People have always been too nice to Bryan Singer. He makes competent but uninspired entertainment that consistently gets praised as something more substantial.

Usual Suspects is as by the numbers a thriller as you’ll ever see. Minus the cheap thrill of a tacked on and arbitrary twist ending and the film couldn’t be picked out of a line up.
The X-Men pictures make a few smart decisions and a lot of bad ones. The first film in particular seems embarrassed by itself. Singer seemed uncomfortable making a movie about people with super powers and code names and costumes. But I’ll agree that the sequel is a big improvement and an enjoyable film.

If you think this Superman Returns movie works then you are a sucker. Singer makes a tiring lecture of a super hero flick. A movie that’s too busy being classy and prestigious to remember to put on a good show. A movie that gives us a climax about Superman lifting a big rock and worst of all a plot line that simply rehashes the ridiculous evil real estate plan from the original Superman film. When people tell me they enjoyed this movie I can’t help but wonder what would qualify as a disappointment in their mind.
Brandon Routh is a perfectly acceptable man of steel, even if he was cast solely for his obvious resemblance to Christopher Reeves. Twenty two year old Kate Bosworth is a ridiculous choice to play Lois Lane, and her performance is a total misunderstanding of the character. As Richard White, James Marsters is in the movie but he shouldn’t be. It’s inconvenient that his character’s more compelling than Superman. But the worst performance belongs to Kevin Spacey as Lex Luther. As the film’s villain he stands in opposition against a nearly omni powerful demi-god, but Spacey plays the part as broad comic relief. Anyone who thinks Luther isn’t a credible adversary against Superman has never seen the Justice League cartoon. There’s nothing wrong with the character, the problem is Singer and Spacey’s incompetent take that torpedoes the film.

Before I get too carried away I want to clarify that this isn’t the worst film ever, it’s not a Batman and Robin travesty. It’s not a holocaust; it’s a bay of bigs. It’s not a terrible movie it’s a misguided one. Maybe if it weren’t called “superman” maybe I’d be willing to entertain it’s conciet. But no one wants to see a Superman movie about “old boyfriends coming back into your life” as Singer famously described the movie. I wonder if the studio execs who heard him say that panicked, or if they were so possessed of blind faith in their golden boy they just let it go. Whatever the reason, someone needed to step up and point out that Singer was ruining this movie.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Share This