Warner Brothers has finally made a big decision regarding the whole Man of Steel issue. They’re going to reboot the whole Superman franchise. Group President Jeff Robinov confirmed to The Wall Street Journal the whole deal.

Warner Bros. also put on hold plans for another movie starring multiple superheroes — known as “Batman vs. Superman” — after the $215 million “Superman Returns,” which had disappointing box-office returns, didn’t please executives. “‘Superman’ didn’t quite work as a film in the way that we wanted it to,” says Mr. Robinov. “It didn’t position the character the way he needed to be positioned.” “Had ‘Superman’ worked in 2006, we would have had a movie for Christmas of this year or 2009,” he adds. “But now the plan is just to reintroduce Superman without regard to a Batman and Superman movie at all.”

Looks like the plan is to take Superman the same direction as Batman and do something very similar to what Marvel is doing with all of their characters. Once they each have very strong solo films, then make a group film with them.

Like the recent Batman sequel — which has become the highest-grossing film of the year thus far — Mr. Robinov wants his next pack of superhero movies to be bathed in the same brooding tone as “The Dark Knight.” Creatively, he sees exploring the evil side to characters as the key to unlocking some of Warner Bros.’ DC properties. “We’re going to try to go dark to the extent that the characters allow it,” he says. That goes for the company’s Superman franchise as well.

The studio is set to announce its plans for future DC movies in the next month. For now, though, it is focused on releasing four comic-book films in the next three years, including a third Batman film, a new film reintroducing Superman, and two movies focusing on other DC Comics characters. Movies featuring Green Lantern, Flash, Green Arrow, and Wonder Woman are all in active development.

Source

This is pretty exciting new, but it’s really too bad that Superman Returns wasn’t a bigger hit. I thought it was a great movie that paid tribute to Christopher Reeve in so many ways.

Popularity of this post: 3%

I read an interview recently, in which Bryan Singer, the director, said that Superman Returns is his first love story. He wasn’t joking.Yes, there is some action, some spectacular flying, and great special effects. However Superman is best in its small moments, and it truly is a love story.

The acting (except for Parker Posey… I don’t like her as an actor) and directing is stellar. However, I almost want to say that the sets steal the show. A lot of care evidently went into this film.

And the music! Awesome.

Don’t bother sticking around to see the end of the credits.. there isn’t a suprise added on. The movie ends when the credits begin to roll.

All in all, this is a good movie, but not a great one.  I have heard that the next Superman movie, which will be again directed by Singer, will have a lot more action in it.  I hope so!  The action scenes in this one are breathtaking.  Unfortunately, they are also very short. 

Total Rating:   

Get it on Amazon: Superman Returns [Blu-ray]

For more information, check out IMDB

According to IMDB, it was nominated for an Oscar for best visual effects. 

Popularity of this post: 2%

I am one of the few Smallville fans that believe the show has run its course and either needs to evolve or change its tune (i.e. its story arch). I recently went to a friend’s wedding and the pastor said everyone changes after time, 5 years, 10 years, etc. Well, its been 8 years now and Clark on Smallville has yet to evolve/change in my eyes. Example: The entire “No Flight, No Tights” gimmick, is getting old.

Anywho, a friend of mine that is also a Smallville fan, but not a comic book fan, always comes to me when the story get’s weird or a little confusing. I clear things up the best I can to help this fan sleep better (just kidding MH). Anyway, she had some questions for me about recent episodes and I half-@$$ answered them the best I could (with the amount of coffee I had in me this morning).

MH’s Question: What is the deal with Chloe’s meteor freak abilities? It looks like she is able to heal people.. so why was she so ready to give up her powers by that crazy doctor to do brain surgery?

Avery’s Answer: Jimmy. It’s the drama factor, soap opera, deal going on here. Jimmy seems to have a dislike for “meteor freaks,” so Chloe wanted to be normal, in a nutshell. She was ready to give up her ability for Jimmy, but then dumps him later. Can we say Drama Queen?

MHQ: Why won’t she share with Jimmy? I can’t understand why she would hide it from him.

