(Spoilers) I’d say if you already had interest in the new Superman movie you should definitely go see it because it’s a big action movie, lots of Superman moments and very competently made by Singer. But it was seriously underwhelming and emotionally flat and I was completely incapable of caring about what happened next. I found myself impatient when any emotional character moments were happening. “Come on… OK, music swell, meaningful looks, let’s move it along…” There are no surprises. Superman will always succeed. He’s so strong he can do anything. I mean, his solution to the central problem of this movie was to just throw the problem into space. Solved. In theory, this could be the ending to every movie. It’s a writer’s dream to have such an out! Just throw the problem into space! To some degree this is true of every Superman story. The problem is that this movie choose a conflict that could be solved by the ol’ space toss. There are limits to Superman’s powers, why not focus on a plot involving those things?

To be fair, they did delve into some of the personal issues Superman has (alienation, inability to be close to those he loves, etc) but those are the only interesting parts and they are very few and far between.

Kryptonite is required for any real sense of doubt but the problem with that is that the audience is so familiar with the kryptonite device that it’s effect is lost. He gets all sick and weak then figures out a way to get past it… kryptonite is always just as powerful as is necessary to makes things hard but not impossible. We’ve seen it too many times. Ebert has a good point in his review :

Does he think Lex Luthor would pull another stunt without a supply [of kryptonite] on hand? Why doesn’t he take the most elementary precautions? How can a middle-aged bald man stab the Man of Steel with kryptonite?

Garrett said that he’d probably like the movie even if the whole first hour was just a shot of the cape flapping in the wind. And I kinda suspect that’s how Singer felt too. The movie goes through the motions and reminds current fans why they love Superman but does little to excite those of us who don’t automatically get a boner when we see blue, red and gold.

Also, I’m sorry but Kate Bosworth’s forehead is huge. I couldn’t stop staring at it. I want to paint a mural on it. I mean, I know it’s not her fault but still. Wow. (Which hits on the more serious point that Lois Lane is supposed to be this absolutely smokin’ hot “Super” fox that is worthy of Superman. Kate Bosworth felt like someone’s bitchy kid sister.)

(NOTE: To clarify, I’m not saying that the only people who like it are fan boys or vise versa, I’m saying if you’re already a fan, it helps a lot.)

Tags: 2stars, moviereview

Just in case you thought I gave every movie 4 stars, here’s proof for you. Ultimately I couldn’t find enough in this movie to get behind it. I felt like after about the half-way point it stopped having anything new to say about its characters. That said, it’s certainly a well crafted film and one that had me thinking for days and now a full week afterward. It’s always worth seeing a movie that can do that but ultimately it just didn’t work for me. Maybe it was the all too common curse of expectation. William Hurt was nominated for an Academy Award and Ebert raved about him in his review… and sure, Hurt did some things he’s never done before but his character was a cartoon. I thought he was terrible. And I love William Hurt. He’s in the category for me of “Would pay to watch him read the phone book.” But not this time around. Sad because the film opened with one of those long-take gems that was surely setting up for a phenomenal film. Oh well.

Tags: 2stars, moviereview

I didn’t love Melinda and Melinda. I barely liked it. Well, I guess I really didn’t like it, but my fondness for Woody Allen made it watch-able. Can a movie be bad but still watch-able? Absolutely. It’s a strange and rare little niche.

The premise of the movie is that one story is alternately told as a comedy or a tragedy with different casts. The story flips back and forth, certain scenes play out in both versions. The result was that it wasn’t a particularly moving tragedy or a particularly funny comedy.

My theory is that Match Point is Woody Allen’s attempt to reconnect with his sense of dramatic conflict. From what I hear, he succeeded.

Tags: 2stars, film, moviereview, woodyallen