FILMBRATS - REVIEWS

Before the imminent destruction of the planet Krypton, Jor-El sends his only son through space to Earth in a capsule. It is there that he will be raised by humans and learn to live amongst them as a “normal” being. But he isn’t normal. Kal-El, dubbed Clark Kent by his adoptive parents, has superhuman strength and lightning quick speed. He can literally see through things and is nearly impervious to pain. Oh, and he can fly. But he must hide all of that in order to fit in. After he grows up, he becomes a mild-mannered reporter with the Daily Planet. It is there that the chaos of Metropolis forces him to breakthrough and let the world see his alter ego (while still maintaining a secret identity, of course). But with superheroes come super villains, and Superman encounters an evil genius named Lex Luthor. Superman must try to foil Lex’s evil plan that would, if he succeeds, kill millions upon millions of innocent people.

Not that you’d know that until more than half of the movie had already passed. The beginning is pretty slow moving and heavy handed. The opening with an overpaid and over-hyped Marlon Brando (Jor-El) starts to drag quickly and I was eagerly awaiting the destruction of the planet so that things could move along. The planet was pretty bland looking anyway. Then when teenage Clark is introduced, the whole family element gets force fed to us. We learn everything we need to know about their dynamic within a one day sequence of events. I’ll boil it down for you: They love each other and are very close. So, when Clark’s dad dies, you can expect the schmaltz to be laid on thick like syrup. The acting and dialogue at this point are especially bad and really hurt my ability to get into the movie. The cinematography looked nice and really showed off the beauty of the rural locations, but once again they try to force too much emotion in the composition. Whether it’s a wide shot of the farm as they rush to father’s aid or Clark and mom standing alone in the middle of the field, or the two standing in front of dad’s grave, it seemed a bit obvious and much.

The score doesn’t help those scenes much, either. John Williams knows how to create catchy orchestral themes, but sometimes it feels a little like an extension of his work on “Star Wars.” Another thing that got to me about the long first act of the feature was that they used a different actor for teenage Clark (Jeff East, “The Campus Corpse”) than adult reporter Clark/Superman. People don’t change that much after puberty. Well, maybe if you’re an alien you do. They still could have tried dressing Christopher Reeve (from the soap opera “Love of Life”) up to look a little younger. He’s a better actor, too. He does a very nice job of playing the nerdy awkward guy trying to fit in. Even as a hero, he holds on to some of that quality. He speaks and carries himself with more confidence, but the same basic attitude is there. If the whole glasses on/glasses off thing doesn’t tip them as to who Superman is, that should have. Most of the other actors don’t really provide much of a worthwhile character. There’s Reeve and then Hackman. Gene Hackman plays Luthor very well. The nonchalant attitude and air of confidence he exudes makes everything he says more sinister, without having to “act” like a villain.

Ned Beatty (“Deliverance”) looks and plays a very typical dumb goon. And that’s fine. It helps the dichotomous relationship between Lex and him. It also helps give the movie the feeling that you’re watching a glorified live action cartoon. That certainly isn’t a bad thing, either. How dull would it be if the film were overly serious? You can’t necessarily have a movie based off a comic book presented as a straight up action movie. At least not a story as inherently friendly and accessible as “Superman.” That doesn’t mean that they should have included that extremely childish poem Margot Kidder (as Lois Lane, “Black Christmas”) recites in her mind as Superman takes her flying. That was a horrible way to cap off an overly long sequence.

There are a few questions left unanswered in terms of character motivation and plot, which, even with the whole suspension of disbelief thing, hurts the overall effectiveness of the film. They somewhat make up for it, however, because the space sequences look like a planetarium show (without the lasers), so that’s cool. Despite all its problems, the movie’s still enjoyable. I don’t think anyone’s expecting an art house classic here. But it accomplishes what it and most movies set out to do, provide a good opportunity to lose yourself within a fantasy world. It’s as basic a concept as Superman himself.

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