Superman Returns Rate Kevin Spacey's performance as Lex Luthor

[The Overlord]

Let me put it this way, by having a huge land mass for sale, on which people can survive, they'd pay through the nose to live there after Lex made the rest of the world inhabitable.

The crystals were holographic in nature and contained all of the knowledge of Krypton.

He have used the crystals to get design specs for Kryptonian tech and sold it to the highest bidder. Made a ton of money and wouldn't have had to worry about being arrested. Hell he could have made some devices to kill Superman. He had to find the most stupid use for said technology. He could have made billions, without any trouble from anyone, he could have even turned the world against Superman by arguing that Superman was selfish to keep this technology from the human race. Seriously this whole scheme was stupid, he said he would use the Kryptonian technology to defend his Island, but how was he to build this technology with no industrial base, he was hanging around in a cave, for God's sakes.

 

[War Lord]

He have used the crystals to get design specs for Kryptonian tech and sold it to the highest bidder. Made a ton of money and wouldn't have had to worry about being arrested. Hell he could have made some devices to kill Superman. He had to find the most stupid use for said technology. He have made billions, without any trouble from anyone, he could have even turned the world against Superman by arguing that Superman was selfish to keep this technology from the human race. Seriously this whole scheme was stupid, he said he would use the Kryptonian technology to defend his Island, but how was he build this technology with no industrial base, he was hanging around in a cave, for God's sakes.

Lex is far more interested in power than money. His interest in money is for the sole purpose of gaining power. Having the whole world bow down to him so they can survive is far more within his interest.

 

[War Lord]

You can't sell land that's on just a big rock island, people need soil to have farms to provide food, so people can survive on said rock, what were people supposed to do, live off tinkies there? There were a million better uses Lex could have had for advanced alien tech, Lex picked one of the most stupid of uses.

It is likely that Kryptonian technology allowed food to grow without the need for land.

 

[SuperDaniel]

Does it make sense that Spacey was great but Luthor, the character, and all the evil part of this movie, his thugs, his insanely stupid plan, were stupid as hell?

 

[The Overlord]

Lex is far more interested in power than money. His interest in money is for the sole purpose of gaining power. Having the whole world bow down to him so they can survive is far more within his interest.

Being the sole provider of advanced alien technology would have given Lex insane amounts of power, he could have called in favours from any government in the world in exchange for this technology, he could have created weapons powerful enough to destroy Superman. Even building and using Kryptonian weapons would have made more sense. There were a billion better uses for Kryptonian technology then the one Lex came up with. I bet if had come up with a better plan, he would have been rich and powerful at the end of the movie, instead stuck on an island.

 

[The Overlord]

Does it make sense that Spacey was great but Luthor, the character, and all the evil part of this movie, his thugs, his insanely stupid plan, were stupid as hell?

Spacey was good given the material, Lex suffered because of the writing, not the acting.

 

[The Overlord]

It is likely that Kryptonian technology allowed food to grow without the need for land.

Could Lex have made that tech work without an industrial base?

 

[Spare-Flair]

Being the sole provider of advanced alien technology would have given Lex insane amounts of power, he could have called in favours from any government in the world in exchange for this technology, he could have created weapons powerful enough to destroy Superman. Even building and using Kryptonian weapons would have made more sense. There were a billion better uses for Kryptonian technology then the one Lex came up with. I bet if had come up with a better plan, he would have been rich and powerful at the end of the movie, instead stuck on an island.

That's not power to Lex Luthor. That's tipping your hand. Lex is someone who relishes being in control of everything behind the scenes while holding all the cards. Lex desires influence, not to be the overt ruler of the world because we all know how ridiculous that is.

Unfortunately again, the version of Lex Luthor we got is some kind of greedy real estate mogul with bad taste in friends and henchmen and relatively few connections or really any intelligence or acumen at all. He's just a working class guy who made it big presumably in real estate but he's just a big stupid bully in the end, not an intellectual force of sheer power and fear like Lex Luthor should be.

Lex Luthor in the comics could be compared with Al Capone - before Al Capone went too far and the public turned against him - he influenced everything and was completely untouchable while also adored by the public.

Lex Luthor in the movies just doesn't care what people think of him, he just wants money and land so badly like a little baby he doesn't think things through.

 

[War Lord]

Does it make sense that Spacey was great but Luthor, the character, and all the evil part of this movie, his thugs, his insanely stupid plan, were stupid as hell?

It's about trying to create the illusion that Lex Luthor is absolutely brilliant by having the audience compare him against them. Spacey may be intelligent, but he's less brilliant an actor than Hackmen, so by giving him even dimmer henchmen, it creates that illusion.

 

[War Lord]

Being the sole provider of advanced alien technology would have given Lex insane amounts of power, he could have called in favours from any government in the world in exchange for this technology, he could have created weapons powerful enough to destroy Superman. Even building and using Kryptonian weapons would have made more sense. There were a billion better uses for Kryptonian technology then the one Lex came up with. I bet if had come up with a better plan, he would have been rich and powerful at the end of the movie, instead stuck on an island.

