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Korridin
Reviews
Superman Returns (2006)
Excellent movie, so long as you leave the microscope at home
Superman Returns marks the return of one of the greatest superheros ever conceived to the silver screen. As such, like many, I walked into the theatre with pretty high expectations. Fortunately this movie in no way disappointed. Don't get me wrong, the original Superman movies were great for their day, but like many other fantastical movies of the past, I have often thought that Superman would benefit from leaps in special effects technology made since the 80s. The effects are dazzling, particularly the flight effects for the Man of Steel himself.
These effects however, do not eclipse some fantastic performances by the cast. Brandon Routh in particular had some extremely large shoes to fill, both because of the character and because of the powerful performance delivered by his predecessor in the red cape, Christopher Reeve. However it is clear that the pressure did not daunt him in any way, as he delivered a superb performance, which while clearly based on that given by Reeve, was not simply a copy, more like an evolution. Kate Bosworth delivered well on Lois Lane, although having to portray both the elements of the traditional Lois Lane crush on Superman and the hurt and anger that would be natural for a woman abandoned without a word by the man of her dreams did not make her job any easier than Routh's. The last performance to deserve a special mention is that of Kevin Spacey. Many other reviews will tell you that he was a laughable villain with a crackpot scheme possessing a believability factor of 0. This is, by and large, true but before you judge him for this, I suggest you go and watch the original Superman movies again. You will discover that the Lex Luthor of the movies has ALWAYS had this quality, and frankly Spacey hams it up to the point where you really don't care because watching him is funny.
Having heard me praise this movie to the stars, you are probably now wondering why I only gave it a 9. The fact is that, as good as it is, the movie does have flaws in it. But then again what movie doesn't? The mark of a great movie is that the flaws don't matter because the rest of the movie was so good, and in this respect Superman Returns is a great movie. The greatest flaw is the apparent age of the characters. Superman's lack of ageing I can accept, after all he is an alien (people who do object to this should remember that when Clark first spoke with his father in the Fortress of Solitude he appeared to be 18, and Jor-El stated that by this time he would have been dead many thousands of years, so Superman's ageing process is clearly not normal). However other humans should have aged the 5 years that story has moved. The character most guilty of this is, predictably, Lois. Kate Bosworth, regardless of her actual age, appears in this film to be no older than her mid to late twenties, which would have put her in her late teens to early twenties in the original movies. No offence to Ms Kidder, but Lois did not look that young in the original movies. The other big flaw in my opinion is the relative effect of Kryptonite on Superman. Initially simple proximity to Kryptonite is enough to severely weaken him. Not long after, however, his resistance to the effects of the material is far greater, mainly because the plot calls for him to lift something really heavy (trying not to give too much away) which has Kryptonite growing in it. Comic book fans will know more about the science than I do, but one explanation could be that Superman had not long before travelled into the upper atmosphere to recharge his energies from the sun after being severely wounded, so he might still have been operating at excess power when doing the heavy lifting. That's my theory anyway.
Overall an excellent movie, if you're going to watch it for fun, not to pick apart every minor detail and look for holes. Of course you'll find them if you do that. Just sit back and enjoy the escape from reality for a couple of hours. If you still don't like it, then Superman Returns is not for you, but it was for me so I shall continue to enjoy it.
The Scorpion King (2002)
Mindless Entertainment
Anyone expecting a serious movie, or a masterpiece should turn this off before the end of the opening credits. This movie surely does not take itself seriously, so anyone else taking it seriously will inevitably be disappointed. Don't expect it to teach you any history either, since all the writers did was take a bunch of names mentioned in ancient history and shove them all together. However this said, the movie is good for a laugh and it has some excellent action, albeit with almost no blood in sight (I'm not entirely sure if the movie shows people bleeding when they get stuck with arrows). The comedy is clearly intended to come from the pathetic sidekick character that Mathayus picks up during a close encounter with some fire ants. But surprisingly it is Mathayus himself who comes out with some of the best jokes, mainly related to who he will or won't kill and how much it will cost. As well as amusement from the antics of the characters, there is also enjoyment to be had from checking out the lavish costumes and sets for the film. Some excellent thought and research has gone into the appearance, both of the city of Gommorah and of its various denizens from the evil emperor Memnon right down to the random guards that are only really there as something for Mathayus to beat up when he has nothing better to do. Cultures that are historically centuries apart, from Classical Greeks to Ancient Egyptians, have been successfully melded to give the movie an ancient multicultural look. So yes, the acting isn't Oscar quality, and the plot won't stand up to a microscopic examination, but this is not the worst movie of all time by a long shot, and it's actually quite enjoyable once you disengage your analytical mind and just accept this movie for what it is: a harmless piece of fun.
Snow Queen (2002)
Excellent considering its budget
People comparing this movie to big blockbusters like Lord of the Rings or the Matrix will inevitably be disappointed with the way this movie turned out. Although it lacks in the big special effects department and there are no battles with hundreds of extras, there is still a masterful amalgamation of two old folk tales here. The acting talent, although not A-list, is still great and the interaction between the characters is perhaps more sincere than in a larger movie with an A-list cast. My particular favourite from this movie is Bridget Fonda, whose performance as the Snow Queen herself was quite moving, assisted enormously by a stupendous wardrobe and makeup. She injected humanity and a sense of pathos into the character of the fallen season corrupted by the devil's evil magic. Fonda aside the acting was not what we have come to expect from Hollywood, which I think is a good thing since Hollywood seems to have run out of ideas on how to train its acting talent to portray roles and so they have become stale and reliant on CGI and other special effects to take us away from the actors who all use the same tricks on us. Instead it shows new ideas some real thinking on the part of the actors about how they can find new variations on the the old themes of love and danger.