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Saw Superman Returns today on IMAX 3D.
First off... I don't suggest seeing the movie this way. About 4 scenes were in 3D. Everything else was normal IMAX. So you had to watch for these little flashing icons at the botton of the ginormous screen (seriously, when I was looking at people's heads, 2/3 of the way up the screen, the flashy icons at the bottom were out of my lower periphary). Then you had to put the glasses on at the right time and take them off at the right time. If you had them on when you weren't supposed to, there'd be a giant blind spot over your right eye. If you didn't have them on when you were supposed to, you'd see double images of everything. And every time you had to take them on or put them off, you were pulled out of the movie.
Oh, and the 3D wasn't really pulled off that well. Sometimes, it was beautiful and clear. More often, it was blurry and hard to get perspective and stuff was flying all over the place. Sometimes, there were obvious matte levels. 2D images floating in the 3D enviornment. Distracting, really.
All in all... not worth it, even if the tickets cost the same (which they don't).
The movie itself was pretty cool. Some lovely moments. A lot of action. A lot of momentum. The plot just carries you along at a good clip. It certainly doesn't feel like 2 1/2 hours. It's hard to stop and question things while it's all going on.
At least, once it gets going. The beginning was choppy and confusing, I found, but once we get to Metropolis, things really pick up.
(One quick random thing first: This has some info about the first appearance of Superman. Action Comics #1. Take a look at the cover. It's kind of cool.)
Acting was great.
Kevin Spacey is a dang good Lex. Larger than life personality, but not in a campy or rediculous way. Tough balance, but he pulls it off. You have to see it.
Bradon really looks the part. Superman. Chris Reeves. And he's definitely got the expressions and body language.
I wasn't so happy about Clark, but he is a step forwards. He's not over-the-top goofy anymore, which is nice, but I still like it when he's someone you can take seriously. This Clark... well, you can see why no one expects him to be Superman. I'll say that much for him.
Jimmy wasn't so good, either. Not much screentime, not much personality. He just kind of hung around and admired Clark or something.
Lois... She's good. She's not great, but she's definitely good. A bit hard to get a grasp of her personality, but I guess it's because she's in sort of a transition, still trying to reconsile various things.
Moving on...
Effects were gorgeous. He flies. A lot. And it's believable. And it's cool how you can zoom out and see how small he is, and yet... He's Superman. The landscapes, too. They put a lot of work into it all, and it's worth it.
Music gave me chills. It's the old themes, but updated. Like the rest of the movie, a natural extension of what came before.
I do have some nits to pick about the plot and such, but I think I should save that for the spoiler zone. Also got some cool things to point out, so don't think it'll all be negative.
From here on out, spoilers are fair game. For the benefit of those who don't want spoiers, I'm going to make the text white. Highlight to read, or just skim down and comment (if you want). Otherwise, you can just stop reading here.
So, what's left? Random thoughts, still not very organized.
The homages. Loved those. The reuse of the "air travel" line was very cool, but it did make me wonder. He's been gone for 5 hours. How does he know the statistics haven't changed?
The cover to Action Comics #1. I saw it happening, and I went "wow, cool!" And then I was disappointed that we didn't get a better/longer view of it. And then *poof* we see the pic on Perry's desk! I love it! "These are iconic images!" Damn right, Perry!
I feel like we're missing a lot of background on Cyc -- I mean Sc -- Richard. Sorry. But I guess they covered the important stuff, and I certainly didn't feel like I wanted more time with him. Especially since he not only hurt Superman but also killed someone very important in another universe. (Well, fine. The redhead did the actual killing, but he died because of Richard!) It's just... how did they meet? And did Lois jump into bed with him right off the bat, to cover things up? She must have, because he clearly doesn't know.
Then there's Clark. He's got... what? 15 minutes of screentime in a 2 1/2 hour movie? And he's this bumbling guy no one takes seriously. I miss L&C's Clark.
And the biggest thing:
Lois has Superman's love child, and she doesn't know who Clark is!
Clark was so downplayed that I almost missed that, but there it is. No question about it. She knows who the father is, but she doesn't know who the father is.
