Bryan Singer talks about the problems of SUPERMAN RETURNS
I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not a fan of Bryan Singer's Superman Returns. Leading up to the films release I was really excited about what Singer was going to do with the story, and I thought it was great that it would pay homage to Richard Donner's Superman films, unfortunately it didn't turn out as well as I was expecting. The movie ultimately fell flat, and I was left disappointed. The film should have been so much better.
In a recent interview with VoicesFromKrypton.com Singer admitted that there were problems with Superman Returns. He discusses those problems, and also talks about what he would have done differently.
He addresses the issue that I had with it, and that's that Superman Returns wasn’t the film people were expecting,
I think that Superman Returns was a bit nostalgic and romantic, and I don’t think that was what people were expecting, especially in the summer. What I had noticed is that there weren’t a lot of women lining up to see a comic book movie, but they were going to line up to see The Devil Wears Prada, which may have been something I wanted to address. But when you’re making a movie, you’re not thinking about that stuff, you’re thinking, “Wow, I want to make a romantic movie that harkens back to the Richard Donner movie that I loved so much.” And that’s what I did.
I liked the nostalgic idea behind the movie, it was just executed poorly. There were some bad decisions made with the story, some of the characters and casting. I loved Brandon Routh, but as perfect as I thought Kevin Spacey would be as Lex he was way over the top. As far as Kate Bosworth playing Lois Lane... I don't know why Singer cast her. Thinking back on what he did with the film, and what he would have done differently here's what he had to say,
You know, I haven’t really talked about this in depth, so I’m just thinking about this off the fly. It’s hard, because I’m proud of it for what it is. I mean, there are a bunch of movies I’ve made where I’m, like, “Yuck, that was weak” or “That could’ve been better,” and I can see why. But with Superman Returns…. If I could go back, I would have tightened the first act. Maybe open with the plane or something.
I think the whole third act could have used a complete overhaul as well. I hated what they did with the third act. Singer then goes on to explain how the origin of Superman is the story of Moses, and addresses the ending when Lex Luthor stabs Superman with Kryptonite. He then goes on to explain what he would do if he was going to make another one,
I’ve always felt that the origin of Superman is the story of Moses – the child sent on a ship to fulfill a destiny. And this was a story about Christ – it’s all about sacrifice: “The world, I hear their cries.” So what happens? He gets the knife in the side and later he falls to the earth in the shape of a crucifix. It was kind of nailing you on the head, but I enjoyed that, because I’ve always found the myth of Christ compelling and moving. So I hoped to do my own take, which is heavy shit for a summer movie. But definitely the nostalgic, romantic aspects of it worked against people’s expectations of it in the climate. And if I was going to do another one, it would be a reboot. I would go back and redo the original, but I only thought of that recently. It would be a much less romantic, more balls-to-the-wall action movie. It would be a very different pace than Superman Returns, which I can say at this point because I have distance from it now.
We'll the Superman movie franchise is getting a complete overhaul, and with Christopher Nolan and Zack Snyder at the in the driver seat, I think it's safe to say that we're going to get to see that balls to the walls Superman action film.
What are your thoughts on what Singer had to say about Superman Returns?