Faded Boxers

I wanted to love this. And I still do. That’s why I’m planning on watching the film a few more times just to make sure that I wasn’t being overly critical the first time. I hope that I don’t have the same experience with it as I had with Batman Begins–a movie which I gave several chances, but only ended up disappointing me.

I’ve heard some people say that the reason why it disappointed them was because it dragged in some parts and there were too few action sequences.

If you ask me, it’s not that it was boring. I didn’t mind the exposition scenes much because I know the importance of giving the characters some breathing room. But the thing that bugged me was the absence of the fun factor in said scenes.

Yeah of course, the action scenes were fun, whoopdeedoo. But when the glasses came on, there really was nothing to hold my attention until the next action sequence. In the Christopher Reeve movies, even the scenes when he was being Clark Kent was more animated, more alive, a hell of a lot more fun.

This movie showed too much reverence to the previous series, and it was never more apparent than in the actors’ portrayal of their roles. While they did a competent job in bringing the characters to life, they didn’t make it their own.

Now about Kevin Spacey. He’s perfect as always. But I’ve been spoiled by Smallville’s Lex Luthor. In the said TV series, Lex is a good man trying to fight the darkness in him. And this struggle is made even more fun to watch by the presence of his father. I think I’m not alone in saying that sometimes, Lex is even more fun to watch than Clark because you so want him to remain good even though you’re sure that he’ll betray Clark eventually.

Superman Returns had none of that. Lex was pure evil, with no sign of the conflicted Lex I became gay for in Smallville. All Kevin Spacey’s Lex had going for him was his “real estate” plan that was not only retarded, but a rehash of Lex’s plan in the first Superman movie.

Also, Kevin Spacey’s Lex Luthor sexing up an old grandma to get her money was probably the most interesting thing his character did in the film. And it wasn’t even in the film.

Random thoughts:

- The best thing I loved about the film was John Williams’ musical score which was updated by John Ottman.

- Parker Posey would have made a better Lois Lane.

- The twist (you all know what I’m talking about) could have been handled a little better. I would have liked it better had it been stated more matter-of-factly; or better yet as an afterthought, then a whole subplot which I felt contributed nothing to the story.