So... what? They slept together in Superman 2, and then she forgot everything (again). Is that it? If so, I wish they'd found some way to tell us.
Then... Martha. She's back! Yay! (Killing the Kents off at the beginning of the 1978 movie was just wrong.) But she's only got 2 minutes of screentime. It made me feel worse when I saw her at the end, because it reminded me that she was still alive and we hadn't seen her this whole time. And that Clark didn't bother to check in with her. Superjerk.
Oh, can anyone explain the beginning to me? Martha says goodbye to Jonathan. He drives off. Then something comes crashing out of the sky. I'm left trying to get oriented. Is this the past or the present? Clark comes out of the ship. He's an adult. So it's the present. But Martha drove there in the same truck Jonathan had. And then she says something about how if Jonathan had been alive 5 years ago, he would have talked Clark out of leaving. And then, just as I'm trying to get that time jump straight, Clark goes to sleep and we get to see a moment of his life as a 15-year-old.
Which, actually, was really cool. The joy. The power. Running for the fun of it. Discovering flight. Beautiful.
I'm a bit worried, as I see someone on the boards was, that Jason killed someone. It was an accident, I think. I'm still not clear on how much he knows about his own powers. Is he afraid of them? For a while, I was worried the inhaler was Kryptonite-laced, designed to keep him from standing out and stuff. But I quickly realized that Lois wouldn't do that to her own kid. So I'm left with two possibilities. Either he's hiding his powers (consiously or otherwise) or he's so sickly because he's a genetic hybrid and it'll take him a while to grow into his strength.
Oh, right. The Kryptonite. He seemed to flinch from it or sense it or something when Lex first picked it up, but then he didn't react to it when it came closer. He just held himself very still. Was that because he's half human? Or maybe because he wasn't born on Krypton. In some versions, Kryptonite only affects those who were born on Krypton, tuned to the planet's natural radiation (which warped into something dangerous when the planet exploded).
Speaking of the planet exploding... I didn't like that sequence at the beginning. The sun collapsed into the planet, causing it to blow? Say what?
Moving on to something I keep meaning to talk about and forgetting (I guess I did talk about it a bit before, but couldn't really get into it without spoilers)...
Is it just me or is Lois's personality really fractured? She's still the tough, hard-hitting, no-nonsense, "I'm doing this, and I'm doing it MY way" reporter we all know and love, but then she's a completely different person as a mother. That whole "did you take your vitamins" thing just seemed so weird. But I get that. She's a mom. But then, she takes him sneaking aboard this strange boat. And I can't get any sense of how she really feels about Richard or Superman or just about anyone else. To some degree... I guess that's Lois. I just wish they'd developed her character a bit more. Helped these facets merge sensibly, rather than just show us whichever one is convenient at the time/in that context.
Quick random poll: When Lois goes flying with Superman... Do you think those were stunt feet? Given the close-up, and the fact that they cut away for it, I'm kind of wondering. Not very much, but I'll admit to some curiousity.
About Lex's plan: We all love "beachfront property" (especially if it's not in Nevada), but... Lex, you forgot to specifically mention you were going to blow up/drown Hackensack, NJ!
Oh, and why did he have to get the money from the old lady? Doesn't he have his own money? Or did he lose it when he went to jail somehow? And how did she get him out of prison? And why did we have to know just what he did for her? And why did we have to have that ever-so-blatant scene when Lex comes back to the house and we see the dog? That was a bit much. And they focused on it, and... eww.
Anyway, as you can see, I'm losing coherence. So, I'll leave it at that for now.
To sum up:
Great movie. Beautifully made. Much action, much effects. Cool plot. Love the little homages. Love the music. Missing some characterization and detail. But there's only so much you can do in 2 1/2 hours, and, overall, they spent the time wisely.
