Branding Brandon
It's the season for Superman again.
After I wrote about TV's Superman in the nude, I thought I could not write anything about the guy from Planet Krypton. I say that the new movie installment about the flying hero in the red suit, yes you heard it, I said installment as I'm sure there will be a spawn of movies from this Superman, is the funniest of them all, or better still, the funniest movie I've seen this year thus far. I should give credit for my precious partner in crime, movies and boys zetweaker, for co-branding Superman Returns with me to be this funniest.
But before I explain why I say this is the funniest movie, I should say that there were two from the previous four installments (with the dearly-departed Christopher Reeve) that I find more entertaining.
But don't get me wrong here, I still find this one worthy of the queue and the stupendous ticket. There were some highlights, primarily coming from Brandon Routh and Kevin Spacey. Routh was magnificent without trying too much in portraying the awkward Clark Kent that delienated his connection to The Man of Steel. Spacey was brilliant (remember the Usual Suspects?) in his essay of the Luthor role though at times he tries hard in his theatrics to be obnoxious that brought to mind the brilliance of Gene Hackman's Luthor. Ergo, one would see Hackman and not Spacey. Or maybe that is the greatness of Spacey; being able to lose his own Kevin persona and to take over the Gene identity. He was so unlike Routh that when the latter tries to be gawky and clumsy, it's still him we see and not Reeve.
But let me say this, Christopher Reeve will forever be the face of Superman. Hmmm but we'll have to wait how this Routh guy turns out if he could dish-out unforgettable performances in the future installments thus giving us a new and lasting face/identity for Superman, and thus replacing the face of Reeve's in our memories forever. Or until another guy plays the Superman role.
I should give a runner-up trophy to the Producers for rewriting the irritating role of Lois Lane from the first four installments. Margot Kidder was so not pretty and so fidgety that made me imagine her spewing saliva when she talks to Superman/Clark or had bad breath galore. Superman had lungs of steel so the bad breath didn't matter to him. Kidder's Lois Lane was that unpretty and untidy to me. That made me question Reeve's Superman's taste in women.
Thankfully, there was Lana Lang portrayed by Annette O'Toole (who played Clark's mom in Smallville) who exuded a quiet charm that fitted nicely with either Superman's and Clark's character. That restored my faith in Superman's taste in women. Too bad Lana didn't end up sacking Superman, but the Lois Lane with bad breath. (I'm glad that Smallville's writers made Clark and Lana date and more.)
Back to Bosworth's Lois Lane. Casting the scintillating Kate Bosworth for the rewritten Lois Lane role was a very good change for me. Bosworth's Lois was more assertive and smart unlike Kidder's Lois who appeared stupid sometimes that I wished Clark didn't rescue her from being swept in Niagara Falls or had not removed her from the elevator of the Eiffel Tower with the bomb that Superman threw to outer space to explode.
But I want to share how Superman Returns instantly became the funniest movie of the lot. During the winding portion of the movie when Superman visits the sleeping son of Lois Lane, the packed threater was in bated breath to hear what Superman had to say now that he was armed with the knowledge that it was his son. The stillness could let us hear a pin drop. On that silent moment when Superman was being overwhelmed by all emotions human and steel, the lady behind us whispered audibly to her seatmate "mao na ang bunga sa ilang matam-is nga gugma". It was all we needed to hear and zetweaker and I burst into fits of giggles. We were giggling so hard that we tried to cover our mouths and contain our laughter everybody turned to look at us but we didn't care we just continued to squeal uncontrollably we were snorting and making all kinds of muffled laughter.
If translated, the lady's phrase would not amount to anything remotely funny: "that is the fruit of their sweet love". But spoken in Cebuano, it had all the intensity and profound dramatic impact like that of the Siete Palabras of the Holy Week: "mao na ang bunga sa ilang matam-is nga gugma". We couldn't hear what Superman was whispering to his sleeping son as we continued to giggle uncontrollably while others were glued to the screen. This is zetweaker's version.
So, that's it. All told, I am very much pleased with this movie. I swear that when the opening credits rolled, I had goose bumps. When the familiar chords of the Theme and of "Can You Read My Mind" were played, memories of a young boy being mesmerized by the flying hero came to mind. Memories of a child growing up and admiring Superman to bring all the peace and goodness to this earth came to mind. Memories of sleeping in my Superman pyjamas and going to Saturday school with my Superman shirt. And many other soft and good and nice memories of growing up with Superman.
