i will say this: i think i've always liked Superman, as long as i've been aware of him, anyway, but it may have only been recently that i sort of acknowledged to myself and the world at large that i'm a Superman fan.
i think the biggest exposure to him i got was from the incomparable 1978 Superman, the movie. personally, i think it still holds up. with all the flap in recent years about comic book movies, it's weird to think that one of the best is from 35 years ago. don't get me wrong, i enjoy pretty much all the new comic movies i've seen, but there's just something about the first Superman movie. so great.
much has been said about the Messianic overtones in the Superman story. i think this trailer is pretty plain in that regard. they even say "his only son". sheesh! while some may find that heavy handed, it doesn't bother me. besides, knowing the Jewish origins of Superman as all good comics fans do, i know that his story is a much closer analogue to Moses' journey, as well as the plight of Jewish immigrants to America attempting to assimilate (and excelling in almost all walks of life), yet still being considered outsiders by many.
a new Superman movie is coming out this summer, and i'm pretty psyched, to be honest. i am one of those people decrying with "not another origin!", because i feel we all know the story. if it ends up being like almost all comic book movies, the origin will end up being the first hour of the film. that said, the stills and trailers i've seen all make it look pretty great.
i don't hold out much hope for Zack Snyder. while i did enjoy 300, that was just kind of a straightforward dumb actioner. this movie looks like it's attempting to make Superman an interesting character for the now-a-days, which i like, but i wonder if he's the one to pull that off. i've been very vocal about my feelings towards the Watchmen film (also directed by Snyder). truth be told, my main problem with Watchmen is the lack of fidelity to the original story. that's probably not primarily Snyder's fault. Nolan, who cracked the Batman shell in the recent years, would've probably been better, but Batman is such a different character, perhaps he didn't have an interesting take on Supes. this may be why he chose to produce, ensuring he'd still make shit-tons of money. sounds snarky, but such is not my intent. Amy Adams as Lois Lane: yes, please. Lois Lane is such that character, you know, no one can seem to do it right. i dunno. i can't say anything bad about Margot Kidder. she *was* the character to me for so many years. say what you will about Kevin Costner, and i could say plenty, but i applaud him on at least one ground: dude is in his 50s and he's playing someone who is in his 50s. i've liked him in a lot of movies (Robin Hood notwithstanding, tho i do love that movie). i think he can play a down to earth farmer. what can be said about Diane Lane? she's great. if they want to make Ma Kent a MILF, i'm cool with that. they already kinda did for Smallville, so there ya go. i'm curious as to how they will play out the Krypton side of things. the movie portrayed the planet as being cold and analytical, which is the major depiction of it since probably the 1980s. i'm fine with that, as it makes sense in some way. a heavily advanced, cultured society flippantly decides not to save itself despite all warnings.... hmmm.... sounding familiar... but there's also been a tendency to try and make it like the ultimate Asshole culture, sort of a cross between the Roman Empire, the American, well, Empire, and maybe The UK in the 18th/19th century. i personally like the idea that Superman's parents sent him away because they were kind and good, and hoped that he would make a difference wherever it was he went. maybe that's corny, but there ya go. Russel Crowe as Jor-El, sure, i don't see why not. the only person i really have any question of is Superman himself, Henry Cavill. i know nothing of the man and his work. i'm hoping he can pull it off as well as someone like Chris Reeve, but that's such a tall order. he WAS both Superman and Clark Kent for so many people for so many years. it really was kind of amazing. he (Cavill) has a big cape to fill, so hopefully he's got the stuff for it.
a lot of current day comics fans have little truck with Superman, coming up with many lame reasons for disliking the character. look, if you honestly don't like something, fine. don't like it. but if you're simply parroting the sentiments of fannish culture, fuck that sheep shit.
here's my take on it:
-"Superman is too powerful!": dumb. there's no other word to describe this. first off, the are hundreds of incredibly powered superheroes from many companies, and they don't nearly get this much shit about being "too powerful". Thor, Hulk, Green Lantern, even Spider-Man are all super humanly powered, and this is not the go-to reason for fan-nerds to dislike them. it's a worthless argument. if he's too powerful to fight street level thugs (a la Batman or Spider-Man), then have him fighting otherworldly menaces and the like. it's fucking Superman for god's sake! have him punch a fucking meteor into the sun. i fell like people who decry him for being "too powerful" have very little imagination. (p.s. - Batman doesn't even fight street criminals any more. he fights lunatics with crazy OCD gimmicks, like "everything must rhyme!" or whatever)
-"He's too Good": let's think about that for a second. someone is being shat upon for being "too good". i just... what? why? where? when? how? too good is bullshit. maybe he wouldn't smoke pot or something, but so what? i understand that he may not be the badass loner type, but that's why we have Batman (as well as the million other "dark" heroes out there). that's not the place to go for that sort of action. you don;t go to Burger King to get a Burrito, do you?
-"His costume is dumb. why does her wear his underwears on the outside?": first off, many superheroes who began in the 30s, 40s, 50s, and even 60s do this. google a picture of the Fantastic Four by Kirby. they look like they're wearing blue trunks over their blue long-johns. even everyone's precious Batman did this forever. he even went back to doing it for awhile after not having done it. the problem is that Superman's "underoos" are bright red, so people are like "ha HA!", Nelson style. what people don't get, because we no longer live in the 1930s, is that there was a time when one of the biggest forms or entertainment was the circus. well, the vast overwhelming majority of the characters from that time period who still remain were influenced by circus folks, be they acrobats or so-called strongmen. hence the trunks (not underwear) on the outside. hence the bright colors. people often also diss the cape. well, on a super heroic figure, a cape is awesome, plus i feel it probably gives the artists a lot to work with. plus think of any great historic conquering figure with near-mythic status: Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great, Xerxes, Charlemagne; i guarantee you they are wearing capes. furthermore, Batman wears a cape. so suck it.
-"no one can relate to him because he's an alien": this is... not even worth mentioning. for one thing, so many characters in superhero comics are either aliens, gods, extra-dimensional beings, super scientists, the product of science gone haywire, mutants, etc etc that i'm not even sure where to begin. how can you relate to any of the aforementioned? shit, Batman is supposedly a "regular guy". really? a regular billionaire orphan with his own boat, plane, helicopter, mansion, did i mention billions of dollars?trained in almost every imaginable form of hand to hand combat? knows however many languages? oh, well, yeah, totally. i mean, i can relate one hundred percent *eye roll*. personally, i don't think they deal enough these days with Superman's alien aspect. it's sort of fallen out of fashion in an attempt to make superheroes more "realistic". i'm not in favor of this. i'm fine with realistic comics, and maybe even realistic superheroes. but i think the problem lies with the fact that for whatever reason, people still think of comics as a genre, not a medium. so comics that report on wars, or tell biographical stories, or deal with relationships are not seen as "comics". well, that, my friends, is Balogna. and even if you did choose to stay within the realms of the so-called mainstream comics, i think making say The Punisher or Nick Fury realistic is a better option. anyway, that's my take on that. being an alien, to me, doesn't take away from his relatability.
much of this is nerdly in-fighting, so i will forego any more. suffice to say, i'm looking forward to Man of Steel, the movie. and i hope DC does something cool for the Superman 75th anniversary. back to the never ending battle.
No comments:
Post a Comment