The colorless Superman

MAN OF STEEL IS BACK...again?
(Commentary on teaser/trailer)

By Jerry Saravia

I suppose it is a broken record on my part and I promise to let this remake-reboot topic die, for the time being. But my Spidey-Film-Critic Sense is nagging me after watching a teaser for the new 2013 flick, "Man of Steel." Why in the hell do we need another live-action remake (forget the word: reboot) of Superman? I understand a "Justice League" film might indeed be a good idea but a new "Superman" flick? The last time we had Superman flying the skies was in the thoroughly unpleasant, humdrum and sickeningly joyless "Superman Returns," a disaster with lame casting and dull conflict. The only actor who delivered in that film was Kevin Spacey as the bald-headed Lex Luthor. So Warner Brothers decided it was time to do it all over again, as if it hadn't been done right the first time around with Christopher Reeve in the nearly flawless 1978 charmer, the highly entertaining "Superman." WB now has some British actor named Henry Cavill to play the Man of Steel, Russell Crowe as Jor-El, Kevin Costner as Pa Kent (is the studio serious?), and I refuse to mention any of the other oddball casting choices. The studio's reasoning: (I am quoting) "Just treat Superman Returns as the Ang Lee Hulk." I am one of a minority that happened to enjoy Ang Lee's "Hulk," far more than the repetitious and numbing experience of 2008's "The Incredible Hulk." Of course, that is just me.

Now that I have seen the teaser, I see what Warner Brothers is up to. Director Christopher Nolan is one of the producers who came up with the revamped story. No details have been revealed thus far but the dreary, overcast Smallville seen in flashes tells me that director Zack Snyder ("Watchmen") and Nolan are casting a serious tone on this one. How much more serious can it be than to have Superman flying at incredible speeds to turn back time to save a dead Lois Lane in the original and best version ever with the late Christopher Reeve? Anyone that considers the first two original Richard Donner-directed "Superman" flicks to be campy hasn't really seen them. They are fun and have a sense of wonder, like all comic-book movies should. Seems like filmmakers today are taking a cue from Nolan's Caped Crusader and anything post-"Sin City" and making every thing look dark, dreary and foreboding, nary a trace of humor or wit. Not all comic-book films have this pale, subterranean look - consider "Iron Man," "Thor" and "Captain America" which are fun-filled and pretty damn good films in their own right. That is not to say that "Man of Steel" might not be fun (I am hoping it is superior to "Superman Returns") but the colorless Superman outfit seen in behind-the-scenes photos indicates that we have entered a Bizarro world. Once again, I fail to see the point.