I was a young boy all over again.
After I wrote about TV's Superman in the nude, I thought I could not write anything about the guy from Planet Krypton. I say that the new movie installment about the flying hero in the red suit, yes you heard it, I said installment as I'm sure there will be a spawn of movies from this Superman, is the funniest of them all, or better still, the funniest movie I've seen this year thus far. I should give credit for my precious partner in crime, movies and boys zetweaker, for co-branding Superman Returns with me to be this funniest.
But before I explain why I say this is the funniest movie, I should say that there were two from the previous four installments (with the dearly-departed Christopher Reeve) that I find more entertaining.
But don't get me wrong here, I still find this one worthy of the queue and the stupendous ticket. There were some highlights, primarily coming from Brandon Routh and Kevin Spacey. Routh was magnificent without trying too much in portraying the awkward Clark Kent that delienated his connection to The Man of Steel. Spacey was brilliant (remember the Usual Suspects?) in his essay of the Luthor role though at times he tries hard in his theatrics to be obnoxious that brought to mind the brilliance of Gene Hackman's Luthor. Ergo, one would see Hackman and not Spacey. Or maybe that is the greatness of Spacey; being able to lose his own Kevin persona and to take over the Gene identity. He was so unlike Routh that when the latter tries to be gawky and clumsy, it's still him we see and not Reeve.
But let me say this, Christopher Reeve will forever be the face of Superman. Hmmm but we'll have to wait how this Routh guy turns out if he could dish-out unforgettable performances in the future installments thus giving us a new and lasting face/identity for Superman, and thus replacing the face of Reeve's in our memories forever. Or until another guy plays the Superman role.
I should give a runner-up trophy to the Producers for rewriting the irritating role of Lois Lane from the first four installments. Margot Kidder was so not pretty and so fidgety that made me imagine her spewing saliva when she talks to Superman/Clark or had bad breath galore. Superman had lungs of steel so the bad breath didn't matter to him. Kidder's Lois Lane was that unpretty and untidy to me. That made me question Reeve's Superman's taste in women.
Thankfully, there was Lana Lang portrayed by Annette O'Toole (who played Clark's mom in Smallville) who exuded a quiet charm that fitted nicely with either Superman's and Clark's character. That restored my faith in Superman's taste in women. Too bad Lana didn't end up sacking Superman, but the Lois Lane with bad breath. (I'm glad that Smallville's writers made Clark and Lana date and more.)
Back to Bosworth's Lois Lane. Casting the scintillating Kate Bosworth for the rewritten Lois Lane role was a very good change for me. Bosworth's Lois was more assertive and smart unlike Kidder's Lois who appeared stupid sometimes that I wished Clark didn't rescue her from being swept in Niagara Falls or had not removed her from the elevator of the Eiffel Tower with the bomb that Superman threw to outer space to explode.
But I want to share how Superman Returns instantly became the funniest movie of the lot. During the winding portion of the movie when Superman visits the sleeping son of Lois Lane, the packed threater was in bated breath to hear what Superman had to say now that he was armed with the knowledge that it was his son. The stillness could let us hear a pin drop. On that silent moment when Superman was being overwhelmed by all emotions human and steel, the lady behind us whispered audibly to her seatmate "mao na ang bunga sa ilang matam-is nga gugma". It was all we needed to hear and zetweaker and I burst into fits of giggles. We were giggling so hard that we tried to cover our mouths and contain our laughter everybody turned to look at us but we didn't care we just continued to squeal uncontrollably we were snorting and making all kinds of muffled laughter.
If translated, the lady's phrase would not amount to anything remotely funny: "that is the fruit of their sweet love". But spoken in Cebuano, it had all the intensity and profound dramatic impact like that of the Siete Palabras of the Holy Week: "mao na ang bunga sa ilang matam-is nga gugma". We couldn't hear what Superman was whispering to his sleeping son as we continued to giggle uncontrollably while others were glued to the screen. This is zetweaker's version.
So, that's it. All told, I am very much pleased with this movie. I swear that when the opening credits rolled, I had goose bumps. When the familiar chords of the Theme and of "Can You Read My Mind" were played, memories of a young boy being mesmerized by the flying hero came to mind. Memories of a child growing up and admiring Superman to bring all the peace and goodness to this earth came to mind. Memories of sleeping in my Superman pyjamas and going to Saturday school with my Superman shirt. And many other soft and good and nice memories of growing up with Superman.
I was a young boy all over again.