Many happy Returns

Another thing I started writing back in the beginning of July and am finally hastening to post here:

Superman Returns is awesome. Maybe not Batman Begins awesome, but certainly Spiderman II awesome. Kate Bosworth wasn't amazing, but I think she was passable. She's just too young for the role. Why would they pick someone who isn't realistically old enough to be a seasoned reporter with a five-year-old son? Watching an interview with her, she agreed to the role before she saw the script, so in her defense she didn't know she'd be playing Lois five years later with a young'un.

However, Brandon Routh is a really, really attractive man. I sort of get all the references to him looking like Christopher Reeve, but sort of not, since Brandon's fatally cute and Chris kind of isn't. (Note: Before seeing SR, I hadn't seen the other Superman movies, so I wasn't really comparing performances. Unless you count Dean Cain a valid comparison, which he sort of is -- at least, Carmen would think so!)

Roger Ebert doesn't agree with me, though. Wanker. (It's okay. I know not everyone agrees with me.) However, I read this line in the EW review: "Routh, who actually resembles a tall, buff Jason Schwartzman, lacks that authority [that Reeve had]; he's virtually the same age as Reeve was when Reeve first played the part, but Routh's Superman isn't quite a man -- he's closer to an eager adolescent."

I don't think that's a consequence of Routh playing Superman. I think that's a consequence of times changing. A few decades ago, 26 was a different age. People were married, settled, much more ahead in their lives. Today, many 26-year-olds still live with their parents and don't have nearly the independence they did back then. Routh isn't just a man-boy -- he's part of a whole generation of man-boys: Generation X. Represent!

On a note that's tangentially Superman-related, check out this video of Kevin Smith talking about how he almost wrote the script for Superman returns. The guy might be a mite tetchy, but he knows funny.