almost to 1978, 14-year old boy levels. (Part 2, my full review of SUPERMAN RETURNS, can be read by CLICKING HERE.) "Jett" is the founder and editor-in-chief of ON-FILM.NET and BATMAN-ON-FILM.COM.