PatrickG
05-27-2006, 07:30 AM
Just finished the novelization of SUPERMAN RETURNS.
All in all, decent story. Raises questions for which the answers are not clear cut. There are spoilers out there floating around which either got cut from the novel or are not in the finished film; don't believe everything you hear or read.
Now, with novelizations, writers typically embelish quite a bit of detail and in this case, Marv Wolfman seems to be at his absolute best when he's writing a section that's obviously of his own creation like the first meeting or Jor-El and Lara.
His references seem a bit heavy handed (Christopher George? Mort Schwartz!?) and his dialogue style and transitions don't seem to mesh well with the dialogue he was supplied, which he uses verbatim along with a great deal verbatim from the original Donner film.
He also makes nods to the pre-Crisis comics, seems to indicate that SUPERMAN II didn't happen at all (which meshes up with Donner's latest statements and probably reflects the final drafts/editing) and even tosses in a contemporary nod or two. For instance, the Krypton sequence has a pretty glaring reference to the relatively recent Loeb/Kelly/Casey/Schultz RETURN TO KRYPTON. Here's a hint, it was never mentioned on any version of Krypton until that story.
I think the average comic book reader can spot the difference in style between Wolfman's embelishments and the screenplay in this novel. It's pretty obvious when he starts adding details and incidental characters. He takes minor details from the comics and weaves them in. He also seems confused by a newspaper headline; I'd bet good money the headline is a Smallville reference and, for whatever reason, Wolfman instead weaves a small, strange subplot culminating in a statue of Superman that I guarantee will never make it into the film.
All in all, very good. It IS a sequel to the original Donner movie. It mirrors it, almost beat-for-beat, including some recycled tactics and gags... However, I think if you see this as a deconstruction of the first movie, a bookend that can stand on its own, you won't mind.
If you don't remember the first movie or never saw it, I think you'll enjoy this. If you loved the first movie, you'll love this.
I think the only real haters on this will be people who remember the movie and don't find it to be one of the best takes on Superman.
Spacey will be in full Hackman mode for this, minus an ounce of camp. However, he is evil to the Nth degree here. We're talking Snidely Whiplash territory. Be prepared for that. I think it's delightful. Take Nicholson's Joker and a heavy dose of Hackman, filtered through Kevin Spacey.
You remember Hackman's witty putdowns and murderous glee? Well, pretty much imagine that accounting for every syllable of dialogue coming out Lex's mouth in this film. Hackman's Lex didn't shoot off a gem with every line but THIS Luthor pretty much can't go a line of dialogue without some kind of IQ-related putdown. THIS Luthor couldn't walk into a 7-11 to get change for laundry without launching a distinct clever insult at everyone in the store.
Oh. And some people may gripe on the ending. Whatever you're expecting, you're probably wrong even if you've read previous drafts of the movie script. And if the ending being a surprise bothers you, well, buy the book or be bothered. No comics or internet spoilers to date will give this one away.
All in all, decent story. Raises questions for which the answers are not clear cut. There are spoilers out there floating around which either got cut from the novel or are not in the finished film; don't believe everything you hear or read.
Now, with novelizations, writers typically embelish quite a bit of detail and in this case, Marv Wolfman seems to be at his absolute best when he's writing a section that's obviously of his own creation like the first meeting or Jor-El and Lara.
His references seem a bit heavy handed (Christopher George? Mort Schwartz!?) and his dialogue style and transitions don't seem to mesh well with the dialogue he was supplied, which he uses verbatim along with a great deal verbatim from the original Donner film.
He also makes nods to the pre-Crisis comics, seems to indicate that SUPERMAN II didn't happen at all (which meshes up with Donner's latest statements and probably reflects the final drafts/editing) and even tosses in a contemporary nod or two. For instance, the Krypton sequence has a pretty glaring reference to the relatively recent Loeb/Kelly/Casey/Schultz RETURN TO KRYPTON. Here's a hint, it was never mentioned on any version of Krypton until that story.
I think the average comic book reader can spot the difference in style between Wolfman's embelishments and the screenplay in this novel. It's pretty obvious when he starts adding details and incidental characters. He takes minor details from the comics and weaves them in. He also seems confused by a newspaper headline; I'd bet good money the headline is a Smallville reference and, for whatever reason, Wolfman instead weaves a small, strange subplot culminating in a statue of Superman that I guarantee will never make it into the film.
All in all, very good. It IS a sequel to the original Donner movie. It mirrors it, almost beat-for-beat, including some recycled tactics and gags... However, I think if you see this as a deconstruction of the first movie, a bookend that can stand on its own, you won't mind.
If you don't remember the first movie or never saw it, I think you'll enjoy this. If you loved the first movie, you'll love this.
I think the only real haters on this will be people who remember the movie and don't find it to be one of the best takes on Superman.
Spacey will be in full Hackman mode for this, minus an ounce of camp. However, he is evil to the Nth degree here. We're talking Snidely Whiplash territory. Be prepared for that. I think it's delightful. Take Nicholson's Joker and a heavy dose of Hackman, filtered through Kevin Spacey.
You remember Hackman's witty putdowns and murderous glee? Well, pretty much imagine that accounting for every syllable of dialogue coming out Lex's mouth in this film. Hackman's Lex didn't shoot off a gem with every line but THIS Luthor pretty much can't go a line of dialogue without some kind of IQ-related putdown. THIS Luthor couldn't walk into a 7-11 to get change for laundry without launching a distinct clever insult at everyone in the store.
Oh. And some people may gripe on the ending. Whatever you're expecting, you're probably wrong even if you've read previous drafts of the movie script. And if the ending being a surprise bothers you, well, buy the book or be bothered. No comics or internet spoilers to date will give this one away.