First off... I don't suggest seeing the movie this way. About 4 scenes were in 3D. Everything else was normal IMAX. So you had to watch for these little flashing icons at the botton of the ginormous screen (seriously, when I was looking at people's heads, 2/3 of the way up the screen, the flashy icons at the bottom were out of my lower periphary). Then you had to put the glasses on at the right time and take them off at the right time. If you had them on when you weren't supposed to, there'd be a giant blind spot over your right eye. If you didn't have them on when you were supposed to, you'd see double images of everything. And every time you had to take them on or put them off, you were pulled out of the movie.
Oh, and the 3D wasn't really pulled off that well. Sometimes, it was beautiful and clear. More often, it was blurry and hard to get perspective and stuff was flying all over the place. Sometimes, there were obvious matte levels. 2D images floating in the 3D enviornment. Distracting, really.
All in all... not worth it, even if the tickets cost the same (which they don't).
The movie itself was pretty cool. Some lovely moments. A lot of action. A lot of momentum. The plot just carries you along at a good clip. It certainly doesn't feel like 2 1/2 hours. It's hard to stop and question things while it's all going on.
At least, once it gets going. The beginning was choppy and confusing, I found, but once we get to Metropolis, things really pick up.
(One quick random thing first: This has some info about the first appearance of Superman. Action Comics #1. Take a look at the cover. It's kind of cool.)
Acting was great.
Kevin Spacey is a dang good Lex. Larger than life personality, but not in a campy or rediculous way. Tough balance, but he pulls it off. You have to see it.
Bradon really looks the part. Superman. Chris Reeves. And he's definitely got the expressions and body language.
I wasn't so happy about Clark, but he is a step forwards. He's not over-the-top goofy anymore, which is nice, but I still like it when he's someone you can take seriously. This Clark... well, you can see why no one expects him to be Superman. I'll say that much for him.
Jimmy wasn't so good, either. Not much screentime, not much personality. He just kind of hung around and admired Clark or something.
Lois... She's good. She's not great, but she's definitely good. A bit hard to get a grasp of her personality, but I guess it's because she's in sort of a transition, still trying to reconsile various things.
Moving on...
Effects were gorgeous. He flies. A lot. And it's believable. And it's cool how you can zoom out and see how small he is, and yet... He's Superman. The landscapes, too. They put a lot of work into it all, and it's worth it.
Music gave me chills. It's the old themes, but updated. Like the rest of the movie, a natural extension of what came before.
I do have some nits to pick about the plot and such, but I think I should save that for the spoiler zone. Also got some cool things to point out, so don't think it'll all be negative.
From here on out, spoilers are fair game. For the benefit of those who don't want spoiers, I'm going to make the text white. Highlight to read, or just skim down and comment (if you want). Otherwise, you can just stop reading here.
So, what's left? Random thoughts, still not very organized.
The homages. Loved those. The reuse of the "air travel" line was very cool, but it did make me wonder. He's been gone for 5 hours. How does he know the statistics haven't changed?
The cover to Action Comics #1. I saw it happening, and I went "wow, cool!" And then I was disappointed that we didn't get a better/longer view of it. And then *poof* we see the pic on Perry's desk! I love it! "These are iconic images!" Damn right, Perry!
I feel like we're missing a lot of background on Cyc -- I mean Sc -- Richard. Sorry. But I guess they covered the important stuff, and I certainly didn't feel like I wanted more time with him. Especially since he not only hurt Superman but also killed someone very important in another universe. (Well, fine. The redhead did the actual killing, but he died because of Richard!) It's just... how did they meet? And did Lois jump into bed with him right off the bat, to cover things up? She must have, because he clearly doesn't know.
Then there's Clark. He's got... what? 15 minutes of screentime in a 2 1/2 hour movie? And he's this bumbling guy no one takes seriously. I miss L&C's Clark.
And the biggest thing:
Lois has Superman's love child, and she doesn't know who Clark is!
Clark was so downplayed that I almost missed that, but there it is. No question about it. She knows who the father is, but she doesn't know who the father is.
So... what? They slept together in Superman 2, and then she forgot everything (again). Is that it? If so, I wish they'd found some way to tell us.
