6.28.2006

... Happy Birthday to me!


... One year older, one year wiser, I say.

... I brought my treats to work (how crazy is that!?! It's MY birthday, but the unwritten policy says the person celebrating the milestone brings the treats ...), and mostly dozed through the afternoon ... When I finally arrived home, I met Kates at home, went on a jaunt to get some CDs to preview before Summerfest and then we had my birthday dinner. Pizza.

... and then!! ...

(cue angel chorus)

... Kates I headed into the city for ...

(cue angel chorus again)

... the premiere of 'Superman Returns' ...

... at the Navy Pier Imax ...

... in 3-D!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

... yeah!



... Now, honestly? I couldn't care less about Superman. The Man of Steel. Big deal. I've barely seen a minute of any of the Superman movies. Never touched a Superman comic book ... but there was something about this event that I couldn't pass up. It was a once-in-a-lifetime, I thought. And it held up ...

... My friend Steve worships anything bearing the big red and yellow emblem. To him, the opening of this movie was one of the biggest events of his life.

And so it was.

... He purchased about a dozen tickets to the premiere a week ago and was the first in line at about 6:30 last night -- three hours before doors to the theater were scheduled to open. ... Kates and I arrived at about 8:30 and there was Steve in form, dressed in complete Superman garb. Blue tights, red cape, red boots and all. ... A Chicago news crew had already been there to film him and he was indeed featured on the 10 o'clock news. In the meantime, the line stretched around nearly the entire Navy Pier atrium, with guys sprinkled throughout the crowd in Superman T-shirts -- me included. Pictures were taken. Rivals traded 'my costume's better than yours' remarks. Fun was had by all.

... Finally the doors opened at 9:30, and we led the mad dash into the theater, grabbing are 3D glasses on the way -- which by the way had lenses big enough to cover entire faces -- and laid claim to arguable the best seats in the house: center, just a few rows from the top. ... Mind you, this screen was six stories high. If you sat any closer, it'd swallow you.

We enjoyed a short introduction and rules lecture from an usher ... and then the fun began!

... All of the preview trailers preceding the film were shown in 3D ... awesome. (the trailers, by the way, included one for 'Happy Feet' which you can see by going here and clicking on BABY MUMBLE. Kates and I had seen this trailer recently before another film, but it's even more fun/adorable in 3D!)

... Then, after a brief darkness, came that famous John Williams theme music, loud and clear, in hi-def surround sounds. The credits, in glowing blue block letters, started flashing across the screen. There was a thunderous applause and I couldn't remember being surrounded by a more anxious, excited group of men and women. The aura lasted the duration of the night. And I'm positive there would have been no better way to see this film ...

So about the film ...

I asked Steve afterward how he ranked it on a scale of one to 10. He gave it a nine.

I can handle that. Although I might say 8. ... Blame it perhaps on not being a huge Superman fan, but the movie did drag at times (it's 2 1/2 hours long!) ... As one review I read points out, we were 90 minutes into the movie before the plot started moving anywhere. And I thought the last half hour could've been cut down considerably too ... As for the acting, Brandon Routh as Clark/Superman could not have been a better selection. His resemblance to Christopher Reeve is absolutely amazing, and he played the part perfectly. And while some critics are blasting Kevin Spacey for not playing Lex Luthor as well as Gene Hackman apparently did, I thought Spacey was as entertaining to watch as any character in the film, and he delivered several of the films most comedic moments -- although, I'll agree again with critics who say Lex's plot to wipe out North America was a bit lame too. And Kate Bosworth, as Lois Lane, was at times too young to pass as the older Pulitzer-winning Lois and mother of a 5-year-old ...

...Don't let any of my criticisms stop you from seeing, and enjoying this film though. It's worth the trip just to see Superman on the big screen again, blazing trails between Metropolis buildings, gently halting blazing airplanes, blowing out uncontrollable fires and yes, flattening a bullet like a pancake with his eye ...

Curious to see what others said, I read some of the reviews today. Here's some of the write-ups I thought best clarified the way I saw the film ...

a Scripps Howard: 'Superman Returns' is terrific
a Los Angeles Times: The Man of Steel's return stumbles
a Washington Post: Happy 'Returns'

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