Reviews

Well, I gave "Man of Steel" every benefit of the doubt. Even when the trailers were lackluster and the soundtrack unremarkable, I still went to go see it hoping that it would reawaken my love of all things Superman...sadly, it did not. While not terrible it certainly was far from remarkable. Guess the best thing I can say about the film was that it stayed well within the boundaries of mediocrity for at every opportunity this movie takes the low road. The story, the acting (lord the acting- can Henry Cavill have less of an emotional range?), everything about this movie felt as if I was watching a rough draft instead of a finished product. Nothing about this film screams Superman as much as it says "Hey! We found a muscular guy that somewhat looks like Superman! That should be enough for you...right, RIGHT??"

First, let me just say that I liked the Raimi trilogy...yes, even Spiderman 3 was fairly good. Did it have some problems, oh yes, but mostly enjoyable.

Anyway, when it was announced that Spidey was getting a reboot I, like many other people, thought why? Why is it necessary to throw out everything just because you're changing lead actors and director. Could've just stuck with the Peter and MJ relationship but with different actors and kept the current film continuity. Sure it would've raised some eyebrows but there would've been far less uproar than a complete retelling of the story.

Where was I? Oh yes, this new Spiderman movie. While it's not terrible, it's FAR from great. It just has not heart to it, no drive. Everything in this story is so by-the-numbers that you can see every plot turn a mile away. That would be fine, even somewhat forgivable, if this movie was fun but that's not the case.

Nearly every actor in this film seems miscast. From the generic guy playing Flash to Sally Field, right up to Andrew Garfield as the man in tights himself. No one seems to have a real handle on the character they're playing so they resort to archtypes. Emma Stone, as a prime example, slips into the same well worn shoes of the character she seems to play, with minor variations, in every movie: sardonic girl who wears her inner girl power on her sleeve. A little of that goes a long way.

The effects in this movie were mildly disappointing for a big summer blockbuster especially Spiderman's web swinging and the Lizard. One of the "improvements" for this reboot has been the use of as much live action web swinging for Spiderman as possible, to make it look more life like. They must have realized early on that this was not the way to go because most of Spidey's web swinging is done at night, which I'm assuming is to hide the ridiculousness of a man swinging around in a harness.

Then there is the Lizard. What a visual train wreck of a villain he is. With all the money that Sony sank into this "reboot" there wasn't enough to hire a better CGI effects team? The Lizard looks like he's straight from one of the Syfy Channel's "Dinocrock vs Jurassic Lizard" B grade films. OK, maybe not THAT bad but certainly not at the level one would expect from a film like this.

This is getting long so I'm going to sum up my remaining criticisms of this film: 1) Everyone in New York knows that Peter Parker is Spiderman!!! I lost count of how many times he gave himself away, either by taking off his mask or displaying his superhuman abilities while in his street clothes.

2) Guess when you're a parent of a future superhero, or the girl he likes, your life is pretty much over. Peter's parents vanish, Uncle Ben dies, Gwen's father dies...good lord! You're next May Parker.

3) Sally Field and Martin Sheen were not believable as a couple. If it wasn't for the fact that they're named Uncle Ben and May Parker, I never would've believed they were married.

Whew, there I've said my piece...now I'm going home. G'dnight!!

Superman Returns was boring to watch. Certainly, the special effects were amazing, but that's all the movie had to offer. The performances were weak. The story was painfully dull.

I would think that if you were relaunching a cherished franchise, absent from the silver screen for about nineteen years, you would want the film to be as big and epic as possible. Why then are we offered this rough draft of a very uninteresting story? Superman vs Lex...it's been done before, twice. Lex threatening humanity over a real estate venture; didn't that happen in the first movie??????????

A review of this movie cannot be done without taking a hard look at the performance of its leading actor, and the latest incarnation of the Man of Steel, Brandon Routh.

I went to Superman Returns with the best of intentions. I tried to tune out the performance of Christopher Reeve and give Brandon Routh a fighting chance at winning me over. Sadly, Routh failed.

