Posts Tagged ‘Superman’

Movie Review – Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite (2013)

In honor of this weekend’s release of The Lego Movie, today we’re taking a look at last year’s direct-to-video film, Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite.

It’s no secret that Lego construction toys have been becoming increasingly popular since the early 1950s.  What started as basic building blocks quickly expanded through a variety of themes including medieval castles, pirates, outer space, and city pieces.  Many more themes have been added over the years from Star Wars to The Lord of the Rings to just about any popular film these days.

The Lego obsession further continued with the release of the Lego video games, from Lego Island and Lego Racers in the late 1990s to Lego Star Wars, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Batman, Lego Harry Potter, Lego Lord of the Rings, and more.

Lego doesn’t stop there!

We cannot forget about the 90 Lego Stores, the six Legoland amusement parks, the thousands of different Lego-themed clothes and souvenirs, and two Lego animated television shows.

It was just a matter of time before we started seeing full-length Lego movies.

Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite is heavily based on the Lego Batman 2: DC Super Heroes video game released back in June of 2012.

Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite (2013) – (c) Warner Premiere / Warner Bros. Pictures

Lego Batman: The Movie – DC Super Heroes Unite begins as Batman (voiced by Troy Baker) and Superman (voiced by Travis Willingham) arrive at the LexCorp building.  Both of them are confronted and then attacked by Lex Luthor (voiced by Clancy Brown).  Lex uses a Kryptonite ray to attack Superman, and a large crate is dropped on Batman.  It looks like both of the super heroes are defeated.

The film then goes back to two days ago. Read more…

Movie Review – Man of Steel (2013)

Look, up in the sky!

It’s a bird!

It’s a plane!

It’s Superman!  Yes, folks, arguably the greatest superhero of all time has returned to the big screen.  2013′s Man of Steel is a reboot of the Superman film franchise that began with 1978′s Superman.  It’s an origin story that tells the history of the superhero and puts him against one of his greatest enemies, General Zod.

Directed by Zack Snyder and produced by Christopher Nolan, Man of Steel stars Henry Cavill in the title role of Clark Kent / Superman / Kal-El.  Co-starring in the Superman film are Amy Adams as the news reporter Lois Lane and Michael Shannon as the Kryptonian warrior General Zod.  Supporting them are Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Clark’s adoption parents Jonathan and Martha Kent, Laurence Fishburne as Lois Lane’s boss Perry White, and Russell Crowe as Kal-El’s biological father Jor-El.

It’s been seven years since the release of 2006′s Superman Returns.  Can Man of Steel bring the legendary superhero back to life and help create a restored interest and new franchise for the DC hero?

Man of Steel (2013) – (c) Warner Bros. Pictures

Man of Steel begins on planet Krypton, the home world of Superman’s race of people.  Planet Kyrpton is dying.  The people have mined all the krypton from the planet’s core and exhausted the natural resources.  Jor-El (Russell Crowe) is pleading his case in front of the council for the survival of their race.  He wants to send the people’s genetic code to another planet to ensure their existence for future generations.

Unfortunately, the council is against Jor-El’s idea.  The meeting is then hijacked by General Zod (Michael Shannon) and his fellow warriors.  Jor-El flees the meeting and races through Krypton, dodging General Zod’s attacks while racing to the sacred genetic codex.  He acquires it and returns to his home where his wife, Lara Lor-Van (Ayelet Zurer), and infant son are waiting for him.

Jor-El’s son is a very special case.  It’s explained that on Krypton, all children are specifically “manufactured” to fulfil specific needs on the planet, having a different set of genetic codes to suit those demands.  People are literally born as farmers, miners, warriors, leaders, etc.  In the case of baby Kal-El, he’s the first natural birth that Krypton has experienced in hundreds of years.  Jor-El accepts this as a sign that their son was meant for something better on the dying planet. Read more…

Movie Review – Superman II (1980)

Back in 1978, the audience was blown away with Superman.

But the story of Superman was simply too great for one film alone.  The production and filming of Superman II was well under way while the teams were finishing the first film.  In fact, about 75% of the sequel was filmed before original director Richard Donner was removed from the project, and Richard Lester was signed to finishing directing the film, a move that required an extensive amount of re-filming and several key changes to the plot.

