Comicscape - July 5th, 2006

By: KURT AMACKER
Date: Wednesday, July 05, 2006

I probably can't write anything new about SUPERMAN RETURNS. Most of you have seen it already and probably love it or hate it. For those in search of a quick answer, I thoroughly enjoyed the film. It elevates the source material to mature heights never even reached by Richard Donner's or Richard Lester's films. More than that, it presents not so much a summer action movie, but an adult drama punctuated by climactic, resonant action pieces. It clarifies Superman for any naysayer that's ever called the character a simplistic, one-note, or a Big Blue Boy Scout. It also presents an unmistakable Christian allegory, albeit one that doesn't follow any of the Gospels step by step. For that reason, SUPERMAN RETURNS stands as the most spiritual comic adaptation ever made, and also the one most difficult for me, personally, to watch. I'll explain shortly. And, for those wondering, this review piles spoiler on top of spoiler. If you haven't seen the film yet and you just want my recommendation, you have it. And, before we dive in, e-mail me your thoughts at either comicscape@cinescape.com or at kurtamacker@yahoo.com for next week, when I'll run your letters with my responses.

After 20 years of abandoned sequels, relaunches, and remakes of the Superman franchise, Warner Brothers and Bryan Singer have created a remarkable film placed uniquely in the old franchise's continuity as a sequel to the first two Christopher Reeve films that disregards the third and fourth films. Regardless of any noncommittal official statements about "loose continuity," SUPERMAN RETURNS unequivocally refers to the first two films and ignores the latter two. Hence, this is the third Superman film in a series begun in 1978 that set the stage for modern comic book adaptations. In fact, some have critically dismissed SUPERMAN RETURNS as a remake of the first film. Singer's reverence for Richard Donner's film shows, but he adopts a more serious tone and forgoes the dated camp and humor of SUPERMAN. However, some of the conventions unique to Donner's film the bumbling Clark Kent and the more comic Lex Luthor, chief among them remain intact. All right, the costume changed, but this is an otherwise loving tribute to Richard Donner.


Most of you know the story by now, but in brief: following the events of SUPERMAN II, scientists discovered possible fragments of Krypton floating in space. Superman left Earth in hopes of finding remnants and survivors of his home planet. Upon returning, he learns that not only has Lois Lane become engaged to Richard White son of Daily Planet editor Perry White and had a child, but she has distanced herself from Superman via a Pulitzer Prize-winning article called "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." At the same time, Lex Luthor has conned a vast fortune from a wealthy old woman after caring for her in the last years of her life. He travels to Superman's Fortress of Solitude in the Antarctic to steal the crystals that contain the last recordings of Superman's father, Jor-El. He knows that he can grow an entire continent with them, thus creating a disaster that will kill billions and drive up the market value on the new land. Superman must overcome not only Luthor, but the distance between Lois and himself. He must also realize the role he must ultimately play in the life of Jason White a boy likely born of his union with Lois in SUPERMAN II. Throughout the film, Superman comes to understand his place in a world of men and why, above all, he must be their savior.

Like Ang Lee's THE HULK, SUPERMAN RETURNS will annoy some fans with its slow pace and emphasis on adults discussing their feelings over balls-out summer action. Unlike some, I usually favor this approach, because I ultimately care about the characters more when the sh-t hits the fan. Granted, Singer has balanced action with character development better than Lee did, but we spend far more time with Clark Kent and the supporting cast than we do watching Superman kick ass. And, after years of increasingly large-scale action scenes courtesy of Michael Bay and the like, I find Singer's balance of thrills and story refreshing. Don't check your brain at the door with this one. Bring it, and grab an extra one before you leave the house. But, the action is never less than thrilling. When Superman brings down the airliner in the baseball stadium, the world cheers and I had tears in my eyes. Just for a second, I felt like everything in the world would be okay. Bin Laden is dead. The war is over. God is real. Superman is back.

But, while the film offers enough action, you'll work for it. SUPERMAN RETURNS cares first and foremost about its characters Superman and Luthor the most. This is a dialogue-heavy, character-driven script. And obviously, the impact of all that grown-up talk depends on the actors' delivery. The cast has the weighty responsibility of portraying characters so familiar that they've become part of the American psyche. Any actor playing Superman has ample basis for comparison between George Reeves, Christopher Reeve, and pick-your-own-favorite-Supes not to mention the endless comic book and cartoon interpretations. Fortunately, Brandon Routh embodies the character well, portraying a heretofore unseen melancholy. While he copies Christopher Reeve's goofy, nasal Clark Kent albeit a little toned down his Superman jettisons much of Reeve's optimism and humor in favor of stoicism and melancholy. This man this alien can't live like a normal person. His powers imbue him with an overwhelming responsibility that he can't not won't ignore. Hence, via Routh, Singer and screenwriters Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris deliver a convincing motivation for Superman that so many other adaptations lack. Superman explains to Lois Lane that, while she believes the world doesn't want a savior, he hears people crying out for one every day. He has to save people, because he can't ignore the suffering he hears. All practical concerns aside, you'd want to do the same thing if you couldn't shut out the needful cries of millions of people.