I feel for Brandon Routh, I really do. What a horrible and insurmountable task he had placed before him. I mean to millions of fans Christopher Reeve was Superman and, unfortunately, comparisons between Reeve and all that come after him are inevitable. I'm sure Christopher Reeve had the same problem when he first donned the cape and boots. He played under the shadow of George Reeves, the Superman before him.

As I watched this new Superman save the day, again and again, I noticed that something was missing. I mean Routh looks like Superman, sort of, he had the costume and the special effects. However, something fundamental was missing. Then it hit me...this Superman shows almost no emotion whatsoever. The little nuances that made me see the previous incarnation as a three dimensional, flesh and blood being were absent. This Superman, aside from posing heroically, simply doesn't know HOW to be Superman. He plays the character as an arch-type rather than as a person.

However, unlike Routh, Reeve owned his version of Superman. He played the character with a passion that made him interesting to watch. His performance showed no sign of hesitation or fear. Whatever Reeve was feeling on the inside is anyone's guess.

Reeve's Superman, at least in the first two films, expressed earth shattering anger, stoic optimism, bashful infatuation and mortal fear. Yes, he possessed God like abilities but he still hurt and felt like an ordinary man.

Routh's Superman simply goes through the motions. There is no vigor or zest for what he is....a hero.

So, for now, I'm still waiting for Superman to return.

I think this movie is getting a bad rap from a lot of the "fans" of the respective franchises. People recall the Alien and Predator movies with deserved nostalgia. I myself grew up seeing these menacing creatures carve their way across the silver screen.

A lot of you are criticizing the wooden acting, poor dialogue and contrived plot devices in this movie. But, let's be honest. You are seeing the previous movies through rose-colored glasses.

First off, the acting in the Aliens and Predator movies has never been very good, Sigourney Weaver and Danny Glover included. Second, the dialogue was also highly suspect. C'mon, who goes to see these kinds of movies under the delusion that they are going to get something more than an action film???

I notice a fair amount of people nitpicking this movie to death. They complain about how little they care about the human characters and feel no real sense of loss when they die. If you paid attention to this film you would realize that the humans are nothing more than cattle and, as such, are given the appropriate level of treatment. They exist merely as the bridge that transports us from our mundane world into a larger realm where monsters are not relegated to nightmares but walk in full flesh and blood menace among us. We are not supposed to care about the human characters. They merely give us the eyes to see into this other world where we are just frightened and insignificant visitors.

Others have made comments about the over use of flares and how the humans were not suitably attired for the frigid climate. These are two of the largest gripes I've seen on this forum. If these things bothered you that much then clearly you went into this movie with your expectations set ridiculously high. So high that no movie of this genre could ever satisfy them. In a movie like this these are insignificant details. True, the director should have caught them and made the appropriate changes but he didn't.

And I think that is the real problem here. After waiting so long for such a movie to be made, which none of us thought was ever going to happen, the dream cannot live up to the reality. You are merging two successful franchises into one movie and that is a lot to do. Kudos to the director and producers of this film, for having the guts to try and make something that we have clamored for years.

I think this movie is getting a bad rap from a lot of the "fans" of the respective franchises. People recall the Alien and Predator movies with deserved nostalgia. I myself grew up seeing these menacing creatures carve their way across the silver screen.

A lot of you are criticizing the wooden acting, poor dialogue and contrived plot devices in this movie. But, let's be honest. You are seeing the previous movies through rose-colored glasses.

First off, the acting in the Aliens and Predator movies has never been very good, Sigourney Weaver and Danny Glover included. Second, the dialogue was also highly suspect. C'mon, who goes to see these kinds of movies under the delusion that they are going to get something more than an action film???

I notice a fair amount of people nitpicking this movie to death. They complain about how little they care about the human characters and feel no real sense of loss when they die. If you paid attention to this film you would realize that the humans are nothing more than cattle and, as such, are given the appropriate level of treatment. They exist merely as the bridge that transports us from our mundane world into a larger realm where monsters are not relegated to nightmares but walk in full flesh and blood menace among us. We are not supposed to care about the human characters. They merely give us the eyes to see into this other world where we are just frightened and insignificant visitors.

