super, man?

I decided to go out from the office quite early last night, escaping from my usually hectic evening. Oh, just to walk around, catch some nice dinner and maybe something else.

And that something else turned out to be a rendez-vous with Superman.

He was the first american superhero I remember. As I already wrote some times ago, he was my inspiration and he made me believe that a man could fly (well, for about 2 seconds). He was the representation of justice, freedom and yes, in a way, he was perfect.

He was an icon.

Did I see that yesterday?

Well, yes AND no.

You see, Superman was bigger than life on the screen. I couldn't refrain myself for holding my breath during his first task, which was rescuing a crashing airplane. I was flabbergasted on how Bryan Singer set the pace on that particular scene. In that moment, I screamed inside, "HELL FUCKIN' YEAH!". Wait... actually I did screamed that out loud.

That was the Superman I remember. Fast-thinking, efficient and no bullshit whatsoever.

He knows how powerful he is, with his usual arsenal of abilities, he kicked ass in this movie. Damn, even his freakin' EYE is invulnerable.

But.

Well, before the but, I would like to tell a story between Batman and Supes. In one story arc (Batman: Hush), Batman made Catwoman throw Lois Lane from the Daily Planet tower to free Superman from a mind-control. Why? Because Batman knew that whatever happens, Supes will always make the right choice. No dilemma, no second thoughts; fast-thinking and efficient.
Logic before emotion. It's the way Supes thinks.

Yet, in this movie, Superman is, I don't know, becoming quite emotional.

Anyone who saw the first two Superman movies (the best ones, that is) would remember that he was indeed very logical.

It's not necessarily a bad thing, mind you. It's just that THIS Superman isn't the one I remember.

We live in an era in which men are more in touch with their emotional side, indeed. So I can't really blame the direction they took, since one of the goal of seeing this movie is to give its viewers a belonging feeling, something they could relate to.

Superman might fly into a new direction, but I think it is suitable for the present conditions.

When I stepped in into the theater, one of my primary questions was whether Brandon Routh would be at least on par with the late Christopher Reeve.

Well...

Nope.

You see, Superman is one troubled character. Yes, he has that kryptonite superpowers that keep him from aging, but you know, this is a fifth film. Superman should at least LOOK older than the previous films. Not to mention he disappeared for 5 years (ok, now let's start the time continuity game while traveling in space), but hey... he should at least look troubled, you know, with wrinkles or such. That's why I love Alex Ross' rendition of Superman in "Peace on Earth" story, which you could see Singer took one particular scene of Supes scanning the earth from it.

Superman looks like a man who carries all the burden in the world (something that Singer seemed to imply in one scene). He is not always fresh. There's almost no trace of problem on his face. And for me, it's a big problem.

He doesn't have to look 50, but I don't know, sometimes you could see life carved on the face of a 25 years-old. I wanted to see that. And I didn't get it.

And Routh is waaaay too clean, too handsome and too trouble-free.

He does play his part well, mind you. He manages to do something that people wouldn't expect him to be able to; not being Christopher Reeve. Kudos for that, kid.

But... as I said, he's too light. He's the Coffee Americano. The dissolved version of Supes.

Hey, give the kid a chance, he's new after all... I can see a brighter future for him if he stays in the franchise.

Kevin Spacey?

Weeeellll... he's oookay, not twisted enough, but malicious and raw. His plot is megalomaniac enough that you'll believe it came from Luthor's bald head. And someone said that his Luthor is quite similar to Hackman's

Quoting the film:

WROOOOOOOOONNNGGG!!!!

Gene's Luthor was a buffon, surrounded by his own private oompa loompas... this Luthor, well... he's a genius, megalomaniac, obsessive, cheater, coward, cruel and the list goes on. And he's a dirty fighter as well. For the first time we could see the dark street-side of Luthor.

But somehow still not twisted enough. I don't know.

Lois Lane?

Grew into a stronger being and a tougher reporter. Mother of one, "happily" engaged. But well, you know... yadda yadda yadda. Nothing special.

Bryan Singer proved himself capable to turn one franchise into an unexpected direction. The storytelling flows smoothly, minor problems here and there, but forgivable. Some extraordinary gargantuan scenes, especially at the end. And some twist here and there. Typical Singers.

It's a good, if not excellent, movie, but still...

I wonder what would Reeve think right now?

Link-o-rama 001

I like to browse.

I like to take a virtual promenade into the internet garden. So, I often stumble into few cool sites that I like to mention to my friends. But the problem is, I always forget to give them the urls after.

It's time to pay some old debts.

historical sounds in MP3 formats, very cool... you got MLK's "I have a dream", Einstein explaining the E=MC2, etc.

Look for storylines, hear what people say in New York and Chicago.

This guy is hilarious... let's all go to Jamaica!

Now, this Zidane's controversial headbutt is really being the talk of the town, why don't we see the evidences as seen by several parties.

For those who love to play with photoshop, this site might provide some great tips and tricks.

This guy is my hero... as a comic writer, he showed me that being a geek is cool... browse inside his site to unfold various cool thingies.

Nostalgic gamer? Yet you're using a Mac? Fear not, this place offers you downloadable oldies such as Syndicate, Sim City, etc.

I like fooling around with my guitar, so I like to look for chords in here, here or for some oldies, here.

Hmmm, I think that's about it. If any of you remember that I mentioned to you whatever cool site, please let me know... and maybe I will do thing kind of posting routinely... like a weekly thing or such.

Anyway, back to work. *sigh*