a relic in primary colors

[obsessed_folder]

Comments

[chipadeedoodah]

Huh. I loved it for being so slavishly true to the Donner originals, the very reason why it disappoints you. I'd argue with you that there's no moral ambiguity in those films, however. In the first one, Superman turns back time to save Lois, and in so doing sacrifices an entire town of people, presumably killed by a dam burst. In the second one, his rigid adherence to his moral code almost ruins the world. And, in the Donner cut, he beats the shit out of a guy for no good reason

[obsessed_folder]

but there's really no question which way he'll jump, is there? he's not a man, he's ... well, you get the idea.

the character has no flaws, I guess is my point. my reading of him strongly suggests that he's the ultimate in wish-fulfillment; inhumanly strong, inhumanly moral. if the storyteller deviates from these central tenets, they're temporary aberrations. superman does not have a drinking problem. he doesn't lose his temper. while it's true the internal struggle makes for good narrative tension, it's tempered by the knowledge that he'll do the right thing, always. there's less at stake because the character seems one dimensional.

[uhlume]

That movie was fucking awful, even by the standards of Superman movies. In keeping with the intellectual property, they've always featured a cheerfully simplified take on the battle of good vs. evil, but at least the earlier installations managed to omit much of the overt and needlessly repetitive heavy-handed Christian allegory. Also might have benefitted from a more ruthless editor: at a conservative estimate, 154 minutes was 60 too many.