The plot you're suggesting would require either a trilogy to carry out or a 6 hour movie.

I don't think the audience was up for either option.

 

[Octoberist]

personally, I just thought Spacey's Luthor had nothing to do the whole time. I prefer the tycoon Luthor with a mix of a mad scientist in him.

But Spacey did a good job on what he was given, I thought. It was cheesey, but not as cheesy as Hackman.

 

[War Lord]

Could Lex have made that tech work without an industrial base?

The more advanced the technology, the less an explicit a support system you need.

An example of this is our computer. Back in the 50's, you needed a room, almost the size of an acre to hold it, but now a computer 10 thousand or more times as powerful can fit in the palm of your hand. In the near future, probably within our life-time, a computer will probably not in a form that sits on your desk, but will effectively be invisible, but will allow you to do much more than you can do now.

 

[War Lord]

personally, I just thought Spacey's Luthor had nothing to do the whole time. I prefer the tycoon Luthor with a mix of a mad scientist in him.

But Spacey did a good job on what he was given, I thought. It was cheesey, but not as cheesy as Hackman.

Hackman wasn't the problem as much as his henchmen were, imo. Hackman had the ability to make it seem destroying millions of lives an enjoyable thing, whereas Spacey made it seem somewhat chorish.

 

[Superpowers]

he was great... loved the toothbrush scene... got a lot of laughs

The toothbrush scene was hillarious.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Kevin Spacey was the best part of this movie. He was the only one that provided great scenes (story of Promethius, hustling the old woman, kicking the crap out of Routh). I think he needed more screentime, and Luthor had a stupid plan, but that isn't Spacey's fault.

 

[Steelsheen]

He have used the crystals to get design specs for Kryptonian tech and sold it to the highest bidder. Made a ton of money and wouldn't have had to worry about being arrested. Hell he could have made some devices to kill Superman. He had to find the most stupid use for said technology. He could have made billions, without any trouble from anyone, he could have even turned the world against Superman by arguing that Superman was selfish to keep this technology from the human race. Seriously this whole scheme was stupid, he said he would use the Kryptonian technology to defend his Island, but how was he to build this technology with no industrial base, he was hanging around in a cave, for God's sakes.

to Luthor it wasnt about money, it was about power. it was about making governments follow his will otherwise he would wipe out their cities. if you have powerful people at your beck and call it wouldnt matter whether NK can grow produce, that's what the rest of the world is for. its all about being on the cutting edge and no one can be better than you not for centuries to come.

 

[Mr. Socko]

It was good but no where near as good as Jack Nicholson's performance as The Joker.

 

[Octoberist]

Hackman wasn't the problem as much as his henchmen were, imo. Hackman had the ability to make it seem destroying millions of lives an enjoyable thing, whereas Spacey made it seem somewhat chorish.

"Let's see..feed the dog.....mow the lawn...and destroy the world..."-- Spacey

 

[The Overlord]

to Luthor it wasnt about money, it was about power. it was about making governments follow his will otherwise he would wipe out their cities. if you have powerful people at your beck and call it wouldnt matter whether NK can grow produce, that's what the rest of the world is for. its all about being on the cutting edge and no one can be better than you not for centuries to come.

After making a ton of money selling the lesser designs to everyone, he could have kept the the best weapon designs for himself and used his now vast resoruces to create these super weapons and take over the world. That would have been far more clever than this NK nonsense.

 

[Octoberist]

HEY, that was MY IDEA!

And create Lexcorp from these super weapons...and bam, modern day Lex!

 

[The Overlord]

The plot you're suggesting would require either a trilogy to carry out or a 6 hour movie.

I don't think the audience was up for either option.

Even if it was simplified it bit, Lex using the rest of the widow's money to build these weapons and take over the world, that would have a better plot. Superman vs. Lex in a giant alien tech mech would have been more exciting then Superman lifting up and having his butt kicked by a giant island.

 

[Steelsheen]

After making a ton of money selling the lesser designs to everyone, he could have kept the the best weapon designs for himself and used his now vast resoruces to create these super weapons and take over the world. That would have been far more clever than this NK nonsense.

dude again its not about money (what is with you guys obssession with money anyhow?) besides Lex already has lots of money in the film, so its moot point. what we see is the next step.

 

[Steelsheen]

HEY, that was MY IDEA!

And create Lexcorp from these super weapons...and bam, modern day Lex!

that's what's gonna happen eventually, but he's gonna need a proxy to do his bidding.

*cough*Mercy*cough*

 

[SFII]

he was fine. i was pleasantly surprised at how much he looks just like Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor.

 

[DV8]

I personally was expecting more out of Spacey . . . I think he's a brilliant actor, and though it's hard to compare to Gene Hackman; especially in this role, I wanted more of a performance out of him . . . .

I was expecting to be dazzled and taken back by his performance, and that only happened in a couple of scenes . . .