Cast: Christopher Reeves, Marlon Brando, Margot Kidder, Gene Hackman

Director: Richard Donner

Screenplay: Mario Puzo

Running time: 2 hrs 31 mins

Genre: Action/Adventure



CRITIQUE:


There are three things in common between The Godfather and Superman: the Movie. For one, it has Marlon Brando in it. Second, it’s written for the screen by Mario Puzo. And third (here’s the clinch), Superman is, without a doubt, the godfather of all superhero movies created in Hollywood cinema history. Anyone who is unfamiliar with either the ludicrously ubiquitous ‘S’ emblem or the red-caped Man of Steel himself should really pack their bags, abandon the planet and go live in Pluto. For every web-slinging, rubber-masked hero with tight, mojo-hugging pants, there’s the immortal, saviour-figure of Superman ready to take bullets in the chest, catch terrorists, stop train-wrecks, hurl up falling helicopters, swim through magma, restrain tectonic quakes, and even reverse the world’s spinning to put everything back to place once again. Suffice to say, not even Spiderman, Batman and Iron Man, individually or altogether, can carry out such humongous tasks. So what the world needed is a beefy, colossally chested Jesus-Christ-figure that can defy all the laws of physics, and Hollywood gives it to us. Hell, imagine if Superman goes to Afghanistan and get things done and dusted. Easy peasy, wouldn't it?


It is easy to get cynical and be dismissive of this film’s utterly unreal premise, but let us sit back and formulate what Hollywood really stands for: maximum entertainment equals maximum profit. Realism is not this industry’s business – leave the gritty social-dramas to the Europeans. This is a comic book, for Chrissake. So once you get through that fact, Superman is easier to gulp down. And it’s a rather joyous piece of entertainment, an amorous homage to pop culture’s most iconic hero. It’s all very palpable with the film’s craft. From the disarmingly effective opening credits to the superb frame-by-frame composition, Richard Donner knows to how operate his camera to capture stunning shots that perfectly enhance the film’s epic scope. Here he gives an otherworldly feel to the opener’s planet Krypton scenes and shifts to a natural tone as soon as Superbaby lands on Earth. The countryside wide-angle panoramic shots almost have a Malickian aesthetic to them.


The film’s ace also comes in its perfect casting. And it’s all in spades. Back in the day, who would expect the then-unknown Reeves to nail a role like this, but his chiselled looks, sculpted edges and ridiculously square jawline won him over Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, James Caan and John Voigt in what must be the most top-billing audition process in Hollywood history. He brings an effortless charm married with gravitas to the role that has always been revered by adoring fans. Notwithstanding his unknown name in the business, to cash in big bucks, Donner needed big names: Brando and Hackman. Both names were billed atop Reeves’ own, even they were only supporting acts, Brando in particular, whose appearance is no more than the film’s ten-minute prologue, costing Warner Bros. an alleged $4 million talent fee and was given a rather poor costume from the wardrobe department, but his all-knowing, God-like Daddy Jor-El brings enough seriousness to the otherwise awkward sci-fi-themed beginning. Hackman seems to have had the time of his life playing bald villain Lex Luthor, the psycho-cum-academic who threatens to destroy civilisation – but the lads are very nearly eclipsed by one Margot Kidder, whose Lois Lane is a wonderful template to comic-book leading ladies; subtly attractive, funny and a bit of a smart-arse with a softy core. Her character interplay with the Superman ego on the rooftop scene is wittily observed; something that displays charm and knowing altogether. This is a relationship that glues the entire film together.


VERDICT:

In Hollywood’s hall of caped crusaders and masked heroes, Superman lords over every single comic-book-turned-silverscreen superhero movie. Nevertheless flawed just like the Man of Steel himself, one doesn’t really associate realism and logic with Superman, in the same way as expecting your nerdy newspaper neighbour can really fly and reverse-spin the Earth – but this has enough spectacle, humour, wit and most of all, heart to make this an enduring, unabashed piece of old-fashioned entertainment.



RATING: A