Superman Returns

365 Films

Entry #121

Superman Returns (2006)

Directed by Bryan Singer

Without realizing it, Superman Returns completes the trilogy of comic book movies that I can actually stand (I kid, I kid…or do I?) and it is my incredibly self-righteous attempt at resurrecting what I believe to be a lost classic of the genre.  Released in the summer of 2006 only three years after Mr. Singer’s wildly successful X2, Superman seemed primed to explode as a cultural phenomenon.  The 90’s and early Aught’s were littered with the corpses of once and future Superman films that never got off the ground for one reason or another.  Names were thrown around for almost a fifteen-year period in the hope that something, anything would stick.  In a manner that really shouldn’t have surprised anyone, along comes Mr. Singer with an entirely new concept for the character and a complete unknown as the title role to boot.  Anticipation was high and remained so as trailers appeared in which it became incredibly obvious that Mr. Singer sought to remain faithfully loyal to the original Richard Donner films.  Donner’ Superman films hold a special place in a lot of people’s hearts because they were the first massively successful comic book adaptations and subsequently became cultural icons of their times.  It’s a roundabout way of saying, people really hold the original Superman near and dear to their hearts and Singer seemed poised to tap into that never ending love.  Then something strange happened because the film came out and landed with more of a confused shrug than anything else.  All the familiar criticisms were thrown out regarding the film’s emphasis on spectacle and special effects rather than story and character, or that the cast was woefully populated by uninspired underachievers or outright blank slates.  The resulting film was a specimen which pleased absolutely no one, die hards were turned off by Mr. Singer’s somewhat radical approach to the character and newbie’s were left perplexed by a movie called Superman Returns which is in some a cover tribute album to Richard Donner’s Superman I and II.  My personal reaction was one of subdued admiration because I remember feeling fitfully exhilarated by the movie but could not quite overcome my less than enthusiastic attitude towards the Superman character in any format.  How the film wound up on this list is all due to film and television critic Matt Zoller Seitz, of whom I have since become a dedicated admirer.  My introduction to him were his insanely passionate and extremely articulate essays about Terrence Malick’s The New World and what impressed me about Mr. Seitz was his ability to write insightfully about film yet ground those insights in an almost personal confession style of criticism.  He wasn’t afraid to talk about what was going through his mind and personal life at any given viewing of a film.  About two years ago, he posted his original New York Press review of Superman Returns along with a two part video essay narrated by him, which serves as an almost visual deconstruction of the film.  After viewing this eloquent and incredibly persuasive defense, I decided to give the film another try, this time with fresh eyes and putting aside any hesitations I might have bout the DC property known as Superman.  The results of which was a film that completely surprised me the second time around.  I was astonished by how thoughtful, and spare it is in certain moments and how beautifully this contrasts with the mythic, bold, and virtuoso action sequences.  This is a film where rather than spell out what is going on inside the hero’s head at any given moment (an annoying trend most comic book films sadly fall prey to), Singer highlights these emotions through actions.  The brilliance of this is not only are we actively rooting for Superman to save the day and perform a ridiculously heroic feat, but also we begin to admire and understand him more and more through these actions sequences.  It’s a very strange feat the film expertly pulls off and is perhaps best summed up by making note of the original Donner film’s tagline: “you will believe a man can fly.”  The tagline for Superman Returns should have been: “you will love Superman as much as Bryan Singer does.”  That may sound like a backhanded insult but I say it with total conviction that this movie made a non-Superman fan like myself a total believer.  Singer's passion for the character permeates every single frame of this film and it is intoxicating.  This is, in a way, also the film’s ultimate crutch.  I love this movie precisely because its presentation of Superman as a lonely, tortured soul, unable to comprehend life on a planet where everybody needs him but the one person he needs remains forever out of his reach.  But I can also absolutely understand how much that will turn some people off, or how some may find the presentation of that theme incredibly lacking.  I can't offer a solution to this except to say that for me, it’s a film about humanity’s sad and messy desire to resurrect all manner of dead things in order to preserve some form of what we believe will be continual happiness.  Perhaps most importantly of all, the film is an act of cinematic connection.  One filmmaker reaching out to another one from his past to pay tribute, acknowledge how much has changed, and subsequently move on with his own version of life.  It’s a haunting meta character study wrapped up in an over-priced summer comic book blockbuster.  It’s a shame Singer will never be given a chance to complete his version of the story, he seemed to be on to something.