Unfortunately, Kate Bosworth's Lois Lane suffers the same one-note portrayal that Katie Holmes's Rachel Dawes did in BATMAN BEGINS. More than anything, she feels like a plot device and lacks much of the complexity that Routh exhibits. She acts far better than Holmes did, but she rarely trumps Margot Kidder's eccentric, driven portrayal from the first two films. James Marsden fares a little better as Richard White. He manages to feel less like a foil to Superman and Lois's romance than a guy caught in an admittedly unusual situation. He never takes the obvious jealous boyfriend route and rants about how Superman isn't so tough or anything. Frank Langella kicks ass as usual, playing Richard White. He's always had a special place in my heart after playing Dracula in 1979. Sam Huntington is suitably dorky as Jimmy Olsen. Tristan Lake Leabu managed to not annoy me as Jason White Lois and Clark's son. I realize that doesn't sound like glowing praise, but kids usually ruin movies like this. To his credit, he acted believably without any of the annoying Jake Lloyd stuff. In fact, most of the humor in the film works without distracting from the story. The gags flow with the film's lighter-than-Batman tone and feel more natural and less disruptive than in X-MEN: THE LAST STAND or BATMAN BEGINS two films marred by idiotic humorous asides.

Kevin Spacey easily trumps Gene Hackman's performance as Lex Luthor. Though I blame the scripts more than Hackman, his portrayal hampered the first two Superman films. Rather than the megalomaniacal mad scientist and/or industrialist from the comic, Hackman portrayed a crazed, self-aware capitalist bent on a destructive real estate scheme (sans Otisburg, I hope). He loudly and jovially declares himself "the greatest criminal mind of the 20th century." In the first two films, Luthor is mostly played for laughs and rarely exhibits any palpable menace. Spacey portrays Luthor as charismatic, but embittered by five years in prison and less aware of his own criminality. Hackman announced his criminality with gusto, while Spacey convincingly believes in his righteousness. In fact, Singer goes so far as to make Luthor a fallen angel figure, parallel with Satan in many regards.

Speaking of Satan, I can't avoid the obvious Christian allegory present in SUPERMAN RETURNS. Vivid parallels with the Gospel litter the film, establishing Superman as an obvious Christ figure and Luthor as a satanic one. Luthor compares himself to Prometheus, one of the Titans from Greek mythology, responsible for both creating man and giving him fire in stark defiance of Zeus' wishes. There are many parallels to the story of Christ, including a crucifixion, in that myth. However, a popular conception recognizes Prometheus as an early mythological predecessor of Satan. This is probably inaccurate, given that the earliest occurrence of the name Lucifer (Latin for "light-bearer") from which the association springs occurs in the 5th century's Vulgate Bible by St. Jerome as an epithetic reference to the king of Babylon not to a supernatural angelic rebel. A later misreading of the metaphorical fall from heaven the Book of Isaiah predicts for the king equates the "Lucifer" with Satan. Hence, Prometheus probably didn't evolve into Satan. But, he defied the gods and suffered for it. And, a lot of people equate him with Satan, including Bryan Singer, it seems. Roll with it.

Luthor's satanic jealousy at Superman's near-divinity shows more subtly than the obvious Christ parallels of the latter. When Luthor and his crew watch the recordings of Jor-El meant for his son, Spacey looks genuinely wounded and says, "He thinks I'm his son." When he asks Parker Posey's Kitty Kowalski what his father once told him after, "You're bald" she recalls, "Get out." Think "get out of Heaven." Luthor jealously rages over Superman's near-divinity, saying, "Gods are selfish beings who fly around in little red capes and don't share their power with mankind." However, Bryan Singer even more blatantly uses Gospel imagery to compare the Man of Steel to the Son of Man.

Richard Donner invoked the obvious Christian parallel. Marlon Brando explains to the infant Kal-El that man has the capacity for good, but only lacks the light and needs his only son to lead them. Singer catches the ball Donner threw and runs past the end zone like Forrest Gump. Besides his mission to save humanity he even calls himself as a savior several parallels to the Gospels litter the film. After his Passion-like beating at the hands of Luthor's goons and subsequent stabbing with a shard of kryptonite see the Roman soldier's stabbing of Christ on the cross he lifts Luthor's new continent into space and then floats to Earth in a crucifixion pose. After this visual "death," a nurse enters his hospital room, guarded by a single police officer, to find the room empty a discovery strikingly similar to Mary Magdalene at Christ's empty tomb. There are more, but you can find them yourself.

