- Superman is without a doubt the most iconic comic book character ever created. Looking at his various incarnations over the years, however, it's not terribly clear why this should be the case. His Golden and Silver Age comic adventures strongly tended toward silliness, featuring surprisingly frequent visits from magical imps, goofy gorillas, and Krypto the Super-Dog. His radio and live-action TV manifestations, ranging from the George Reeves era to Smallville, suffered instead from boring plots and low production values. Animated versions of Superman generally fared better, especially in the hands of the Fleischers or the Warner Bros. Animation Studios, but the fact is that most interpretations of the character have been very disappointing. Unfortunately, I'm here to tell you that Richard Donner's Superman film is no exception to this rule.
- Actually, it's not that Superman himself is bad. As played by Christopher Reeve, he is easily the best part of the production. Whether he's flashing The Man of Steel's confident grin or slouching his way through Clark Kent's feigned clumsiness, it's tough to imagine a better actor for the role. But then there's the movie surrounding him. As I see it, part of the problem is that the film wants everything both ways. It gives its hero an uber-reverential and ponderous origin story, but follows it with slapstick and inappropriate innuendo. It wants Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) to represent a serious threat, yet dresses him in wigs, cowboy hats, and bathrobes. It wants us to care about Superman's two father figures (Marlon Brando and Glenn Ford), but is content to abandon his mothers (Susannah York and Phyllis Thaxter) without much more than a simple good-bye. When special relativity is mentioned in the same breath as those distinct physical laws that govern the twelve known galaxies, you know you've got a schizoid film.
- The other problem, also encountered by countless other comic book adaptations, is that everything seems so perfunctory. The film provides exactly zero motivation for Superman to fall in love with Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), but it happens anyway. Superman dons a red and blue suit with a cape because that's what the comic book character wears. Lex Luthor figures out that kryptonite can hurt Superman not through brain power but because of plot necessity. While the film's visual effects and John Williams' bombastic soundtrack are occasionally good enough to cover for the script, this is too infrequent an occurrence to salvage the film. Sadly, Superman's most striking accomplishment may be that it collects three of the most talented actors from the 1970's, Marlon Brando, Gene Hackman, and Ned Beatty, into a single film and wastes all three of them. By the time the film's laughably absurd ending rolls around, you'll wish you could go back in time and right this wrong.
- Story by Mario Puzo!
- I neglected to mention Jackie Cooper, Valerie Perrine, or Terence Stamp. More amusingly, Larry Hagman and John Ratzenberger are in this film.
