SUPERMAN RETURNS
It's not really summer until you hit that first midnight screening of a film you've been dying to see. By "dying to see", I mean that for the past year, you've poured over every Entertainment Weekly article that mentions the film, scoured the internet for any tid bit of insider information you can find, prepped everyone you know to the brink of insanity on just how awesome this movie is going to be! Everytime you see the trailer, you grab the arm of the person next to you and fiercely whisper, "I can't WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIE!!!!!" Your friends are sick of hearing you talk about it, your roommate will punch you if she hears you say, "I grew up watching the original on Beta!" one more time, and you just can't get enough of it. You are unfazed by their rolling eyes and uninterested sighs, and come screening time, you have no tolerance or patience for tardiness. You are a movie nerd, and your Summer Movie Season has officially begun.
Last year, the film I was dying to see was Batman Begins. I lived, breathed, and slept Batman to the tune of close to $100 spent on theater tickets. Janay and I celebrated our Batmanniversary just a few weeks ago, marking one year to the day that we saw our first midnight screening. Few things have brought more joy to my heart or goosebumps to my arms over the past year than Batman. Until now.
For me, I know a film is good if my face hurts when I leave the theater, from having the ecstatic, full-face grin plastered on my face for the past two and a half hours, thrilled to death just to be there. And folks, let me tell you, when Superman Returns ended in the wee hours of this morning, my face hurt. It hurt so good.
The entire experience was everything I had hoped for and more, starting with the trailers. (What?? you're saying, The trailers??? Just hang in there with me.) The teaser for Spider-Man 3 took me back to a movie going experience from about a year and a half ago. I'd gone to see Sin City on opening night with a sold-out crowd of hard-core graphic novel fans. One of the previews was the extended trailer for the newest Star Wars film that would be coming out. It was a fantastic trailer, but this was not the kind of audience that would be very excited by anything Star Wars-esque. After three minutes of light sabres and Ewan McGregor, the trailer ended and the audience was dead quiet. Never before and never since have I experienced such silence. Without missing a beat, a guy in the crowd shouted, "Does anyone NOT have a boner?" It was pretty much the most awesome thing I've ever heard. Case in point: that's how I felt watching the Spider-Man 3 teaser. It looks amazing, and I'm excited to see it........in summer 2007.
Back to Superman, its hard for me to know where to begin. The action sequences and CGI were incredible and seamless, and the rest of the film was visually stunning. Brandon Routh is my new favorite super hero (sorry Christian). His likeness to Christopher Reeves is unbelievable, right down to the awkward mannerisims of Clark Kent. There was a lot of humor mixed in, which helped to ease the tension between catastrophes. I just can't get over the special effects - some of the coolest I've ever seen, and every sequence made Superman's feats seem truly real, like he was within reach.
I can't say enough good things about the film, just that I'll probably go see it again tonight. Hello, my name is Sarah, and I'm a Movie Nerd.
2 comments:
I CANNOT WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIE!! (I yelled it since I am not sitting next to someone in a theater right now!) Adam's hero is and always has been Superman. He collected the comic books. One of the first things I saw him in was a Superman T-shirt. Keychain...he's going to have to read your review. He'll be sleepless.
We saw it tonight! I must also add that I love Brandon Routh. (I think I still may like Christian Bale more though...in a dark, mysterious super-hero kind of way.) I enjoyed it. 2 thumbs up if that means anything.
Post a Comment