Scene Anatomy 101: Superman Returns
Posted by George H. Sirois on 04.04.2007
Looks like someone’s holding a bit of a grudge…
The "Re-visitation Hours" continue here. In the same year that we saw Rocky Balboa re-emerge and step back into the ring, audiences saw another iconic character return to the big screen. Only this time, while Rocky Balboa brought back both characters and actors that we had known for 30 years, this film only brought back the characters. Like Batman Begins was in 2005, this film was supposed to be a simple re-booting of a franchise. Every actor and actress that we had become familiar with hadn't been playing their characters in almost two decades, and one actor in particular – Christopher Reeve – had unfortunately become paralyzed in 1995 and passed away in 2004. So if this franchise was to be reborn, it would require a complete overhaul of its cast and a whole new ensemble of actors and actresses to assume the iconic roles. After over a decade of many different attempts to get the right story down, director Bryan Singer came aboard, and by coming up with a storyline that would make this new film a loose sequel to the second film in the original franchise, this is where the film goes from a rebooting of a franchise to a revisiting. This brings us to the 2006 film…
The many problems that plagued this production were documented in many places, one of them being the column I wrote last year: "What Might Have Been: Spoiling the Supe," so I'm not going to go into those details all over again. What Singer was able to do with this film was take the two weaker entries of the original Superman franchise – III & IV: The Quest for Peace – and sweep them under the rug. According to Singer & Co., the trilogy to watch is Superman, Superman II and Superman Returns.
This new film takes place five years after the second film, and we learn at the beginning that Superman (now played by Brandon Routh) leaves Earth after fragments of his home planet Krypton are reportedly found. He finds nothing in his search, and returns to Earth. The problem is that the people that labeled him their savior have moved on with their lives. Even Lois Lane (now played by Kate Bosworth) has gotten involved with another man and given birth to a son.
One man who has definitely not forgotten about Superman is Lex Luthor (now played by Kevin Spacey). After spending two terms in prison – one for his hijacking of the missile launch and one for his escape from prison & aligning himself with the three Kryptonian criminals – Luthor managed to dupe a wealthy old woman out of her fortune and use her money to put his ultimate plan into motion. Once he was free of prison and the old woman, he returned to the Fortress of Solitude where he and Ms. Teschmacher journeyed to years ago. This time, he went with his new partner Kitty Kowalski (Parker Posey) and a group of thugs that he became acquainted with in prison, and when he arrived, he commanded that the Memories of Jor-El (still played by Marlon Brando, one of two direct references to the earlier films; the other being a picture of Glenn Ford as Jonathan Kent) tell him everything about the crystals that created the Fortress. Once he learned everything he needed to know, Luthor promptly stole all the crystals from the Fortress and took back the rest of the Kryptonite meteorite he bought from a man in Addas Ababa.
As the film continues, there are two separate storylines going on: Superman getting re-acquainted with the world he left behind, and Luthor successfully merging the primary crystal with some of the Kryptonite. The structure of this works very well because it builds anticipation by keeping these two characters apart for so much of the film.
It's only when Superman returns to his Fortress of Solitude does he notice that Luthor's up to something. Fortunately, Lois is already on Luthor's tracks, but unfortunately her investigations led to her capture. Once she sends out a fax to the Daily Planet giving her coordinates, Superman is on his way to rescue her. However, Luthor has already dropped the primary crystal and Kryptonite into the Atlantic Ocean. Underneath the water, the crystal activates and it starts to build its own mass of land that looks like a darker nightmarish version of the Fortress of Solitude. The land comes up to the surface and slowly continues to grow. Luthor's plan is to use this new landmass to swallow up the continents on either side of it, killing billions of people and giving himself a haven that Superman wouldn't dare go near because of the Kryptonite that is in every bit of it.
Lois is rescued by Superman, who turns back towards the new landmass. He lands with a loud boom, announcing his arrival. He looks around as dark clouds loom overhead. The creation of this new land has literally played havoc with the atmosphere, causing terrible storms all around it.
Luthor comes into view. He is standing at the top of a crystal platform, satisfied with the landmass' progress. His thugs are nearby, and Kitty is standing behind him.
LUTHOR: See anything familiar?
Superman looks up at Luthor. This is the first time they have seen each other since Superman left him for the police at the Fortress of Solitude. You can see it in Luthor's eyes that the past five years have caused him to hate the Man of Steel even more than before, if that were possible.
Superman slowly walks up the stairs to the platform as he answers Luthor's question. As he walks, the Kryptonite inside the land starts to glow, reacting to the presence of a Kryptonian being.
SUPERMAN: I see an old man's sick joke.
LUTHOR: Really? Because I see my new apartment… and a place for Kitty, one for my friends, and that place over there, I'll rent out.
Luthor always was very heavy into real estate. He has been ever since his father told him how "people are no damn good, but they'll always need land and they will pay through the nose to get it." Lex has taken those words as gospel ever since, even after his father later told him to "get out."
