Was Superman Returns too vicious and brutal?
POSTED BY: chrisisall
UPDATED: Wednesday, December 6, 2006 18:22
VIEWED: 3201
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When the bad guys are beating Supes on the kryptonite island, the get pretty down and dirty, pulling his hair, gouging at his face...was that a little much do you think? And what age is approprate for this film? Seems like 10 at least to me..
Not usually squeamish Chrisisall
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My wife and I would not take our 10 year old to see this.
When we watched the scene you mentioned at the theater, I asked my wife what that squealing noise was. She said it was Superman. That kind of weirded me out.
13yrs old would be as young as I would imagine could go, but that's just me.
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But how would you get the Jesus metaphor if it wasn't so brutal?
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Quote:I got the Jesus thing in the first two, without the Mel Gibson aspect, thank you (sarcasm not directed at you, Simon). Kids see violence all the time; there's no need to make it Taxi Driver realistic, I think. Just a little editing would really help IMHO.
Originally posted by SimonWho:
But how would you get the Jesus metaphor if it wasn't so brutal?
What are we teaching the kids Chrisisall
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Quote:Luckily, my hearing is far from super...
Originally posted by Stegasaurus:
When we watched the scene you mentioned at the theater, I asked my wife what that squealing noise was. She said it was Superman. That kind of weirded me out.
Turn it up Chrisisall
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I think the reason for the brutal beat down wasn't just so that it would seem realistic or draw parallels to Jesus' suffering. The real purpose was to show just how much contempt Lex has for Superman. Sure, there is a lot of lip service throughout the film but most of Lex's comments are clever little quips. Much of what goes on around him during the majority of film paints him in an almost comical fashion. By the time we see the vicious beating laid on supes by Lex and his henchmen it comes as a complete shocker. When I first saw the scene at the theaters I was almost in shock. Who would have ever believed Superman could take such an undignified beating at the hands of mere mortals. There's no comparison between this and what happened at the diner in Superman II.
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We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.
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If the entire movie was like that, then maybe. But given that it's only one scene, and that they were able to beat up Superman because the continental land mass was laced with Kryptonite, it makes sense. Plus, without Lex beating him this one time, the scenes where Lois, and Richard fly back to save him and then Superman triumphant return where he lifts up the entire land mass and throws it into space would be robbed of their emotional power.
So no I don't think it was too vicious and brutal, because it was a necessary scene in the overall movie, just like the plane sequence, Superman and Lois' flight over Metropolis (the music in that scene makes me a total softie) and that perfect final scene ("The son becomes the father and the father becomes the son.") are in the overall movie.
As you can see, I still consider SUPERMAN RETURNS a $200 million dollar work of art.
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"We have five million Cybermen. How many are you?"
"Four"
You would destroy the Cybermen with four Daleks?"
"We would destroy the Cybermen with ONE Dalek. You are superior in only one respect."
"What is that?"
"You are better at dying."
Trash talk between a Cyberman and a Dalek. It doesn't get any better than that.
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I didn't think it was too violent, but then I only started reading the comics with "Death of Superman," so I'm used to seeing Supes getting royally pulped.
One thing it drove home to me is how utterly useless Kal-El is without his powers. He really is just a super-powered bully, relying on his strength to get him through --all brute force and no skill.
Batman would've had those thugs crying for their mommies.
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We applied the cortical electrodes but were unable to get a neural reaction from either patient.
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Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:
Batman would've had those thugs crying for their mommies.
Holy Chrisisall
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Quote:
Originally posted by Cybersnark:
I only started reading the comics with "Death of Superman," so I'm used to seeing Supes getting royally pulped.
In a perfect world we would eventually get to see this story arc played out on the big screen. I also would like to see the follow up story Hunter/Prey. Those were some truly epic fights.
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We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.
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