By ANDREW 'DICKIE' SCOTT
Film Reviewer
' ABS2O3@PSU.EDU
Superman Returns
Superman Returns has been met
with polar criticism from fans.
Many people thoroughly enjoyed
the film and hailed it as “the best
Superman movie ever,” but other
die hard fans felt it was a slap in the
face to the original Richard Donner
films and had the late Christopher
Reeves turning in his grave.
Superman Returns is certainly a
welcome come back for one of, if
not the, greatest superhero of all
time and sheds a more contemporary
light, or rather shadow, on the
Superman character. If you didn’t
see this movie in the theaters, pick
up a copy or rent it. It is well worth
it. The premise of the film has been
widely controversial among fans
both new and old.
This film is not restarting the
franchise like Batman Begins,
instead it is supposed to be another
sequel to come after the first two
original Richard Donner films. This
was done for two reasons, one was
Superman
By OLIVER EISLER
Staff Reporter
OPESOOO@PSU.EDU
After a twenty-year absence,
Superman Returns hit theaters. The
film revolves around Superman’s
return to Earth after a five-year
absence. He re-assumes his
secret identity of Clark Kent, and
discovers that Lois Lane —now
in a “long engagement” —has a
five-year-old son.
Superman’s nemesis, arch-villain
Lex Luthor has devised a new plan
to defeat Superman. Director Bryan
Singer has said that the continuity
is “taking off from the first two
Superman films with Christopher
Reeve”, which serve as its back-story,
or as he put it, a “vague history.”
The late Marlon Brando’s role
as Superman’s biological father
Jor-El is reprised with the help of
computer-generated imagery and
earlier footage. The movie failed
respect towards those films that first
brought Superman to the big screen,
and the second was so that they did
not have to go into great detail about
his origins and can dedicate more
screen time to a new story.
It was still a lame attempt at
shifting continuity because it only
showed a few lines at the beginning
saying that scientists found the
remains of Krypton and Superman
just up and left to see for himself.
Now, five years later, he’s back
and has to deal with the fact that
life carried on and people got over
his absence, even Lois Lane. Other
than that, he comes back and gets
right into saving the day.
Brandon Routh does a great job
in picking up the Superman/Clark
Kent character and is almost on
par with the work of Christopher
Reeves. Routh as Clark Kent is
not as bumbling or awkward as
Reeves’ portrayal, he makes Kent
more quiet and bashful rather than
uncoordinated but then begins to
act more confident and serious than
Kent should be in some scenes.
He does fill the Superman costume
well and does a good job in making
Superman more detached from
those people around him. With the
exception of Lois Lane, Superman
simply swoops in saves everyone
and with a slight nod, flies away.
It all works out for him though,
mimicking the work of Reeves but
bringing it to the 21st century.
Lex Luther, played by Kevin
Spacey, is an interesting character to
watch in this movie. He is certainly
more maniacal and darker than
the more comical Gene Hackman
Luther from the original films.
Lex is of course willing to cheat,
steal, and kill to get his way
but when compared to the likes
of recent cartoon versions and
Smallville’s Michael Rosenbaum,
miserably at the box office, but
fortunately the game is a step up from
the movie in virtually all aspects,
most prominent among is its heavily
comic-influenced plot.
The graphics on the Play Station
2 version of the game are decent.
The buildings, the roads, bridges,
skylines, clouds, water, and cars, all
are very well done. The citizens of
Metropolis don’t look all that great,
but they are acceptable.
The game sounded fine for the most
part, but the lack of the Superman
theme in the game, even as a cost
saving measure, is inexcusable;
especially from the game-developer
EA which paid millions to keep other
companiesfrommakingNFLFootball
games to rival their Madden series.
They can afford the rights to a song.
In the very least they should have
used the Superman cartoon theme.
The controls on the Play Station
2 version of the game are spot on.
Flying, using the super powers,
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this Lex seems quite short sighted
and still on his tirade of
real-estate schemes.
It would have been better to see
Luther behind a massive desk at
Luther Corp. wielding millions of
dollars to perpetrate his delusions of
grandeur. Spacey does very well in
his role, but the writers should have
brought the character up to date.
The rest of the cast is fairly well
rounded, including Kate Bosworth
as Lois Lane. She looks a bit too
young for the role and probably
wasn’t the best choice for it. She
doesn’t really add anything or take
away from the film. It just
breaks even.
The biggest flag on this film is the
introduction of Superman’s son,
his love child with Lois Lane, from
the second Donner film in which
the two hooked up. Besides the
almost pointlessness in bringing this
kid into the story line, the greatest
hurdle to get over is how Lois could
bear this child.
Not getting into the act of
conception, simply carrying the
child could have been her demise.
Heaven help her if she got a tan.
The kid could have kicked right
out of her stomach. The only way
this could have actually worked
is if Superman wore a Kryptonite
condom, but that’d kill him. (Thank
you, Mallrats.)
The special effects are amazing
and even when scenes are fully
CG animated it looks convincingly
real. The special features delve
into a lot of interesting behind
the-scenes information and show
how some scenes that may look too
unbelievable to actually film were in
fact done in the studio with the
live actors.
All in all, it’s an entertaining film
on a character we haven’t seen in a
while. This film is more a remake
returns wi
fighting with your fists, charging up
your powers, leaping into the sky, etc
are all done
extremely
well and
makes
it feel
like you
truly are
Superman!
