Bryan Singer's Superman Returns was not critically savaged when it came out in 2006. In fact, 78% of critics, according to Rotten Tomatoes, reviewed the film favorably. Nor was it a box office failure. It made nearly $400 million dollars on a $200 million. And yet, because Warner Brothers decided against making a sequel, rebooted the Superman franchise with new actors, a new story, and all the humorless gravity that only Zack Snyder can bring to bear, Superman Returns is now almost universally regarded as a failure.
But I watched Superman Returns again today, and I have to say, there are some great things happening in this picture.
Before I get to those good things, I will address the elephant in the room. Bryan Singer makes ponderously long movies that can be a little light on the action (it's why the best X-Men movies was directed by Matthew Vaughn, and the second best Days of Future Past felt more like Vaughn's film than any of the previous Singer incarnations, despite Singer at the helm). So yes, whatever, fine, the movie is a little longer than perhaps it needed to be, and maybe it drags a little sometimes. But, come on now, if that is a film's principle failing that's not the end of the world. Besides, there are four big reasons that Superman Returns is actually kind of awesome.
1) The Humor
Far from the current DC Cinematic Universe maxim of "no jokes," Superman Returns is frequently very funny, making use of visual wit to elicit laughs. It would be impossible to outline every sequence, but a few standouts include the scene when Jason (Superman and Lois' son) looks from Clark Kent, to Superman on the TV, back to Kent, and realizes that Clark Kent is Superman, but has no idea how to express this new knowledge, or the scene when Lex Luthor has been told that one of his henchmen has been "hit with a piano" and cocks his head quizzically as he tries to process that news, or even the referential humor of mimicking famous images of Superman from the comics and previous films, as when the film directly quotes the image on the cover of Action Comics #1. This willingness to gag and quote gives the whole proceeding a less somber air.
2) The Score
Look, I get it, it's the same John Williams score from the original series of films. That doesn't make it less great. In a course in classical music that I taught two summers ago, I had students break down the Superman theme and they were astonished at the clever intricacy of Williams' music. The musical roots of the iconic brass fanfare that accompanies Superman's every super action are also present in the "Clark Kent motive," but coiled and restrained. There is a famous description of the difference between Batman and Superman lying in the way that Bruce Wayne is really the mask that Batman wears, because Batman is the real guy and Bruce Wayne is the act, and the opposite being true of Superman. That is probably true, but expressing it in that way limits our understanding of who and what Clark Kent is. The Superman theme reminds us that the Superman character is the most glorious expression of the everyday man. It's good stuff.
3) A Mature Superman
Superman Returns features a man in full control of his powers. Throughout the movie Superman uses his heat vision to disintegrate falling debris, his super breath to deal with exploding gas lines, etc. What is remarkable about these scenes is that they are in the midst of ongoing action, they are reflexive exercises of his power. Too often we see a Superman who is still learning how to best utilize his powers in order to accomplish his ends. But in this film, Superman has a handle on himself.
But the film also gives us an emotionally mature Superman, When he rescuses Lois, Jason, and Richard from the sinking ship he doesn't grab all three of them and fly away. He grabs Richard, and asks him "have you got them?" This allows Richard to be the one holding onto his fiance and son. When you consider that this fiance is the woman Superman loves, and the son is Superman's child, it's an exceptionally generous gesture.
4) Philosophical Ruminations on the Nature of Being Superman
There is no getting around it. The figure of Superman is always going to be messianic. The way that a film treats that question goes a long way towards determining its overall success. Snyder in Man of Steel really hauls off and gives it to you right in the kisser with his Superman = Jesus imagery. Singer is, comparatively, more subdued. His Superman isn't Jesus on the Cross, he is Christ in Gethsemane. There is nothing he would rather do than live in a world that didn't need him. But, as he reminds Lois in their obligatory flight over the city, "you say no one needs a savior, but all I hear is people crying out for one." Within this context, watching Superman fly around and solve even minor issues (he puts out house fires, stops bodega robberies, etc.) calls to mind the idea of the Good Shepard who goes out in search of the lost sheep. No person is too small to save, but because he can only be in one place at a time, no matter how fast he moves, there are always going to be people who fall through the gaps, and it is plain that the insurmountable bulk of human suffering grieves him to no end. It's good stuff.
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