Superman Talk

When it comes to superheroes, Superman is the one that I always seem to forget about. Superman to me is a character that is immortal, with not much depth, and frankly not very memorable. The Superman movies are probably my least favorite superhero films to watch. That said, even though I am not the biggest Superman fan, there are still some things in Superman movies that I do enjoy.

Historically, Superman was a character that first appeared in The Reign of Superman, a short short created in Cleveland. In 1938, his first comic book appearance came in Action Comics #1 and then appeared a self-titled series starting in 1939. In 1945, the first spin-off came about in Superboy with many more to follow.

In 1973, the first idea for a film came for this character with the film  finally coming out in 1978. Actor, Christopher Reeves was chosen to play Superman, his love interest Lois Lane was played by Margot Kidder and the villain Lex Luthor was played by Gene Hackman. Unlike some other superhero series like the Fantastic Four, the Superman series got off to a fabulous start with this movie. The film had a fun plot, the cast was really good and this propelled some careers. This also told the Superman story in a neat 70's style.

Of all the Superman films, the second Superman film is the one I found to be the least memorable. It did a have a good and more meatier plot and has a 1980's feel to it.

Superman III is where things really started to fall with this series in my opinion. It introduced then comedic star Richard Pryor to the series and he attempted to inject the type of silly comedy into the movie that did not seem to fit in a Superman film. The plot was not very strong and in the end, it just did not feel like a Superman film.

As bad as the third movie was, the fourth one Superman IV: The Quest for Peace was worse and was the worst film of the series. This movie has the worst plot of series. There are also a lot of bad errors in the film from poor effects to set pieces being seen where they shouldn't. I remember this film being the joke around my grade school buddies. This film effectively ended the Superman series for while which was probably a good thing.

After a 19 years absence, the Superman movies returned with Superman Returns in 2006. This was a very different Superman film as this was the first one where Christopher Reeves did not play Superman and also there were no returning cast members from the previous movies. Director, Bryan Singer put Brandon Routh who was not a big name actor and still isn't, in the role of Superman. Kate Bosworth portrayed Louis Lane, Kevin Spacey played Lex Luther and James Marsden played Richard White. All in all, this movie was very uninspiring with really no appeal or anybody to root for especially Clark Kent who lacks dialogue. The plot is kind of hit or mess with much of the story taking place on a boat which I don't think is the best atmosphere for a Superman movie. I think Superman Returns was just little below average and should have been better.

Now in 2013, the new Superman film called Man of Steel has hit the theaters. After the disappointing Superman Returns, I am a bit uncertain regarding this one. How is Henry Cavill as Clark Kent and how will he be with Amy Adams as Louis Lane? Is General Zod going to be a top-notch villain? How will Michael Shannon be in the General Zod role? How will the new new director Zach Snyder be? His movies always have something to them but he doesn't always finish them very well.

Due to a very busy home schedule and at least four other five movies I would like to see at the theater, I really don't when I will get around seeing Man of Steel. I am still optimistic, excited and and hoping for something fun. I have my fingers crossed.