Singer has copped to the intentional placement of this imagery. For all of the parallels I've mentioned, SUPERMAN RETURNS will thrill the faithful. And, while I don't mean to turn COMICSCAPE into an emo blog, SUPERMAN RETURNS hit a few nerves in me. Feel free to jump to the listings if you don't care. I take nothing away from the quality of this film for its Christian imagery. I don't resent it. However, it made me remember a time when I believed. I lost my Christian faith at 15. I'm 25 now, and, if anything, I've grown more skeptical of all things spiritual and supernatural. Believe me, I'm a lot of fun at parties. When Superman tells Lois that he hears the world crying out for a savior, it touched a place in me I don't like to go. Despite all of my skeptical fervor, despite the dearth of historical evidence to support the Gospels, and despite the compelling force of reason, part of me wants a savior. I want to believe, but I don't think I can. For that reason, I found SUPERMAN RETURNS arguably the most affecting and compelling of any comic book adaptation. As I said, the faithful will probably love this movie, and with good reason. I don't begrudge them that. But, where they will see a modern, celebratory reinterpretation of Jesus Christ, I saw a painful reminder of something I lost years ago. You may feel differently. Regardless, I don't want to turn COMICSCAPE into a religious argument. I know several of my readers are stalwart in their faith, and I respect that. If you want to e-mail me about the relative merits of the film's religious imagery, feel free. But, I can't run a bunch of letters trying to win me over to the Christian faith. You can find that debate elsewhere on the Internet. But, I don't fault SUPERMAN RETURNS for making me feel that way. If anything, I think it makes the film better.

Here we have an entertaining, compelling cinematic exploration of both responsibility and faith. It eschews summer thrills for a portrayal of one almost as powerful as a god, but with the heart of a man one who will suffer for mankind, but often longs to simply live with it. The supporting cast buttresses Routh well, particular Spacey, whom Singer gives a generous amount of screen time to the benefit of the film. It's not the best superhero adaptation ever filmed, but Hollywood rarely makes them this well. Tell me what you think for next week.

New This Week
By Kurt Amacker

Al's on the run from the law again, so I've got the listings this week. So, if they seem less I don't know icky, that's why. Al will be back next week, and you can look forward to more George W. Bush jokes and undeserved praise for the Thundercats.

DARK HORSE COMICS

ARCHENEMIES #4 (OF 4) $2.99
Al Brown and concerned mothers the world over.

BPRD THE BLACK FLAME TP $17.95

BPRD UNIVERSAL MACHINE #4 (OF 5) $2.99

I've been saving this one until it finishes, but the first issue was bloody damn cool.

CONAN & THE SONGS OF THE DEAD #1 (OF 5) $2.99

My love of Conan is rivaled only by my love of boobs. But, not Conan's boobs on chicks, I mean. Yeah. Anyway, this is by Joe R. Lansdale, writer of the short story, BUBBA HO-TEP, so it should rock.

DARK HORSE TWENTY YEARS $0.25

GOON #18 $2.99

OLD BOY VOL 1 TP $12.95

The DVD of OLD BOY is still sitting on my shelf, unwatched. I'll get to it soon. Until then, I can't say anything funny. Move along.

PETE VON SHOLLY EXTREMELY WEIRD STORIES TP $14.95

DC COMICS

52 WEEK #9 $2.50

I've been saving this since the first issue, and I'm not really sure when to jump on. I guess now's as good a time as any. Whee.

ALL NEW ATOM #1 $2.99

Not All-Star, All New. Don't get confused.

BATMAN CITY OF CRIME TP $19.99

I live in New Orleans: City of Crime as we speak. It's not much fun. I just bought a shotgun. That'll learn 'em.

BATMAN SECRETS #5 (OF 5) $2.99

I know what I'm doing tonight. That's right vacuuming! Just kidding, I'm totally reading this.

BATTLER BRITTON #1 (OF 5) $2.99

BLOOD OF THE DEMON #17 $2.99

CIPHER VOL 4 $9.99

DETECTIVE COMICS #821 $2.99

Okay, so DC really dropped a bomb in Batman with the whole "adopting Tim Drake" thing. If they actually stick to their guns, it should be interesting. Otherwise, I see a huge retcon on the horizon, like "What do you mean I filled out the paperwork wrong? Tim hasn't been my son the entire time!?" You know it's coming. But, this is written by Paul Dini, so I'm interested, regardless.

