The trailer for a new documentary about Superman is now online. Looks quite interesting. But, dammit, Bryan Singer is still trying to pass off Brandon Routh as having the "majesty" of Kal-El, and I'm just not feelin' it.
I'm hoping along with you, bro. Bryan Singer appears to be doing his best, but so much of it rests on the actor's own shoulders... If Brandon can channel that quiet confidence that Christopher did, it will work. Otherwise, it won't Pretty much as simple as that.
Maybe I'm not the right age, but while I really do like the first two Reeve Superman movies (I really love the first one), I don't really get that whole "majesty of Kal-El" from him, either.
Humble? Tegan? Are you talking about the dog who cheerfully decided that apple pie, or those chocolate-covered espresso beans, or certain liver-flavored arthritis medication should be hers, just 'cause we weren't around?
Humble?
. . . well, maybe in a secret identity or when Mom or Dad catches her at it, but never for long.
"Majesty?" Oh boy. I don't think "majestic," when I think of Kal-El, aka Clark Kent. I think inner strength, certainly. I think confidence. I think good-hearted, considerate, and I see someone who thinks before he strikes. But... "majestic?" Images of royalty, of haughtiness and arrogance, of command, that's what I think when you call someone "majestic." Clark Kent... and let's not split hairs here, he grew up Clark Kent, he was raised Clark Kent, he IS Clark Kent... is a farmboy who has explored the world and found that at heart, the people of the world aren't so different from people back home. They just don't see that yet.
The special effects will be good. There's no question about that in my mind. Some of the actors are going to give us performances that we'll be talking about for years to come. (I'm thinking Spacey and Langella there, naturally.) But Routh... is an unknown quantity. If Singer is approaching the character of Superman from that mindset, he's going to direct Routh in line with it... and well, we just don't know what that's going to mean.
Kal-El is like old money in the U.S. & Royalty from his planet. Here he is Clark Kent and he is humble and all that.
How do you think he gets away with that lousy disguise? Glasses and a lock of hair, puleeese!
It's all in the attitude. Kal-El is majestic, Clark Kent's a mamma's boy. It's not just a secret identity, it is a DUAL identity. But some people don't get it, and some people (like me) live it.
I see where you're going with it. I disagree, however. As I see the character, there is no "Kal-El" as a distinct persona. Kal-El is the name this baby was given by his birth parents on Krypton. However, his name, the way he thinks of himself, is "Clark Kent," the name given to him by his parents, the people who raised him and helped him be what he is, here on Earth, his home. The disguise thing can be rationalized or explained away however you like; psychic projection, mind alteration, sheer charisma, or just people's disbelief that they could be wrong about their own perceptions of other people. It's a meaningless argument; it works because it's a comics trope, a plot device.
I don't know what the comics community in general thinks of Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, but I'm remembering a line from it that I think got the whole thing right.
Routh is too skinny, but the voice inflection is close to Reeve's. I have to agree with
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Routh is too skinny, but the voice inflection is close to Reeve's. I have to agree with <ljuser = "selenesue">, young Brandon has big red boots to fill.
. . . and besides, I just canNOT see him singing "Superman's Sex-Life Boogie".
(I really ought to turn my old "Daily Planet" press badge into an icon for posts like this.)
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branchandroot
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-09 03:55 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-09 04:04 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-09 04:26 pm (UTC)Bastards!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-09 04:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-09 04:29 pm (UTC)It's a frog!
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-09 04:35 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-09 05:50 pm (UTC)[I didn't have an icon of Underdog so here's my dog Tegan. Humble dish-shine girl.]
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-09 11:32 pm (UTC)Humble?
. . . well, maybe in a secret identity or when Mom or Dad catches her at it, but never for long.
(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-09 04:41 pm (UTC)The special effects will be good. There's no question about that in my mind. Some of the actors are going to give us performances that we'll be talking about for years to come. (I'm thinking Spacey and Langella there, naturally.) But Routh... is an unknown quantity. If Singer is approaching the character of Superman from that mindset, he's going to direct Routh in line with it... and well, we just don't know what that's going to mean.
But see that's the point...
Date: 2006-05-09 07:05 pm (UTC)Here he is Clark Kent and he is humble and all that.
How do you think he gets away with that lousy disguise? Glasses and a lock of hair, puleeese!
It's all in the attitude. Kal-El is majestic, Clark Kent's a mamma's boy. It's not just a secret identity, it is a DUAL identity. But some people don't get it, and some people (like me) live it.
Re: But see that's the point...
Date: 2006-05-09 07:23 pm (UTC)Anyway, my $0.02.
Re: But see that's the point...
Date: 2006-05-09 08:57 pm (UTC)"Clark Kent is who I am. Superman is what I do."
Re: But see that's the point...
Date: 2006-05-09 10:03 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-09 10:02 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2006-05-09 11:34 pm (UTC). . . and besides, I just canNOT see him singing "Superman's Sex-Life Boogie".
(I really ought to turn my old "Daily Planet" press badge into an icon for posts like this.)