Everyone in this Movie's Just So Super!
or: The Superhero's Journey
Why do superheroes think they're too good for character arcs? Huh? Riddle me that.
The so-called "heroes" of Superman Returns and My Super Ex-Girlfriend are certainly super. But they're not perfect, right?
Superman's a bit down. He's been away for five years, never got to see his home planet, presumably suffers from some guilt at having abandoned Lois, which would only be compounded by realizing she was with child, ALL of which is compounded by the fact that he's not sure what he does is meaningful in any way AND the fact that he isn't human and quite possibly doesn't understand human beings. Surely this is a guy who's going to go through some kind of emotional journey over the course of this film, right?
Right?
Can someone please explain to me what, exactly, Superman's journey was? The significance of his decisions in the end, and where he ends up?
My Super Ex-Girlfriend is even more baffling, because Uma's arc is, to my mind, set up and then not paid off. Pre-Origin Story Uma was a nice girl. Geeky, gawky, but sweet. Then she got the radioactive power. She got powerful. She got hot and popular. She ditched her real friend. And now, in the present, look at that-- she's a needy, selfish bitch. Hellllloooo? Am I the only one who thinks Uma was on course to discovering that the geeky gal was the "real" her?
Now, many might argue that the superhero isn't always the hero of the story. Often it's the non-super person who's affected and changed by the experience of knowing the hero. Well, I didn't understand or buy Lois's "slightly less adamant about the world not needing Superman" change, and Luke Wilson seems pretty comfortable not having any kind of transformation-- he's used to it.
The problem with heroes having ill-defined character arcs is it makes it damn hard to figure out what the whole thing's about. Was Superman Returns about the idea of home? The home you’re born into vs. the one you create? Was it about regret? Was it Don Quixote, or Moby Dick? Was it about second chances? Or hoping for a second chance when things aren’t really that simple? Was it about love? Love lost, love returned, being torn between two kinds of love? Was it about duty? How there are things we want to do and then there are things we must do?
My Super Ex-Girlfriend could've been about "absolute power corrupting absolutely"; or about recognizing what's real and what's just show; or how being super is tough on the social life; or even simply about how everyone needs balance in their life. It wouldn't have been hard at all-- each of these themes was nicely planted by Uma's mania in the second act. Instead the movie went with no discernible theme. Being super's good! It's fun to have a girlfriend who's super!
Come on, guys. Writing superhero movies comes with great responsibility.
Promised follow-up post: All it would have taken was...
Why do superheroes think they're too good for character arcs? Huh? Riddle me that.
The so-called "heroes" of Superman Returns and My Super Ex-Girlfriend are certainly super. But they're not perfect, right?
Superman's a bit down. He's been away for five years, never got to see his home planet, presumably suffers from some guilt at having abandoned Lois, which would only be compounded by realizing she was with child, ALL of which is compounded by the fact that he's not sure what he does is meaningful in any way AND the fact that he isn't human and quite possibly doesn't understand human beings. Surely this is a guy who's going to go through some kind of emotional journey over the course of this film, right?
Right?
Can someone please explain to me what, exactly, Superman's journey was? The significance of his decisions in the end, and where he ends up?
My Super Ex-Girlfriend is even more baffling, because Uma's arc is, to my mind, set up and then not paid off. Pre-Origin Story Uma was a nice girl. Geeky, gawky, but sweet. Then she got the radioactive power. She got powerful. She got hot and popular. She ditched her real friend. And now, in the present, look at that-- she's a needy, selfish bitch. Hellllloooo? Am I the only one who thinks Uma was on course to discovering that the geeky gal was the "real" her?
Now, many might argue that the superhero isn't always the hero of the story. Often it's the non-super person who's affected and changed by the experience of knowing the hero. Well, I didn't understand or buy Lois's "slightly less adamant about the world not needing Superman" change, and Luke Wilson seems pretty comfortable not having any kind of transformation-- he's used to it.
The problem with heroes having ill-defined character arcs is it makes it damn hard to figure out what the whole thing's about. Was Superman Returns about the idea of home? The home you’re born into vs. the one you create? Was it about regret? Was it Don Quixote, or Moby Dick? Was it about second chances? Or hoping for a second chance when things aren’t really that simple? Was it about love? Love lost, love returned, being torn between two kinds of love? Was it about duty? How there are things we want to do and then there are things we must do?
My Super Ex-Girlfriend could've been about "absolute power corrupting absolutely"; or about recognizing what's real and what's just show; or how being super is tough on the social life; or even simply about how everyone needs balance in their life. It wouldn't have been hard at all-- each of these themes was nicely planted by Uma's mania in the second act. Instead the movie went with no discernible theme. Being super's good! It's fun to have a girlfriend who's super!
Come on, guys. Writing superhero movies comes with great responsibility.
Promised follow-up post: All it would have taken was...
posted by Jennica at 4:24 p.m.
2 Comments:
That's why The Incredibles is the best super hero movie ever.
p.s. So true (but sad!) about Luke Wilson.
Superman Returns is one of the worst movies of the year. Such a missed opportunity... and so poorly done storywise that it gives me a headache just thinking about it.
On the other hand, Spiderman has been doing a pretty good job.
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