LUTHOR: But you know, maybe you're right. You know, maybe it is a little… cold. What's the word I'm searching for? It's a little… alien. It lacks that human touch.
That's the one thing that Luthor has over Superman, and he never ceases to rub it in his face. As much as Superman wants to claim Earth as his home, it will never be his birth home. Lex, on the other hand, as much as he believes the people of Earth have never given him the respect he feels he deserves, is a native of this planet. (Thankfully that remains a fact, even after the aborted J.J. Abrams script that had Luthor secretly be a Kryptonian.)
Superman reaches the top of the mountain and looks Luthor in the eyes.
SUPERMAN: You have something that belongs to me.
Lex doesn't respond. He looks closer to Superman and likes what he sees. Since the two of them are standing on a rock laced with Kryptonite, Lex can see a bead of sweat dripping down Superman's face. He can feel himself losing his powers, and thanks to that little bit of sweat, Lex knows exactly what he must feel like now: a mortal.
Lex lashes out with a punch to Superman's chest and watches as his arch-nemesis tumbles weakly down the mountain. He lands hard on the ground and looks at his hands. He can see specs of what was the green meteorite mixed in with the rock.
Luthor walks up to Superman and mocks him by trilling the word that's most definitely on Superman's mind.
LUTHOR: Kr-r-r-r-r-ryptonite!
Lex victoriously stands before his weakened adversary. And he's never been against kicking a man when he's down. Especially when that man's a Superman.
LUTHOR: You're asking yourself, "How?!"
Lex kicks Superman in the stomach, knocking him down. He follows that with several more to his stomach and chest.
LUTHOR: Didn't your Dad ever teach you to look?! Before you leap?!
Superman gasps for breath as Lex crouches down in front of him, looking him in the eye.
LUTHOR: Crystals. They're amazing, aren't they? They inherit the traits of the minerals around them. Kind of like a son inheriting the traits of his father!
At the word "father," Luthor gives him another kick in the head, turning Superman over on his back.
LUTHOR: You took away five years of my life. I'm just returning the favor!
Lex attempts to stomp on Superman's face, but with all the energy he has left, he grabs Lex's boot and tries to knock him off his feet. Fortunately for Luthor, his thugs are nearby and they quickly grab Superman and pull him off by grabbing his face. As they pull him away, we can hear Superman desperately crying out.
SUPERMAN: I'm still Superman!
He's saying that as one last attempt to get these people to be as afraid of him as they once were. But it's not working. The thugs pound Superman with punches and kicks, knocking him to the ground.
Kitty starts crying as she sees Superman getting treated like this. She had no idea how much Lex hated him and she didn't know the lengths to which he would go to see his enemy broken down and destroyed.
THUG: Get up! Come on!
The thugs are now taunting Superman, knocking him down as soon as he tries to get back up. Once he's knocked down, his head is pushed in a puddle of water.
Lex walks up to Superman, eager to give the final blow. But what he has in mind is much different than what everyone else is doing. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a large shiv made out of Kryptonite.
Luthor grabs Superman from behind and pulls him up to his knees. Then, he slams the Kryptonite shiv right into his enemy's back. Superman cries out in pain as Lex snaps the handle of the shiv off, keeping the blade inside him.
LUTHOR: Now, fly.
Lex pushes Superman to the ground. Superman struggles to get to his feet. Lex mocks him again by holding out his arms in the same fashion we've seen Superman flying before in this film. With no strength left, Superman falls back and off the landmass, dropping into the ocean.
Luthor looks down to see Superman crashing into the water, satisfied that he finally had a chance to physically best The Man of Steel.
LUTHOR: So long, Superman.
This scene works on so many levels. First of all, like I said before, it is a great payoff with these two characters being apart for all of the previous segments. The anticipation built and built until finally, they came face to face for the first time in years.
Secondly, since this is the third time Luthor and Superman met, we see that the five year absence has left Luthor a much more bitter and angry man than he was before. In the past, he playfully toyed with Superman as he dangled the Kryptonite on a chain in front of him and slowly placed it around his neck. In this film, Luthor vented all of his anger out with punches and kicks once Superman was vulnerable. If Luthor had done this before, it wouldn't have had the same impact, but since this was the third time they met, and Luthor's plans had been thwarted twice by this man, it made sense for this calculated genius to get his hands dirty.
And finally, it proved Lex Luthor to be a credible threat since he was able to go toe-to-toe with Superman for the first time. In the first film, Superman tossed him aside without a second thought before he found the Kryptonite chain. In the second film, all Luthor did was ride on the coattails of the Kryptonian Criminals (and ride on Ursa's back at the end of the film). Here, even though he clearly had to devise a home-field advantage to bring Superman down to his level, it worked and took away the campy and jokey factors that hurt his character in the earlier films.
Now that the character of Lex Luthor is where it should be, hopefully the next film will go in a different direction and bring another of Superman's comic book enemies into the mix. And hopefully, it won't take three movies to get the next one right.
Next week, I'll be taking a look at one of the deleted scenes from a fairly small film about a guy, a girl and a sinking ship. You might have heard of it.