Superman II follows hot on the heels of 1978′s Superman.  The film focuses on the three Kryptonian villains that we briefly encountered in the beginning of the first film.  Those villains are freed from their imprisonment in the Phantom Zone, and they fly to Earth to rule the planet.  When they learn about Superman, the son of Jor-El, it turns into a conquest of revenge.  The film climaxes with a massive battle as Superman has to fight three evil doers, all of them with the same super powers.

The theatrical edition of Superman II, the version that most people are familiar, was directed by Richard Lester.  The film was written by Mario Puzo, and Ken Throne conducted the soundtrack based on John Williams’ main theme.  Christopher Reeve returns for the title role of Clark Kent / Superman.  Margot Kidder reprises her role as Lois Lane, the love interest of both Clark Kent and Superman.  Gene Hackman returns as the evil genius Lex Luthor, though he’s not the primary villain in this film.  Terence Stamp plays the role of super villain General Zod.

Supporting them are Ned Beatty as Otis, Valerie Perrine as Eve Teschmacher, Jackie Cooper as Perry White, Sarah Douglas as Ursa, and Jack O’Halloran as Non, a mute but fearsome villain from Krypton.

Superman II (1980) – (c) Warner Bros.

Superman II begins on planet Krypton.  General Zod (Terence Stamp) and his evil companions Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and Non (Jack O’Halloran) are caught in the act of committing a crime.  The Council votes unanimously to imprison the three criminals in something called the Phantom Zone, a prison that flies throughout outer space.  We see the prison capture the criminals and carry them out into space.

After that follows about five minutes of scenes from Superman.  We see all the highlights as young Clark Kent crash lands in Kansas and then most of his heroics as Superman.  We see Superman do everything from taking over the place of a missing jet engine on Air Force One to rescuing children in a school bus to using his own body as a rail to save a speeding train from crashing down a mountain.

The main plot in Superman II resumes when Clark Kent (Christopher Reeve) arrives at the Daily Planet.  His boss, chief editor Perry White (Jackie Cooper) informs him of a group of terrorists at the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.  They claim to have a hydrogen bomb and are ready to level the entire city.  Perry mentions that Lois Lane was booked on the first Concorde flight to Paris once news of the terrorists broke the airwaves.  Clark runs outside, transitions into his Superman costume, and then flies to Paris. Read more…

Movie Review – Superman (1978)

In honor of the release of Man of Steel, a reboot of the Superman story, today we’re taking a big step back to 1978 and the original Superman film, Superman.

1978′s Superman was the first film to bring the legendary superhero to the big screen.  The film introduced us to the mild-mannered Clark Kent and his alternate identity of Superman, a flying man with incredible strength who is virtually indestructible.  We learn about the doomed planet of Krypton, Kal-El’s arrival on Earth and adoption by the Kent family, and Clark Kent’s early days as a novice reporter to the Daily Planet, a newspaper in the city of Metropolis.  Along the way we meet Clark’s love interest in Lois Lane, a fellow reporter at the Daily Planet, and Lex Luthor, a criminal mastermind who wouldn’t mind killing millions of people if it earned himself a healthy profit.

Directed by Richard Donner, Superman was written by Mario Puzo.  The film’s famous music score was conducted by Hollywood legend John Williams.

Superman has a fantastic cast starting with Christopher Reeve in the starring role as Clark Kent / Kal-El / Superman.  Margot Kidder also stars as Lois Lane, a reporter who loves Superman from the moment he saves her life.  Gene Hackman plays the villain Lex Luthor, an evil genius who discovers Superman’s weakness and also tries to erase California from the map.  Marlon Brando has the role of Jor-El, Kal-El’s biological father who tries to save Krypton from its destruction.

Supporting them are Jackie Cooper as Perry White, the chief editor at the Daily Planet, Glenn Ford and Phyllis Thaxter as Jonathan and Martha Kent, Jeff East as the teenage version of Clark Kent, and Terence Stamp as the Kryptonian villain General Zod.

Superman (1978) – (c) Warner Bros. Pictures

Superman begins on planet Krypton, a planet with an advanced race of beings.  Unfortunately, the planet is doomed and only has a short time before it explodes.  General Zod (Terence Stamp) is currently in the end stages of his trial before the Council for his evil ways.  Along side of him are his co-conspirators, Ursa (Sarah Douglas) and Non (Jack O’Halloran).  The Council finds the three of them to be guilty, and with Jor-El (Marlon Brando) as the final vote, the three evil ones are sentenced to be imprisoned indefinitely in the “Phantom Zone,” a holding cell that flies through outer space. Read more…