FABLES VOL 7 ARABIAN NIGHTS AND DAYS TP (MR) $14.99

I should really be reading this series, but it's going to have to wait until I clear the rest of my backlog. If I didn't have to read crap like HOUSE OF M to write these columns, I might be reading FABLES. I pin this squarely on you, the reader. Hang your head in shame.

JONAH HEX #9 $2.99

JSA #87 $2.99

JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED #23 $2.25

LOONEY TUNES #140 $2.25

MANIFEST ETERNITY #2 $2.99

OMAC #1 (OF 8) $2.99

I am officially burned out on all things INFINITE CRISIS, including INFINITE CRISIS AFTERMATH, POSTSCRIPT, JUST-KIDDING-IT'S-NOT-OVER, or whatever. And I was totally kidding a few listings ago. I love you guys.

OUTSIDERS #38 $2.99

SECRET SIX #2 (OF 6) $2.99

SHOWCASE PRESENTS ELONGATED MAN VOL 1 TP $16.99

SKYE RUNNER #3 $2.99

I can already hear George Lucas's lawyers cracking their knuckles.

SKYE RUNNER VAR COVER #3 $2.99

SUPERGIRL #7 (RES) $2.99

SUPERMAN BATMAN 2ND PTG #25 $2.99

SUPERMAN RETURNS THE MOVIE & MORE TALES OF THE MAN OF STEEL $12.99

This is like the deluxe edition of a DVD, except you might actually bother with the extra stuff.

SUPERMAN RETURNS THE MOVIE ADAPTATION $6.99

TEEN TITANS #37 $2.99

TOP 10 BEYOND THE FARTHEST PRECINCT TP $14.99

VS (VERSUS) VOL 2 $9.99

You know, in case VS didn't spell it out for you.

Y THE LAST MAN #47 (MR) $2.99

IMAGE COMICS

ART O/T WITCHBLADE ONE SHOT $2.99

Drawings of boobs! It's just like elementary school!

CASEFILES SAM & TWITCH #24 (MR) $2.95

CYBERFORCE #4 $2.99

Hey, did I mention I'm listening to Cradle of Filth right now and totally not reading this! Seriously, I am!

DEATH JR VOL 2 #1 $4.99

I can already hear my wife's squeals of delight. Not that I don't hear them all the time, but these are extra special squeals.

INVINCIBLE VOL 2 ULTIMATE COLL HC $34.99

Damn you, Robert Kirkman. Do I have to show you my bank statement to get you to quit putting out rockin' books? What will it take?

PIGTALE #4 $2.99

The story of Al's fiancé. Yeah, I'm so going to hell for that.

UMBRA #2 (OF 3) $5.99

MARVEL COMICS

ARES #5 (OF 5) $2.99

BEYOND #1 (OF 6) $2.99

Thankfully missing "ER" at the end of the title. We all know what that would mean.

BLACK PANTHER BY JACK KIRBY VOL 2 TP $19.99

ESSENTIAL OFF HANDBOOK MARVEL UNIVERSE DELUXE ED VOL 3 TP $16.99

FANTASTIC FOUR FIRST FAMILY #5 (OF 6) $2.99

FRANKLIN RICHARDS SON OF A GENIUS SUPER SUMMER SPECTACULAR $2.99

FURY PEACEMAKER #6 (OF 6) $3.50

As long as the character's been around, shouldn't it be FURY: PACEMAKER? Oh man, I kill me. Seriously, I'm reading this tonight.

INCREDIBLE HULK #96 $2.99

LAST PLANET STANDING #5 (OF 5) $2.99

MARVEL ADVENTURES SPIDER-MAN #17 $2.99

MARVEL TALES FLIP MAGAZINE #13 $4.99

MARVEL TEAM-UP #22 $2.99

MARVEL WESTERNS KID COLT AND ARIZONA GIRL $3.99

MARVELS GREATEST COMICS FANTASTIC FOUR #52 $2.99

NEW EXCALIBUR #9 $2.99

PUNISHER #35 (MR) $2.99

SUPREME POWER HYPERION TP $14.99

All right, the Nighthawk miniseries was better, but this was still pretty cool. It leads right into the current SQUADRON SUPREME series, so you kind of have to read it. I mean, seriously you don't have a choice.

THING #8 $2.99

UNCANNY X-MEN #475 $2.99

UNCANNY X-MEN 1 FOR 25 TAN SKETCH VAR #475 PI

It actually costs $3.1415926535897932384626433832795! Get change for that at the register!

Questions? Comments? Let us know what you think at comicscape@cinescape.com.