Well, on the SR forums they are shrugging off these awards, so I guess we can too then!
t:
For me personally, I remember feeling utterly disappointed by SR when i left the cinema. I remember feeling exhilarated by X3 and wanting to see it again straight away. SR seems much better for me on DVD (I received the Ultimate Collection set for free, I didn't buy it). But I still think SR is less exciting. In SR, it gave us more Lex Luthor (zzzzz), copied huge chunks of the original STM (even in the plane scene, which is itself a copy of the helicopter rescue in STM, there was the copied dialogue and Lois's fumbling with the seatbelt reminded me of Rogue in the X-jet in X2). I also didn't like the plasticky-looking 'photo-realistic' CGI Superman in that sequence, but i admit i was gripping the seat with tension with the way the plane scene was filmed as it hurtled towards the ground. Most of Superman's flying in the movie was excellent, the effects were excellent (though it did feel a very synthetic and overly CGI movie).
For me, the excitement of Storm flying, seeing Angel, Beast, Juggernaut, Multiple Man, more of McKellen's Magneto and some good Phoenix moments far exceeded any pleasures i got from Superman. That's how I feel.
I'm not as much a fan of Superman as I am of X-Men, but I did expect Singer to deliver something even better than X2 because of the creative freedom, time, and budget he had at his disposal. He chose to do a rehash. It would have got more points from me if it had included the Krypton exploration sequence as a sci-fi wow moment of something never seen before, if he had made Superman less emo, effete and irresponsible and stopped laying on pretentious Christ imagery. Superman, Lois and Lex are pretty idiotic in this movie. And the opening scene with Lex getting the widow's money as lightning flashed melodramatically in the background was like a scene from one of those crappy TV movies on late at night.
That's my view. I still don't think Superman Returns is a load of rubbish, it is more a misfire, a misdirection, a series of poor creative decisions that reek of too much director's vision and not enough director's respect (or knowlege) of the original comicbook character.
SR was a fairly weak and derivative story that was told stylishly well (if rather dull in its colour tones). X3 was a great story that was sometimes weakly told although visually rich. Both movies have their failings. But I prefer X3 - it's more immediate, the story is more resonant...and this is despite the classic Phoenix Saga being a disappointment in places. I noticed Cyclops' quick death, Jean standing around at Alcatraz and Rogue taking the cure, and Storm not doing much on Alcatraz on my first viewing - and I didn't like any of that stuff... but the good far outweighed the bad.
SR felt to me like a PR campaign to buy the dolls more than a movie so to hear the words truth and justice felt hollow. We expect alot out of such cultural icons
