Why The Hate For Superman Returns?

[Noname Given]

OK I get that Man of Steel is popular with many folks around here for assorted reasons.

What I don't get is the disdainful attitude shown towards its predecessor Superman Returns.

Yeah, Superman Returns had its faults but so did Man of Steel, but the latter seems to be getting a pass because it delivered the action fest that many fans have been craving for.

Superman Returns despite its slow pace and other problems (Lex Luthor doing the same scheme from Superman, Superman being too emoish, a bland Lois Lane, and so on), the movie had its moments and it was a far better movie than those POS Superman III and IV and considering what was attempted before it came out (Nic Cage as Superman, a JJ Abrams attempt to have Luthor be a Kryptonian), it was probably the best we would've gotten in that time period.

So ok, Superman Returns probably isn't everyone's cup of tea, but why do so many people dismiss it?

My reason: The fact that whole sections were 'shot for shot' remakes of scenes from the original 1978 Superman: The Movie (which I had already seen multiple times.) I wanted to see a new/original Superman film; not a half done retread.

I LOVED kevin Spacey as Lex Luthor; (an would hope they tap him to play Luthor again in a MoS sequel if they go with Luthor as the villain); but without the 'ditzy female' and 'dumb henchman' of the 1978 and 2006 Superman outings.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Shot for shot? That is bs!

 

[USS Firefly]

I think it was a nice movie with potential, like his son.
In my opinion Routh was better as Superman/Clark than cavill.
Too bad that Routh didn't a second chance.

 

[BillJ]

It committed the worst sin a piece of entertainment can commit: it was dull.

 

[Noname Given]

Shot for shot? That is bs!

I didn't say the entire film was; but large parts of it were.

 

[Agent Richard07]

I have no real issue with Superman Returns and I think that Routh did an excellent job of channeling Christopher Reeve's Clark Kent. I also have no burning itch to see Superman punch anything, so the so-called lack of action didn't bother me. I've heard that several times... People want to see Superman punch something. Don't know why that's such a big need for a lot of fans to be honest.

I recently read the suggestion that that Zooey Deschanel would have been better suited.

I'm glad they didn't go with her. That would have been too awesome and my head would have imploded.

Too bad that Routh didn't a second chance.

I heard that he auditioned for Smallville. I'm sure he would have put on the glasses and the suit.

 

[JoeZhang]

[ Then when he finds out he has a kid and starts showing an interest in the kid he's labeled a stalker. This guy can't win.

There is a difference between "showing an interest" and hiding in your ex's bush listening into her private conversations with her boyfriend - that's not 'showing an interesting', that's just odd and creepy.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Shot for shot? That is bs!

I didn't say the entire film was; but large parts of it were.

You are still wrong! Give me examples? Shot by Shot actually means they are exactly the same. Camera angles, everything. The only one I can think of is the last shot of him flying around the Earth.

 

[Set Harth]

Yeah, actual shot-by-shot ripoffs are kind of rare.

I'm looking at you, The Clone Wars.

 

[RandyS]

Too bad that Routh didn't a second chance.

I heard that he auditioned for Smallville. I'm sure he would have put on the glasses and the suit.

Thank God that didn't happen. Being a Christopher Reeve knock-off for one movie was bad enough. Ten years of that would have been tedious.

Now, I don't hate Superman Returns, but I did find alot wrong with it. Here's my list:

1. Brandon Routh. I felt sorry for the poor guy. To this day I'm covinced that when Singer hired him, he gave Routh tapes of the Chris Reeve films, and literally told him "watch him, and do what he does". This is exactly how Routh came off in the movie. He didn't play Superman. he played Chris Reeve playing Superman.

2. Kate Bostworth, or whatever the hell her name is, is not only miscast, she's boring, and easily the worst Lois Lane we've ever had.

3. Richard. a pointless character who was there solely to add the necessary "dramatic angst" to keep Superman and Lois apart for the story.

3. The Kid. Ugh. Suddenly, every fans' bitching and moaning against having a cute kid in the story makes PERFECT sense here.

4. The callbacks and tributes to the first Donner film felt forced rather than actual tributes.

5. The soundtrack. I love John Williams' score as much as anybody and listen to my CD set alot, but this movie should have had it's own musical voice just like every other version of Superman has done.

 

[Titus Andronicus]

I thoroughly enjoyed Man of Steel, but I also liked Superman Returns when it first came out. Reading this thread I need to rewatch it.....I may do that tonight! LOL.

 

[davejames]

I can totally understand why the movie wasn't a hit with audiences or comic book fans, but personally I was completely in tune with what Singer was trying to do with that movie, and thought it did a fantastic job paying tribute to the Donner movies while still having it's own unique, art deco-infused style.

I admit it's somber tone and lack of action can make it somewhat difficult to sit through again and again like other superhero movies, but I still love the heck out of it.

 

[Yminale]

I liked Superman Returns but it was horribly flawed. First they had the perfect Loise Lane on set, Parker Posey. The poor woman's talent was wasted. Second Lex Luthor is not a con man. Third Superman IS NOT JESUS. I'm sick of this analogy and it ruins Superman. Finally I really didn't like how Supes abandoned his kid. That seems more wrong than his creepy spying (and Golden Age Superman was pretty creepy).

 

[RandyS]

I liked Superman Returns but it was horribly flawed. First they had the perfect Loise Lane on set, Parker Posey. The poor woman's talent was wasted.

Hmm. You know, that's a point I hadn't considered before.

Interesting. Of course, ANYBODY would have been better than Bostworth.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

I don't hate Superman Returns - I just think it was a thoroughly pedestrian film. At the time I called it, "Supermannequin." That may not be as clever as I once thought it was, but I still think the connotation is apt.

 

[sidious618]

I found the film to be extremely boring and remember very little of it other than being bored and wondering why anyone would make a Superman movie like this.

 

[Mr Light]

He doesn't punch anybody. There's no super villain to fight. He's a stalker. He has a illegitimate kid he didn't even know about.

Man of Steel gets my vote for having none of these things!

 

[Trek4Ever]

I don't understand why people keep calling him a deadbeat dad. To me a deadbeat dad is someone who knowingly fathers a child and walks away from him or her. Superman clearly didn't know that he knocked up Lois before he left. And she made it pretty clear that she chose Richard over him and there didn't seem to be any room for Superman in her life unless of course she needed saving!

 

[Aragorn]

I liked Superman Returns for what it was, but if you take away the Donner nostalgia, all you have left that's of any note is the airplane sequence.

Was kind of funny how James Marsden got to be more heroic in one Superman movie than three X-Men movies.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Parker Posey really would have made an excellent Lois now that I think about it.

I don't understand why people keep calling him a deadbeat dad. To me a deadbeat dad is someone who knowingly fathers a child and walks away from him or her. Superman clearly didn't know that he knocked up Lois before he left.

He wasn't a deadbeat dad. Not deliberately. He didn't know. I think some of the distaste for the storyline, though, came from the aforementioned view that Bosworth looked soooooo young and she had a 5 year old. It just seemed.....icky. Too young for the part and she really didn't have that Lois spark even if the director had let her shed some of the restraint. Lois Lane is brash. Sometimes inappropriate. That's why Supes liked her.