Others have made comments about the over use of flares and how the humans were not suitably attired for the frigid climate. These are two of the largest gripes I've seen on this forum. If these things bothered you that much then clearly you went into this movie with your expectations set ridiculously high. So high that no movie of this genre could ever satisfy them. In a movie like this these are insignificant details. True, the director should have caught them and made the appropriate changes but he didn't.

And I think that is the real problem here. After waiting so long for such a movie to be made, which none of us thought was ever going to happen, the dream cannot live up to the reality. You are merging two successful franchises into one movie and that is a lot to do. Kudos to the director and producers of this film, for having the guts to try and make something that we have clamored for years.

I find the complaints of the chest bursters coming out much sooner in this film than in the other Alien movies to be interesting, if not short sighted. I, for one, can see why the director chose this. It would make for a very boring movie if you just had the Predators wandering around the pyramid for a few days awaiting the Aliens to pop out.

For what it was, this movie was well done. The interaction between the lone Predator and the female actor was believable. They didn't get sappy or touchy. The Predator knew that he was going to need help and when there was no one else around he turned to a human woman that managed to kill an Alien by herself.

The director caught, perfectly, the nuances and intricacies of these two alien races. To the Predators, he gave a depth not seen in the previous Predator movies. The Aliens, also became endowed with a certain level of intellect that I've never recalled them having before.

I hope they do a sequel and that, next time around, we get to see more of the Predators and Aliens fighting it out and less of the humans.

I cannot believe the overrated hype this TV show gets. I've tried to sit through episodes of Smallville, but I can't do it. After ten minutes of watching that sophomoric bubblegum, I have to switch to another channel or else my head will implode from my rapidly expiring brain cells.

Not sure which aspect of this show would occupy the top spot on the "crap meter." Would it be the lousy acting? The hackneyed stories? How about the stilted and unbelievably bad dialogue? All too close to call. Why don't we just call them all losers.

I thought the original, live-action Superboy TV show was terrible, but Smallville trounces its predecessor hands down. Gerard Christopher's acting, though at the time abysmal, seems Shakespearean in his performance when compared to the HOPELESSLY wooden Tom Welling.

Though Mr. Welling might, one day, grow beyond the boundaries of his painfully limited thespian abilities, right now I would sooner believe a transient on the street corner has a better chance of becoming the Man of Steel.

The WB has, yet again, handed us another lowbrow, teenage angst show that offers nothing new and provides no insight into the character of Clark Kent. Bravo! Another chance to take the high road narrowly avoided.

Keep cranking out the cookie cutter programming mighty Frog. America, unfortunately, is watching.

Let me just say to the Tolkien fans out there that love Jackson's treatment, yet, with the same breath, blast Bakshi's version. What is wrong with you?? Yeah, Bakshi took SOME liberties but at least he kept to the story of FOTR and TT. Jackson, at points, seems to be telling a completely different tale and re-writing characters when it amuses him.

I didn't think it was possible to make Tolkien boring but, unhappily, Jackson's TT proved me wrong. I wasn't the only one checking my watch many times during the film. I noticed several people in the audience doing the same.

Now, I will say I did like the Director's Cut version of FOTR. However, I hated TT so much that I doubt I will even find the DC version appealing.

Please, don't label me a purist, as that suggests unwillingness to accept different visions or interpretations of Mr. Tolkien's work. I do not mind changes being made to the story --- when they are good ones. However, Mr. Jackson and his gang of ink flinging scribes are not sophisticated enough writers to make these changes work or ring true.

The wafer-thin melodrama he adds into TT, in order to build suspense, is laughable and obvious. Aragorn getting carried over the cliff edge was nothing more than another Hollywood cliche, already seen hundreds of times in other films, meant to keep the viewing masses on the edge of their seats. Come on!!! LOTR has not been so popular for all these long years for nothing. There is already enough suspense, drama and action in this epic. PLEASE, Mr. Jackson, don't add your muck.