Superman Returns suffers from identity confusion. Is it an action movie, a religious film, a study in fathers and sons, a romance, or something else? Is it about an alien super hero in the real world, intent on serving and protecting the human race? Or is it a comic book story brought to life where arch villains such as Lex Luthor can create continents by tossing alien crystals into the ocean? This schizophrenic conundrum was a problem for the first series of Superman films and was most effectively solved in Superman II (1980), the most satisfying of the group.
Putting aside the fact that a superhero by definition is a fantasy which could not exist in the real world, I wish Bryan Singer and crew had created a more realistic and credible set of disasters for their hero to confront. The crystalline continent growing out of the North Atlantic was too reminiscent of various threatening disasters welling up in Lost in Space and the early Star Trek episodes—conceived and built on an artificial set.
If a Superman really existed he would have to confront real world problems like terrorism and war and tidal waves. All the Superman films show their hero grappling with problems in his personal life—mostly focused on Lois Lane—but they haven’t succeeded in convincing me that they really know what to do with Superman as a public figure. His challenges are always larger than life rather than the kind of challenges that confront us in our real world. (The much underrated 2000 film Unbreakable did an admirable job of showing what a super hero’s life in the real world might be like; so too sometimes did the television series Smallville in its portrayal of the private life of a young Superboy trying to live an anonymous life and make his way on the earth).
The heartrending truth is that if Superman existed we might avoid disasters such as the World Trade Center attacks, Hurricane Katrina, the South Asian tidal wave, and so on. But he doesn’t exist, not here and not anywhere else. Beyond the laws of physics that say such a being is impossible, there is the metaphysical reality of our world full of error and strife, chance accident, planned carnage. As the film shows Superman flitting from one rescue to another, I felt painfully reminded of the real world which this film is not about. We need help, lots of help, but we’ve got to make our own way.
We are not supposed to think of such matters in a film such as this one. I was entertained. Brandon Routh was fine as Superman. Kevin Spacey, working at about 15% of his capacity, was excellent as Lex Luthor. All the other principals of the comic book series were there. It was nice to see Noel Neill and Jack Larson from the 1950s television series with small parts. Eva Marie Saint as Martha Kent, the earthly adoptive mother of Superman, was a welcome small role as well—with only a few lines and three scenes, she brought her character fully to life. I wanted more.
The film deftly hints at Superman’s symbolism as an earthly savior, and all the iconography of the Christian savior is there, from the father who sends his son to serve the human race, to the various images of crucifixion, to the empty hospital bed at the film’s end. In one scene Superman hovers high in the atmosphere above the earth, listening to the sounds of all the difficulties, dangers, and travails of the human race (how can he handle them all?) Interwoven with these ideas is the relationship of father and son, crucial to the plot, and which I won’t comment on further so as not to ruin the experience for any unlikely reader who hasn’t already seen the film.
Superman Returns was loud and entertaining. It had something of the quality of the first Star Trek film (1979), which spent too much time reintroducing you to beloved characters and actors whom you hadn’t seen for a decade. But there is more of a real plot here: the requisite Superman cast of characters is on hand, and should we really ask for much more?
I would still like to see a Superman film that explores his life and the problems he would encounter in a real world. And I am looking forward to a sequel.
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