Superman Lives!
I’m a big fan of comic book movies. I can’t explain the fascination since I didn’t read comic books as a kid. Honestly, I used to read a few pages if I found them lying around, but I couldn’t believe anyone would be interested in dialogue so steeped in cheese. Maybe I was reading the wrong comic books.
I’ve been following the new Superman movie project for several years now, and it hasn’t been an easy journey. The rumors that Ashton Kutcher was up for the title role damn near killed me. It didn’t get much better when they picked McG, the slick director from the Charlie’s Angels movies, to helm the project. I don’t have anything personal against the guy (except for that silly moniker), but I hated both of those movies. Everything about his music video style is all wrong for a franchise as important as Superman. I might compare his selection to hiring Michael Bay to direct Before Sunset. I also might have thought, considering the inspired hiring of Christopher Nolan (Memento) for Batman, that studios would make a trend out of hiring real directors for comic book fare.
Well, the latest news is that McG is out, for whatever reasons, and Bryan Singer, the director of both X-Men movies, is in. Hallelujah. I thought the X-Men films, especially the second, were fantastic comic book movies. If anybody can give Superman the respect and context it deserves, Bryan Singer is the guy. It will probably mean that Singer won’t direct the next X-Men movie, and that’s fine. Bring in some fresh blood and a new perspective. But please, don’t hire McG.
