saw the new superman flick at the imax theater at 67th and broadway. i’m not a huge comic book fan–never was. although i liked me some richie rich and scrooge mcduck when i was very young. but in general, i never got into comic books. so the current fad of making comic books into movies is a bit lost on me. i don’t have a ready-made, built-in love of the characters, so when i go see these movies i’m watching them on their own merits, and judging them accordingly.
kirk told me that the the script was extremely clever with lots of very intelligent throwaway lines (Lois Lane introducing Superman to her new boyfriend: “Richard. Clark. He’s an expert on international affairs.”)
frankly that one went sailing past me. but all the quasi-religious themes i got right away–maybe because that’s where my head is at these days. I wasn’t expecting much and was pleasantly surprised by how good everything was. the movie did a great job with all the Superman mythology–at least, the parts i’m aware of.
all of the movie was in imax, but some of the movie was 3d as well. The 3D was irritating as all hell though. It wasn’t 20 consecutive minutes of 3D–it was 5 minutes here and 5 minutes there. So you were on-with-the-glasses, off-with-the-glasses whenever they flashed icons on the screen. That made it hard to get lost in the movie. the 3D had the same slight double-image problem that they all do for me, and the parts that they chose to make 3d were kind of fast moving, so there was a lot of blur. I’d have preferred all or nothing on the 3d. But the movie looked incredible on the IMAX screen.
the movie did well but did not have outrageously record breaking business over the weekend, but i have a feeling that this movie is going to be around for a while. people all over new york (i noticed after the movie) are wearing superman-logo clothing. i mean tons of people. it’s a bit weird. and the same geeky guys that bring their light sabres to the star wars movies were out in force last night–lots of superman-themed people at the movie. it’s going to build buzz, i think. and have legs, as they say in the business.
If you are a Superman fan (which I’m really not), or even if you just like well-paced, intelligent, fun movies (which I do), this is a must-see in my opinion.
