Superman

Superman has always been a classic heroic icon all around the world, despite how mixed in quality his films can be. While superheros have evolved over the years to become more complex and tackle more aggressive themes and have arguably become more relatable to many against a more straightforward ever-optimistic role model, there is still such importance to his character that although maybe not portrayed the best throughout the years, he should be a role that is continued. It seems fitting than that one of the first big superheros of the world would get one of the first big superhero films to ever grace to the cinema with the 1978 Richard Donner film. Clark Kent (played by Christopher Reeves) lives a regular life in Kansas with his parents, but eventually discovers that he is an alien from the planet Krypton. After losing his human father, Jonathan Kent (played by Glenn Ford) to a heart attack, he is directed towards the Arctic by a glowing green crystal in his space pod which has a hologram of his birth father, Jor-El (played by Marlon Brando) who instructs him in the ways of how to be a proper hero for Earth as well as how to blend into the world as a normal man. Working as a newspaper reporter in the Daily Planet, he seems to hit it off with Lois Lane (played by Margot Kidder), a fellow news reporter who seems to have a close eye on Superman. Danger starts to flourish when the criminal mastermind, Lex Luthor (played by Gene Hackman), plans to level a good chunk of California so he can own and re-purpose the land for himself. Juggling the life of a dweeb and the life of a hero, Clark Kent, or Kal-El, must learn the weight of his position, protect his new home from threats however minimal, and earn the title he will forever be known as, Superman. Releasing to critical and commercial praise upon release as well as being nominated for three Oscars, Superman delivers a nice amount of charm, thrills, entertainment, and an amazing amount of cheesiness and goofy old fashion material that the Man of Steel is known for, while also keeping the emotions strong and the darker themes relevant throughout.

The story is practically infamous nowadays, but it handles the origin faithfully and presents it in a very grand and cinematic way. The film has a lot of background information and set up that needed to be established, but it kept the scenes decisive and quick, while also full of heart and passion that it doesn’t get boring despite the film’s length. It never wastes too much time on elements that are already very easy to grasp, with each moment slowly building up Superman until he’s finally revealed halfway through the movie. The film spends a lot more time building up Superman than the classic ‘’save the girl from the criminal mastermind’’ routine, but the payoff is a lot of fun and comically recognizable. The atmosphere feels like a classic comic strip; from the characters, their attitudes and the way they work off each other, the death-defying scenarios people seem to happen to get into so easily, and even the environment and writing have strong 50s vibes, that matches the more upbeat tone that the film is going for. The film is notoriously corny with hammy dialogue and a lot of classic 50s stereotypes, but the emotions and the heavy scenes work just as effectively, balancing the light and dark elements of the classic myth of Superman very well. It features the good romance, the likeable heroism, the devious villainy and the retro tone and locations that can appeal to all demographics, having a lot of fun stuff for the kids, while still touching on the drama to keep the adults engaged. This more than likely comes from the talent behind the writing team. The screenplay handled by Robert Benton, married couple David and Leslie Newman, and author and screenwriter for The Godfather, Mario Puzo, no doubt assisted in balancing the tones of the film and giving the film that sense of weight that a character like Superman requires. The writing is very straightforward in telling the origin story, but because of the simplicity along with the campy atmosphere allows for a lot more humor that can bounce off the characters without feeling too unrealistic. The film’s ending, however, is a massive cop out that destroys a great emotion scene, brings up so many plot holes and goes against its own logic, and takes away from one of the base messages that the film’s about, making it all meaningless.

These characters are pretty iconic to the world of comic book readers nowadays and they are portrayed exactly how they should be here. Past examples of the characters weren’t full of much personality in the comic space and they were also at the whim of writers at the time who would force their own agenda and biases into the stories which could paint them in a specific light, so for the film to update the characters in a way to make them more interesting was a big step to how the character would be portrayed later in other forms. Superman and Lois fit very easily into their roles and have great chemistry with each other, Lex is a great bad guy, and the rest of the actors seem to exude charm in every scene.  Since the writing is very standard, much of the character’s perky likability comes through the great actors they got to play them. Pretty much every character in this movie is perfectly cast; Christopher Reeves looks and acts like the traditional Superman, containing the lovable wholesome quality to the role and makes such an important figure still incredibly likeable, Margot Kidder is nice and spunky as Lois, carrying her own ground next to the Man of Steel and conveying a great sense of her character and attitude throughout most of her dialogue sequences, giving the character that appreciated tough, fast-talking, and extremely dedicated persona that makes her very endearing and memorable. Gene Hackman is great as the devious Lex, and while he is definitely more goofily portrayed in this version as opposed to others, he does provide for some great scenes and he is entertaining to watch, so it’s a fun version. Marlon Brando as Jor-El has great gravitas to his presence, and side actors like Ned Beatty and Jackie Cooper add to the overall comic book feel in their own humorous way. Every actor chosen doesn’t feel like they’re just playing roles, they feel just like the actual characters from the comics and that makes it much easier to get invested in them because of it.

The film doesn’t have much in terms of action but opts it out in return for a lot of super heroism and villainous trapping that feel straight out of the comics. The atmosphere is much more subdued and mellow than most superhero films many would be used to nowadays, touching more on him as a human than as a god, so the lack of action and replacing it with hero duty works in its favor. The flying scenes are very well done and lead to some very romantic scenes and some very fun scenes. The green screen may not be the best by today’s standards, but the film was considered groundbreaking for its use of special effects, so it was clearly doing something amazing for the time and there are still some likeable elements to it that at least don’t age poorly like CG would. The strings are well hidden, and it gives each scene in the air a nice realistic feel not seen very often nowadays, much like in a play. The sets are very impressive and are incredibly designed to the point that even though they are obviously sets and not real locations, they are still amazing to look around and the actors work in them very well. The alien locations have great spacing and props surrounding them that feel straight out of a sci-fi story. The cinematography by Geoffrey Unsworth gives this calmer laid back film a much more epic feel because of how well the shots is composed. The music by John Williams is a great theme that really captures the spirit of hope and the grand feeling that Superman represents.

Richard Donner’s Superman captures the campy goofy light-hearted spirit of the original Superman comics, down to the atmosphere, writing and the fun characters, but isn’t without its serious moments that highlight the importance of the character in a way that doesn’t feel too preachy. In a time where superhero films are a dime a dozen to the point that it formed its own genre, this film is the reason it even got off the ground in the first place, and presented it in a very good light with amazing production, groundbreaking effects, and engaging characters and actors. While the Man of Steel might have had other portrayals since this film that have never really gotten the character right (Man of Steel almost feels like the antithesis to this film and its portrayal), but as long as this version is always here to look back on, it can still stay in people’s hearts and remind the world what the character of Superman stands for. A classic rendition of a timeless hero that puts people in a ‘’swell’’ mood for something truly super.