Type: Film
When we think of Superman in live action terms, it's Christopher Reeve we think about. Brandon Routh may have done a more than passable imitation, or we might endeared to the various television actors we've followed over the years, but Reeve remains THE Superman in our mind's eye. He springs right off the page and into our world.Not to say it's not something of a camp performance. Clark Kent is a real doofus, but he's still believable. It's Superman that's SUCH a boyscout that it takes into the same kind of unreal territory of the 60s Batman series. But in the same way that "Clark Kent" is a performance for the Daily Planet's sake (and Lois' in particular), Superman is also one, this time for the public (and again, for Lois). The real man (let's call him Kal-El) may only be glimpsed when the masks come off in Superman II, after Kal gives up his super-powers and marries Lois. He need not pretend one way or another with her, and there we get a sense of a more rounded character.
I'm not a fan of the films, but if there is something wrong with Reeve's film cycle, it's not his performance. It's Donner's vision (and what followed it). The movie Superman has the kind of power unseen even in the craziest of Silver Age stories. He reverses time by spinning the Earth backwards. He wipes your memory with a kiss. He has Great Wall of China-rebuilding vision. He basically has any power the writers/directors come up with, even if he could often achieve the same effects with his actual powers (fly back in time to before the earthquake, or rebuild the wall with super-speed, etc.). And the world around him is just as silly/indulgent, whether that's Richard Pryor's hacking animating crosswalk symbols or Lana Lang [edit: actually, it's Stacy Warfield - I've been scolded in the comments section - amending memories now] breathing in space. Nonsense to the point of rubbish.
But Christopher Reeve... Christopher Reeve is flawless.
No comments:
Post a Comment