Take The City And Run

Directed by Bryan Singer

Clark Kent: You may sometimes be an outcast, but you will never be alone.

It’s been said that this is meant to be a sequel to 1978’s Superman Returns and 1980’s Superman II, with little or no regard for the later Superman III or Superman IV: The Quest For Peace. That’s all well and good as those first two are far superior to the last two, but don’t try too hard to reconcile how this new installment fits in exactly. The intricacies will drive you nuts if you try to make it all work perfectly in your head. But, really, that will be nothing new to anyone who’s read an ongoing comic book series for a good period of time — characters barely age while the world around them advances, and timelines generally run amok. What really matters is the current storyline. In this case, it’s quite a good effort. The film is at its best, much like the 1978 film, when striving for eye-popping spectacle. And there’s plenty of it. Superman has always, no matter the media, been at his best while in action, and the action is always at its best when it portrays him in some character-revealing way. Yes, we all know Superman — truth, justice, and all that stuff — but he’s always been most interesting while struggling to come to terms with his power and how to apply it while avoiding a loss of his own self. Often, that’s what makes him interesting as a character. There are plenty of character moments within the whirlwind action of the film, and it is the balance of these that make the film so immensely enjoyable. As is often the case with superhero films, though, once the villain/world domination plot fully kicks in, the film soars a little less as it strives to satisfy the standard beats toward an eventual end left open just enough to warrant a sequel. Of course, that’s quite a lot like many comic books, as well, isn’t it?
[IMDb]