Favourite Hero and why ?
Superman.
He has always been my ultimate hero and for me the
defining hero. He was the first and the most important hero to me. He stands for all we should aspire to be and his moral values are those I aim to stand by in my every-day.
From childhood onwards, I was fortunate to be young enough to see the Christopher Reeve films at the time of release. The first in 1978 is, to me, the greatest CBM of all-time. The Template for all that have followed and we would not have as a successful genre if not for it's quality of what Richard Donner and team brought to the screen. It continues to emotionally resonate with me as it where the first time I saw it in 1978 with my Dad. It stays with me more than any other film, because of it's impact. I am the writer & film-maker I am today, because of it.
Scenes (of the 1978-1987 era)
Although, unquestionably diminishing returns past the second, there are outstanding scenes in 1 through to 3.
The original's grand-scope, is the entire film for me, it's a masterpiece of cinema history for me. Key scenes are....
Clark Leaves Smallville....
Superman's first public appearance....
Superman's reaction to the death of Lois Lane
Of course, the character was 'left on the shelf' after Quest for Peace, you can understand why.
Superman Returns in 2006 heralds his return, I loved it upon release, on reflection, this was due to the wait for my fave character
to return, rather than the film itself. Its basically a 1940's Preston Surges 'take' on what had been before, officially they stated it was a direct sequel to Donner's second film (and has story elements continued). I love the aesthetic of the film, but the choices made for and by the character simply do not hold true to the values of what Superman would 'actually' do. It looks gorgeous but the choices made are plain 'wrong' in my view (so many of them to list here) of the character's motivations, choices and outcomes.
Superman Returns key scenes....
'I hear everything'.....
Rooftop Bullets.....
Plane Rescue.....
Man of Steel, I will say from the outset I love & adore this film and the casting and everything about the film and it's place in the DCEU. I stand by the view it is and was the Superman we needed at the time. People complained that Superman did nothing but lift heavy items during Returns and then there were huge complaints of too much, excessive destruction in MoS and zero consequences, we all know the drill, it's been discussed to death in all forums over the years. Snyder for me, gave us a more relatable Clark and Superman, a 'world view' rather than sticking to what had come before and for me the film benefitted from this hugely. The recent news of Cavill's 'return' (he never went away in my book) is the BEST news, cannot wait to see how they shape his future films. For me, the greatest part of it all ? The chemistry between Amy and Henry (for me, they are the best portrayals of L&C as a 'couple').
Man of Steel key scenes....
Battle of Smallville - 2 parts....
Clark & Lois go to meet Zod....
Film's Ending combination of scenes.....
Story-Ending
One would have to be honest here and say an overall NO. The original four films, dragged him down to the dirt gradually, bad errors (sacking Donner) onwards led the character to a horrible place come 1987.
Superman Returns has merits and worked hard to give us what WB believed the audience wanted and needed, adjustments in story and more action, and Brainiac as the villain, not Lex, and you'd be there. Solid but not enough beyond the fan-base, with very little global acclaim nor box office.
Current day, on the line I'd say. As it stands we await Snyder's cut of Justice league, of which I campaigned hard (as many did) for and cannot wait for. MoS and BvS are for me 'evolved' stories of Snyder's long-term plan, let's see how they are perceived next year and take the optimism that that concluded situation brings to re-new clearly what Cavill has in buckets-full, the charm, smile, positive energy and values that the character exudes.