Then... Martha. She's back! Yay! (Killing the Kents off at the beginning of the 1978 movie was just wrong.) But she's only got 2 minutes of screentime. It made me feel worse when I saw her at the end, because it reminded me that she was still alive and we hadn't seen her this whole time. And that Clark didn't bother to check in with her. Superjerk.
Oh, can anyone explain the beginning to me? Martha says goodbye to Jonathan. He drives off. Then something comes crashing out of the sky. I'm left trying to get oriented. Is this the past or the present? Clark comes out of the ship. He's an adult. So it's the present. But Martha drove there in the same truck Jonathan had. And then she says something about how if Jonathan had been alive 5 years ago, he would have talked Clark out of leaving. And then, just as I'm trying to get that time jump straight, Clark goes to sleep and we get to see a moment of his life as a 15-year-old.
Which, actually, was really cool. The joy. The power. Running for the fun of it. Discovering flight. Beautiful.
I'm a bit worried, as I see someone on the boards was, that Jason killed someone. It was an accident, I think. I'm still not clear on how much he knows about his own powers. Is he afraid of them? For a while, I was worried the inhaler was Kryptonite-laced, designed to keep him from standing out and stuff. But I quickly realized that Lois wouldn't do that to her own kid. So I'm left with two possibilities. Either he's hiding his powers (consiously or otherwise) or he's so sickly because he's a genetic hybrid and it'll take him a while to grow into his strength.
Oh, right. The Kryptonite. He seemed to flinch from it or sense it or something when Lex first picked it up, but then he didn't react to it when it came closer. He just held himself very still. Was that because he's half human? Or maybe because he wasn't born on Krypton. In some versions, Kryptonite only affects those who were born on Krypton, tuned to the planet's natural radiation (which warped into something dangerous when the planet exploded).
Speaking of the planet exploding... I didn't like that sequence at the beginning. The sun collapsed into the planet, causing it to blow? Say what?
Moving on to something I keep meaning to talk about and forgetting (I guess I did talk about it a bit before, but couldn't really get into it without spoilers)...
Is it just me or is Lois's personality really fractured? She's still the tough, hard-hitting, no-nonsense, "I'm doing this, and I'm doing it MY way" reporter we all know and love, but then she's a completely different person as a mother. That whole "did you take your vitamins" thing just seemed so weird. But I get that. She's a mom. But then, she takes him sneaking aboard this strange boat. And I can't get any sense of how she really feels about Richard or Superman or just about anyone else. To some degree... I guess that's Lois. I just wish they'd developed her character a bit more. Helped these facets merge sensibly, rather than just show us whichever one is convenient at the time/in that context.
Quick random poll: When Lois goes flying with Superman... Do you think those were stunt feet? Given the close-up, and the fact that they cut away for it, I'm kind of wondering. Not very much, but I'll admit to some curiousity.
About Lex's plan: We all love "beachfront property" (especially if it's not in Nevada), but... Lex, you forgot to specifically mention you were going to blow up/drown Hackensack, NJ!
Oh, and why did he have to get the money from the old lady? Doesn't he have his own money? Or did he lose it when he went to jail somehow? And how did she get him out of prison? And why did we have to know just what he did for her? And why did we have to have that ever-so-blatant scene when Lex comes back to the house and we see the dog? That was a bit much. And they focused on it, and... eww.
Anyway, as you can see, I'm losing coherence. So, I'll leave it at that for now.
To sum up:
Great movie. Beautifully made. Much action, much effects. Cool plot. Love the little homages. Love the music. Missing some characterization and detail. But there's only so much you can do in 2 1/2 hours, and, overall, they spent the time wisely.
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From:
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From:
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Hopefully, we'll get more info about Jason in the next movie.
As for the feet... The world may never know.*
*No infringement of any copyrights held by the makers of Tootsie RollsTM is intended.
From:
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Hmmm, this comment makes me think I'm seriously deficient in SR icons. I need some caps so I can make some. :/
From:
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*g*
I'm not nearly coherent for a good review or anything (plus, I think I want to see it again first *g*), but I just wanted to say that. ;)
Ooh! And also, thanks for showing me the Action Comics cover! It made that scene really cool! :D