AA: See answer 1. Jimmy has voiced his dislike for mutants + Chloe is a mutant (of some sort) = Chloe won’t tell Jimmy she’s a mutant in fear Jimmy won’t like her (and/or expose her).

MHQ: What is up with Lana? She is becoming Miss Secretive now. I am watching these shows, but apparently I missed something last season. Now Lana is all miss devious. And why won’t she tell Clark? He just busted and told her the BIGGEST secret of all (about the crystal). Lana is about to break his lil’ ole heart?

AA: Lana is waging a secret war with the Luthors. If you saw last season, you’d know why (for the most part, she’s acting crazy, but it’s a comic book TV show, so game on). But other then that, it gives Kristin (Lana) something to do on the show ever since the addition of Lois and Kara. Lana was always just the innocent girl next door for the first 4 seasons, they needed to do something with her on the show after that, i.e. keep Kristin employed. In my opinion, I feel its time for Lana to go, move on. We’ve all had to say good bye to our childhood crushes at some point, it’s time
Clark moved on (if only for the sake of progressing the show as I feel it is going in cycles with the plot line).

MHQ: And hey I thought Clark COULD fly? What’s up with him not just taking off after Kara and seeing where she is going?

AA: The show’s motto lives on: No Flight, No Tights. It’s silly now, but whatever, the creators/writers can do whatever they want for the most part. Or it could be that Clark Kent, Superman, in this version is retarded. J/K. I used to think this show was more tied to the comic book story arch in the beginning, but it isn’t. This is another version of Superman, which is fine, I enjoy that. Lois & Clark was also a different version of Superman too (heck, I never knew Superman was half Japanese until I saw Lois & Clark; referring to Dean Cain). All kidding aside, and going off the story of why he can’t fly, well I guess its because he’s still afraid of heights or perhaps its just too difficult to master. It’s probably the one power that is tricky to do. Plus, he’s more exposed flying around rather than him just zipping around at the speed of light. He flies as Superman so he can be seen (think about it), with his tights, big S, and all his blue-red glory. It’s like the same way I don’t need to buy a brand new 2008 Mazda RX-8; it’s nice, but my current Mazda is fine and gets me around no problem.

MHQ: Oh! How come that crazy freak who saw Clark catch the bullet would not tell Lex about it when offered? Is he trying to keep the super hero code of ethics or something?

AA: The guy knows Lex, or at least suspects, that he is the big bad villain. He’s not going to expose Clark, the hero, to the enemy. The guy loves super hero comics and lives by the moral values that come from them. A lot of fans do.

My final note to MH: You should do what I do, concentrate on NBC’s Journeyman (Monday nights at 10/9 central); that is better show this season (which I want to blog about later because I am tired of people saying it’s a Quantum Leap clone; I was a big fan of that show too). I’ll be more excited for Smallville again when Ollie, The Green Arrow, returns later this season. Plus, Ollie’s true main squeeze is going to be on the show when he returns: The Black Canary. It should be entertaining!

FYI to all the people that read this far:
Hollywood is making a Justice League and Flash movie to come out in the next couple years (if you didn’t already know…you probably do though).

Popularity of this post: 12%

It seems the early buzz coming from the movie world is that Superman Returns is a hit. It sounds like Bryan Singer created a great movie for Warner Bros and DC Comics. How the public likes the movie will be something to see.

I am very much looking forward to this installmen of Superman. I hope the overall effect is similar to the treatment that Batman Begins recieved.

“Holy Caesar’s Ghost! They’ve done it! - “Superman Returns” is super-exciting, super-fun, and super-bly performed! This is the only Superhero film you need to see this year!” - Clint Morris, MOVIEHOLE

“This is everything it should be. And if it doesn’t work for you, I can’t imagine what would.” - Luke Y. Thompson, LYTRULES.COM

“Sure to rate with aficionados alongside Spider-Man 2 and, for many, Batman Begins on the short list of best superhero spectaculars.” - Todd McCarthy, VARIETY

And Kevin Spacey in the mix? He’s such a great actor. I’m really looking forward to seeing his take on the Lex Luthor character.

Superman Returns Website

Popularity of this post: 2%