The
game’s
story very
vaguely
follows
that of the
movie. It
introduces
various
super
villains
from the
A screen shot of Superman flying in the Superman Returns video game. Flying is one
of the many super actions gamers can use to fight crime.
comics,
including fan favorites such as
the space tyrant Mongul, the
life-absorbing Parasite, literally
PICKS
of the first Superman movie and
probably would have been better
if it was done so. Again, despite
the short comings in the plot,
characters, and acting, it is still a
very good film.
I give this film 3 out of 5 nuts
000
Casino Royale
The name’s “E,” “Dick-E.”
Ok, it doesn’t have the same flair
and intimidation as James Bond,
but I’m sure if he wasn’t a suave
international spy, saying his name
like that would be just as stupid.
However, to put it simply, Casino
Roy ale is a great Bond film. It has
all the great things that the recent
Bond films were lacking, and dare I
say it has a better actor to play
the role. I know a lot of people out
there are upset and questioning a
“Blonde-Bond,” but Daniel Craig
gets the job done. From mere
obscurity, Craig’s name was thrown
into the pot of potential Bonds, and
heartless Metallo, the bizarre super
monstrosity Bizarro, and even
the fifth-dimensional imp, Mister
Mxyzptlk(roughlypronouncedMiks
yez-pit-lik, also nicknamed Mxy).
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the immediate fan buzz catapulted
his status when Pierce Brosnan
officially turned down the role.
Craig’s portrayal of the infamous
MI-6 agent is radically different
than that of Brosnan and for the
better. Casino Royale is technically
a prequel, showing the time when
James Bond became 007 and is, for
lack of a better term, a “rookie” in
the spy game.
What’s really fun to see is that he
isn’t a perfect pretty boy, saving
the day without getting a single
scratch. He’s down and dirty
running across rooftops, hanging
out of moving vehicles, and even
brawling in a public restroom.
He gets beaten, bruised, and
bloodied and still carries on
the mission. Also, he isn’t wearing
a tuxedo everywhere or always
driving the latest Euro-super car, let
alone being supplied with an array
of gadgets.
This Bond is all “guts and glory”
and does show that he needs to learn
some self-control and tact. The
new Bond is also not as much of a
‘player’ as Brosnan when it comes
to Bond-girls. Where Brosnan’s
Bond would hit on anything that
moves, Craig is more reserved and
actually only woos a woman for
information and not much more.
Bond’s counterpart in this film is
Vesper Lynd, played by Eva Green,
who doesn’t really like Bond or
the risks the government is taking,
backing him in this poker match.
There is an underlying attraction
throughout the film, but for the most
part neither Lynd nor Bond act on it
or let it compromise
their objective. Green plays this
role very well, and you can see how
she gradually warms up to Bond’s
personality rather than all of a
sudden jumping his bones like prior
Bond-girls. It all makes for a great
th a bang
One of the game’s more innovative
features is the Metropolis health-bar.
Since Superman
is invulnerable
due to the rays
of Earth’s yellow
sun, the game’s
challenge lies
protecting
For the most
part, however, the Metropolis health
bar is a necessary innovation to add
a measure of challenge to the game.
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December 12, 2006
After all, when one can lift islands
and travel through the core of the
Earth, what could hurt more than
being powerless to save the city you
love? Nothing.
Overall, the game would have been
a more enjoyable experience if EA
had added different enemies, more
varied missions, and a deeper story.
Next time give us more missions
(that are up to us to accept or refuse),
more enemies, maybe a little time
as Clark Kent, and some situations
where we can meet our friends
Jimmy and Lois.
Throw in a trip to Smallville or the
actual Fortress of Solitude, not just
the pause/update screen. However,
the game itself is fun, and bashing
a game simply because it’s not all it
could be is unfair.
the city.
This can be
frustrating at
times such as
when the player
is about to smash
up the enemy,
but he suddenly
loses due to
Metropolis taking
too much damage
and effectively
being destroyed.
Although not the perfect Superman
game, Superman Returns is by far
the best Superman game released
to date. It makes you feel like you
really are the Man of Steel.
dynamic relationship between their
characters.
The villain in this film is also
much better than in recent films. Le
Chiffre, played by Mads Mikkelsen,
is a terrorist financier and banker
but uses his client’s money in the
stock-market and looses it all. Now
he’ll do anything to get back the
millions of dollars he’s lost that
doesn’t belong to him. Le Chiffre
is also a mathematical prodigy and
must pit his cruel and calculating
mind against Bond’s instincts in a
high stakes poker match.
Admittedly, the film is not perfect.
There are segments that seem to
drag on with no clear meaning and
sitting through it is like
pulling teeth. There is a particular
torture scene that will make any
man squirm in his seat, and the way
some issues are resolved seems way
too convenient and anti-climactic.
A number of loose ends also make
the conclusion of the movie seem
like a rip off, but after fuming for a
few minutes, I realized that it is an
appropriate segway for future films.
All of this is irritating but not
enough to detract from the rest of
the movie. Casino Royale seems
to have found a perfect balance
between explosive action and
graceful plot development. By the
end of the film, you can see how it
develops the Bond character into
what he calls, “half hit-man, half
monk.”
Though this movie is actually
a remake of an earlier Bond film
(which failed miserably), it has been
re-mastered and looks to breathe
new life into an almost played-out
Hollywood icon.
I give this film 4 out of 5 nuts.
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