Regardless of which new movie you see this weekend, it’s going to feature attractive people wearing fantastic costumes.
“Superman Returns” opened Wednesday (Tuesday night, actually, as many cities had 10 p.m. and midnight showings), and there’s a good chance you’ve already seen it. If not, by all means, do so. I didn’t get into this very much in my review, but it’s quite different from most superhero movies. The one it’s closest to — and I hesitate to say this, because of the film’s reputation — is “The Hulk.”
“Superman Returns” is very much about Superman’s emotional state and his loneliness as an outsider to the human race, and there are many quiet moments focused on that. You tend to think it’s going to be an all-out action movie, but it just isn’t. You need to know that going in lest you be disappointed when it fails to pump your adrenaline non-stop.
What it does do, though, it does very well. No one expected Brandon Routh to be any good as Superman, but he’s fantastic, capturing Superman’s Boy Scout heroism and angsty personal drama as well as Clark Kent’s doofiness. Much has been said about how he looks like Christopher Reeve (which I don’t really see), but there are several instances where the way he says a line even SOUNDS like him.
The other new film, opening today, is “The Devil Wears Prada,” adapted from the bestselling 2003 novel. The movie is also recommended, albeit not quite as highly as “Superman Returns.” Even if you’re not the type of person who generally notices that an acting performance is great, I bet you’ll notice that Meryl Streep’s is.
That’s all we get this week. More important movie-related stuff can be found in “In the Dark,” of course, which you really ought to subscribe to if you haven’t already. I mean for crying out loud, it’s free.
