markaudette
Is Not a Unique Snowflake
- Joined
- May 3, 2003
- Messages
- 185
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 11
I'm watching Superman Returns as I write this. And there's something about the movie that has botrhered me since the movie was released. A misconception that I desperately hope the next writers do not repeat in the forthcoming movie ...if there ever is going to be one.
Do NOT write Superman like he's some kind of trophy collecting dust on a mantlepiece. That is to say, do not make the mistake of writing Superman only as some disembodied demi-god. Do not make the mistake that Superman Returns made - the entire movie danced around Superman without spending much effort on Kal-el himself. Just as if Superman was everyone's prized posession that sat stale underneath a glass dome in the middle of the room. As everyone danced and fluttered around him, all eyes fixed on Superman. But not really interacting with him. As if the movie was more interested in dealing with the CONCEPT of Superman's world rather than the man himself.
The reason I chose to post this here is that I desperately hope someone reads this and takes away my one true hope in the next Superman movie - please, please write Superman's character as if he's a real breathing person. Of all the characters in Superman Returns, Brandon Routh had just about the least amount of lines in the entire movie. Do not be afraid to let Clark speak! Do not be afraid to let Superman's humanity show through his superpowers. There's a scene in Superman II that perfectly sums up what I want every writer to recapture in Superman - the scene where the bus full of commuters is thrown at Superman. You could see for one terrible moment the very human-like panic in Christopher Reeve's performance.
...okay, okay. Maybe it was the weakness in Brandon Routh's acting. Maybe it was a weakness in the script and screenplay. Maybe it was a weakness in the directing. There's no way I can say whose fault it was since I'm just a lowly fanboy sitting here at 4 in the morning watching movies.
Clark may be a Kryptonian. But he's a man who wears many hats. At the core of who he is, is a son to two families, a small town farm boy at heart. And he's a stern demi-god saviour of us all, a stone hearted Kryptonian, a lover and a goofy reporter. All at once. It should be fun watching him attempt to be all these things at once . As if you're watching him choose these proverbial "hats" like he's trying to use a slide rule to to solve a math problem.
In short, don't be afraid to give him lines. Real meat-and-bones dialog.
Show him mad.
Show him happy.
Show fear in him.
Show desire, lust in him. Don't be afraid to show Clark as a hunk.
Show his emotional weaknesses.
Show his strength.
Show his courage.
Show him as a man.
Yes, As a Demi-God.
Show him as your uncle. Your brother. Your Dad. Your teacher.
Show him growing as a person.
Show his wisdom.
But dog gone-it, make Superman chew some dialog for once.
Do NOT write Superman like he's some kind of trophy collecting dust on a mantlepiece. That is to say, do not make the mistake of writing Superman only as some disembodied demi-god. Do not make the mistake that Superman Returns made - the entire movie danced around Superman without spending much effort on Kal-el himself. Just as if Superman was everyone's prized posession that sat stale underneath a glass dome in the middle of the room. As everyone danced and fluttered around him, all eyes fixed on Superman. But not really interacting with him. As if the movie was more interested in dealing with the CONCEPT of Superman's world rather than the man himself.
The reason I chose to post this here is that I desperately hope someone reads this and takes away my one true hope in the next Superman movie - please, please write Superman's character as if he's a real breathing person. Of all the characters in Superman Returns, Brandon Routh had just about the least amount of lines in the entire movie. Do not be afraid to let Clark speak! Do not be afraid to let Superman's humanity show through his superpowers. There's a scene in Superman II that perfectly sums up what I want every writer to recapture in Superman - the scene where the bus full of commuters is thrown at Superman. You could see for one terrible moment the very human-like panic in Christopher Reeve's performance.
...okay, okay. Maybe it was the weakness in Brandon Routh's acting. Maybe it was a weakness in the script and screenplay. Maybe it was a weakness in the directing. There's no way I can say whose fault it was since I'm just a lowly fanboy sitting here at 4 in the morning watching movies.
Clark may be a Kryptonian. But he's a man who wears many hats. At the core of who he is, is a son to two families, a small town farm boy at heart. And he's a stern demi-god saviour of us all, a stone hearted Kryptonian, a lover and a goofy reporter. All at once. It should be fun watching him attempt to be all these things at once . As if you're watching him choose these proverbial "hats" like he's trying to use a slide rule to to solve a math problem.
In short, don't be afraid to give him lines. Real meat-and-bones dialog.
Show him mad.
Show him happy.
Show fear in him.
Show desire, lust in him. Don't be afraid to show Clark as a hunk.
Show his emotional weaknesses.
Show his strength.
Show his courage.
Show him as a man.
Yes, As a Demi-God.
Show him as your uncle. Your brother. Your Dad. Your teacher.
Show him growing as a person.
Show his wisdom.
But dog gone-it, make Superman chew some dialog for once.
Last edited:
![[A]](https://superherohype-data.community.forum/avatars/l/70/70800.jpg?1270390582){kind=avatar}
If he left those things in, it would have given us a new insight into the character, what its like to be him, the man underneath. 
