LOVED it. Love. Love, love, love, love, lovvvve. So many thoughts, so many reasons, so few fingers, so little time... but here goes...
The little things, first of all, that just make me want to mow Brian Singer’s lawn every weekend, no charge: When Clark’s glasses fell off as he and Lois are picking up her stuff. The look he had, fleeting, when his face was bare and he really wanted her to look up, to notice, to see. Gah! That was just... thank you for that.
The great, great, great wink to Action Comics cover #1 with Supes holding the car overhead. For that, I’d mow the lawn and pull the weeds. Really.
Cheesy 1970s opening credits just like the original movie. See? I was happy before it started.
Clark and Jimmy in the bar. The look that crosses CK’s face when he hears about the shuttle and he knows he’s going to have to go, to make his first appearance since his return. Again, small, subtle, but telling.
Jason looking at Supes on the television screen, then back at CK right next to him, back to Supes, back to CK, and reaching for his inhaler. Lawn, weeds, hedges.
Jimmy telling CK how/why Lex Luthor got out of prison. “How pissed off do you think that makes Superman?” And Clark’s quiet, deadpan, “A lot.”
Incidentally, I do know there are some people in the world who aren’t madly in love with Superman and his universe. I’m talking about the weird ones who live oblivious-- or worse still, not especially caring-- about the comics, television, novels, movies, and fanfic. I met one the day the movie opened, in fact. She looked at my Supes t-shirt, (I was geeked up and ready) and said, “Hey, I think maybe they’re making a movie about Superman.”
Um. Yes.
The big things. Ones that even those who don’t adore Superman would find worth seeing:
The flying! So much. So great. So zoomy. Especially love all the Superman hanging in space images. (I want that poster!) Looking down on the earth, separate and “not of it,” as Jor-el keeps reminding him. But watching over it-- listening to and filtering through for cries for help. Summed up his essential loneliness and his goodness. And I like that he took Lois up, telling her what he hears-- people wanting to be saved, even if the world doesn’t need a savior.
The whole Savior/Does the world need Superman? theme. Just dark and thoughtful enough to give the movie emotional weight. My favorite scene is the plummet back to earth after he’s pushed ‘Krypton’ back into space. The not-at-all subtle Christ-imagery, and then the long, soundless fall—people below helpless to do anything but watch. The hero fallen, literally. Just... love.
Lex Luthor: Yes, yes, yes to Kevin Spacey. The right amount of dark and funny with pure crazy simmering underneath.
Lois Lane: Hmmm. The age thing was a bit distracting. I would have liked to have seen her fight back against Bruno, too. But, on the whole, I found her appealing and believable, and especially liked her windblown look when she comes down from her flight with Supes. “Have you been smoking?” Also, I thought their chemistry was just right.
Superman/Clark Kent/Brandon Routh: Dead on the money!! More than I ever hoped for. Not a false note from him. I want to... marry him, actually. And, you know, he is so perfectly Superman to me, that now... Dean Cain in the suit... looks kind of like... Dean Cain in the suit. Not like Superman.
I know. (But it’s true!) And in that regard, I am over Tom Welling. We will no longer be seeing each other.
At the risk of this turning into a rhapsody on Superman, I’ll just toss in a few things that bugged. I didn’t like that Jason killed, however accidentally, the thug holding them. Since that’s anathema to Supes, it bothered me that his child had done what the father never would.
I get Lois figuring out paternity at that very moment, but... I would just expect her mind to be blown. She doesn’t remember their lovemaking, right? That was erased by the magic kiss of amnesia. So, how does she realize this and not just... demand a million billion explanations??
I found the scene where Superman was being beaten-up riveting/excruciating. It hurt to watch. But then, I guess that goes in the plus column.
I wish the beginning of the book had been included in the movie. I see why it wasn’t, but I missed it. I thought the Smallville scene was too choppy without it.
Last Thing. The father-son speech. Superman in Jason’s room, choked with emotion, ‘you’re not alone, the father becomes the son and the son the father, etc.’ That? Just killed.
We’ve certainly entered uncharted territory-- and there isn’t much of that since Superman is 70 years old. Superman is a Dad. And I have mixed feelings about it. The reason I adore Nan’s Home series is because she surrounds Clark with this huge, extended family. He is no longer the Only; and the idea of him having a real biological tie to the planet feels right. However, I don’t know that I’m ready for the Super Adventures of Jason, you know? And all the would go with that...
Where is an amnesia kiss when you need one?
CC
