Advice From a Fanboy: Superman Edition
- Thread starter MovieBob
- Start date
Smallville has an interesting premise but is squandered at every turn between a new lame "meteor" villain and "WE NEED MOAR FANSERVICE! MOOOOOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRRR!!!!!!"
Oddly I love CW other "impossible in the real world" action show, Supernatrual, I don't knows what causes that.
Oddly I love CW other "impossible in the real world" action show, Supernatrual, I don't knows what causes that.
Superman can't work in film (or TV, for that matter. And I'm not really convinced that he works particularly well in comics) because he's Superman.
He's invincible and (basically) all-powerful - that does not a compelling narrative make.
So every single incarnation of Superman ends up manufacturing some hackneyed excuse why he can't use his near-omnipotence to save the day immediately - usually involving Kryptonite. The tension comes not from the plot ("How will Superman save the day this time?") but from "When will the writer allow Superman to be super, and win?"
It's a bit like how Captain Scarlet kept getting locked in cupboards* so he couldn't go around being immortal and drawing all the drama out of things, until the end of the episode when he would inevitably break the door down or whatever, and rescue everyone. Like he could have done right at the beginning, if he hadn't been locked in that cupboard.
Except with Superman it's always, always Kryptonite. Sometimes the Kryptonite is a different colour, though.
*Substitute 'bonked on head', or your other favourite 'Captain Scarlet can't help his friends right now, kids!' excuse.
He's invincible and (basically) all-powerful - that does not a compelling narrative make.
So every single incarnation of Superman ends up manufacturing some hackneyed excuse why he can't use his near-omnipotence to save the day immediately - usually involving Kryptonite. The tension comes not from the plot ("How will Superman save the day this time?") but from "When will the writer allow Superman to be super, and win?"
It's a bit like how Captain Scarlet kept getting locked in cupboards* so he couldn't go around being immortal and drawing all the drama out of things, until the end of the episode when he would inevitably break the door down or whatever, and rescue everyone. Like he could have done right at the beginning, if he hadn't been locked in that cupboard.
Except with Superman it's always, always Kryptonite. Sometimes the Kryptonite is a different colour, though.
*Substitute 'bonked on head', or your other favourite 'Captain Scarlet can't help his friends right now, kids!' excuse.
First off, KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!!!
Secondly, I can just imagine Superman swooping in on a terrorist bombing and moving a building slightly to the left to save everyone and then having the terrorists shake there fists and say "Stinking Americans always coming in here and ruining our bombings!"
It would be interesting to see a Superman movie that tries to go all out and be real big. We have the technology to do it after-all nowadays. Still if they can make something worth of watching more then once ten at least it will beat out some other Superman properties.
Secondly, I can just imagine Superman swooping in on a terrorist bombing and moving a building slightly to the left to save everyone and then having the terrorists shake there fists and say "Stinking Americans always coming in here and ruining our bombings!"
It would be interesting to see a Superman movie that tries to go all out and be real big. We have the technology to do it after-all nowadays. Still if they can make something worth of watching more then once ten at least it will beat out some other Superman properties.
At WonderCon (last?) year I got Adam West to say aloud "Who the hell do you think I am? I'M THE GOD DAMN BATMAN!"Moriarty70 said:
True Story.
Smallville is overall weak (though I think when they stopped trying to be different and just ran with stuff actually from the comics it got decent and posed some interesting interpretations), but to totally deny its impact is a bit jarring. It has run for several seasons, started interest in hero-based shows (which recently gave us No Ordinary Family as well as Season 1 of Heroes a few years before it), and brought in one of my favorite recurring characters on Chuck, so laughing it off is a bit much. Of course, it is easy to laught at the show sometimes. They did make Aquaman kind of a badass though, and considering popular consciousness, that's pretty impressive.
Oh yeah, Wonder Woman never showed up on Smallville because of the movie deal as well. A shame they're just doing another show, but hopefully they can give the character some of the dignity lost with the last show. I vote Lewis Lovhaug be made a consultant.
Oh yeah, Wonder Woman never showed up on Smallville because of the movie deal as well. A shame they're just doing another show, but hopefully they can give the character some of the dignity lost with the last show. I vote Lewis Lovhaug be made a consultant.
As long as they FINALLY put Brainiac on the Big Screen I couldn't care less. Be ven better if they got Casey Affleck for the part.
That's just BS. Sorry but it is. A lot of stories center around the people close to Clark trying to stop figuring out Supermans identity. I just don't buy it. It's like the breaking point where I'm no longer bothered to suspend my imaginationSpaceMedarotterX said:
I swear to fucking God, if they make Luthor the villain again, I am going to find a Warner Bros. executive and stab him with a ball point pen. ENOUGH WITH LUTHOR ALREADY!
No there WERE a lot of stories, in the silver age. In the Silver Age everything was stupid.Varya said:
And way back then it was always something like 'super hypnotism' or something else, or using a body double to appear as Superman and Clark Kent at the same time. Although no if you can, show me a recent story where someones tried to find his real identity.
Oh hell ya! Make this Superman movie with a threat that big and I can guarantee it won't fail. Maybe they should bring Brainiac into the picture... Maybe, but they might be reserving him for a Justice League movie.
Admittedly, my contact with the comic is limited, I am talking about what I've seen from movies and DCAU, where it at least is touched upon several times.SpaceMedarotterX said:
However, even if what you say is true, I don't buy it. You mean to say that people just don't care that the guy working on a NEWSPAPER look a lot like the worlds greatest superhero? Simply never bringing up the fact isn't enough. Has all bad guys decided suddenly that you simply do not try to kill his family and friends anymore? Doesn't the tabloids and paparazzi care about shit like superheroes? Even a Superman-robot would be totally worthless. If I saw Clark next to Superman I would still wonder why the hell Supermans twin-brother doesn't have superpowers.
Well firstly the reason he doesn't have a mask is largely due to concept of a "grandfather clause", an exception that allows an old rule to continue to apply to some existing situations, when a new rule will apply to all future situations. Because Superman was created in the 30's, where there wasn't tv or internet, there were less risks with his identity. Because he's a classic we let it slide because it's part of his character, but if a new hero didn't wear a mask we'd have to write about them dealing with the consequences.Varya said:
But it's touched on in Birthright, that Clark has a very generic face (but distintive blue eyes), however he also wears heavy prescription glasses (his eyesight immediately corrects for the thick lenses), as you might know from real life these tend distort the shape of the eyes. Anyone who tried to look through Clark's glasss would think he was nearly blind.
A big thing is how he acts and talks, he can see peoples reactions and facial expressions in slow motion and has amazing comprehension of sound. So modifying the way he acts and talks to be completely different is very easy. There are many talented actors in real life able to make you think they're two different people and Clark's possibly the best. In All Star Superman it's pretty amazing in that he's drawn identical in facial features when Clark and Superman but simply in posture, actions and expressions he looks completely different. Reading this comic you could believe they were too different people.
And honestly who would believe a god worked a day job?
Yeah getting an actor who both looks like him and can pull of the switch is very hard. Christopher Reeves was quite good at this despite the ridiculousness (and poor quality) of his movies.Varya said: