On the 20th anniversary of the world premiere of Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns” in Los Angeles, one of its crucial crew members has discussed the issues with casting and tone that hobbled the production.
Perhaps the strongest piece of legacy the film gave us is Brandon Routh, a widely liked and still fun actor to watch all these years later across films like “Scott Pilgrim” and television like “Legends of Tomorrow”. There are also some solid set pieces. But there’s little denying issues with the story, Kate Bosworth’s rather bland Lois Lane, and the whole Singer/Spacey element of it all.
Say what you will about Zack Snyder’s “Man of Steel” or James Gunn’s “Superman,” those offered at least distinct, individual takes on the character in a way that ‘Returns’, with its slavishness to the Richard Donner films, did not.
Recently, the film’s editor and composer John Ottman spoke with Half the Picture to reflect on the film and says while he remains proud of the hard work done on it, there’s no getting around some of its core issues:
“I think that’s one of the problems with Superman Returns is that we were so trying to be so reverential to the ’78 version. It was crippled to go in a new direction. At the same time, I like that fact that it it stayed true to the feeling that Superman should have. He should be a very positive, good force.
When those dark ones that came later, I was like, what is this garbage, you know? Um, and so not that ours was great, it’s like ours was very flawed as well. It was a beautiful film. I think it was beautifully done. I just think the plot by Lex Luthther was derivative of before.”
He then goes on to say Parker Posey’s character “had nothing to do…she just sits around looking depressed with her little dog” and says there “was something very off about the plot”. A big issue was with Lois Lane:
I thought Kate Bosworth was fantastic, but she was miscast. I thought that Lois Lane, not that everyone has to be Margot Kidder, we needed her to be more endearing. We need to laugh with her one at least once or something, and she was so ‘hard-hitting reporter with a Pulitzer’ at like, what 12? You know I just didn’t I didn’t buy it.
The funny thing is we were so concerned about [whether] Brandon pulled it off, [but] the whole time it was really her character that was the problem I think. Not that she was bad, she was excellent in the film [and] she’s a really good actress, it’s just I felt she was miscast or she was miswritten or something. It wasn’t her fault.
So all along it really wasn’t Brandon that shouldn’t have been the worry of ours, it was that role, I think. I think they would have had a more fun relationship. Had should be a little more endearing in a way.”
He adds he remains “very proud of the work on the film. It’s a very beautifully done movie” and that “there are sequences I’m super proud of. um musically, editorially, and everything.”
Made on a budget of $204 million and grossing $391.1 million worldwide, Warners scrapped plans for a sequel and ultimately rebooted the character with Henry Cavill taking over the role.
