Superman (1978) Movie Review

Up until 1978's "Superman: The Movie," comic book heroes were given little respect, mostly due to the famous (or is it infamous?) 1960s Batman television series, dripping with campiness. Going even further back, superheroes had made celluloid appearances in low budget, fluffy serial movies. Comic book characters, particularly ones in capes and spandex, were kids stuff from the "funny books" that were childhood memories in the minds of the general public. Movies about them should be just as childish. "Superman: The Movie" ended these preconceived notions of what a superhero movie could be.

After that little introduction let me start off by stating that although I am a comic book fan, I am not truly a Superman fan. I find the character, normally, to be too powerful, too bland, and simply not that interesting. That said, I will also state this: "Superman: The Movie" is the single most important film in the comic book/superhero genre. Almost everything in this movie works. The all star cast provides great performances (for the most part) and provide great weight to the story.

Marlon Brando's casting as Jor El immediately adds respectability, and his performance is solid (not the greatest considering his body of work, but solid). It should be noted that Brando refused to memorize his lines, and as a result had cue cards planted throughout the set.

Christopher Reeve's casting as Clark Kent/Superman is nothing short of a stroke of genius. He is extremely believable as the bumbling Kent and the heroic Man of Steel. As an unknown cast as the titular role in a blockbuster, he gives the best performance in the film - essentially playing two characters. His chemistry with Margot Kidder's Lois Lane has yet to be matched within the genre (the closest being Michael Keaton and Michelle Pfiefer in "Batman Returns").

This brings me to the one performance I am not particularly fond of: Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor. Hackman is one of the greatest actors ever, with roles such as "The French Connection," "Unforgiven," and "The Royal Tenenbaums." Yet here, he hams it up as much as possible. For a movie that is rather serious, with moments of romance and pure fun, Hackman's Lex brings the movie close to campy territory, yet never enough to fully cross over.

Richard Donner's direction is also great. He had a great vision as to what is Superman and where he wanted to take it. It's a shame that his dream will never be fully realized (see my review for "Superman II" for more on this). It is clear that this movie is uniquely Donner's and Donner's alone.

In short, "Superman: The Movie" is a triumph in many departments. The performances are great, not only from the leads, but from the supporting cast as well (I'm looking at you Jackie Cooper, Glen Ford, Margot Kidder, etc). The special effects, though dated, are still great. The opening shot of Krypton is amazing, as are the opening "flying" credits. John Williams' scoring is first rate, among his other classics. And the story is one that is truly timeless. This is not necessarily "The Godfather" of modern superhero films, but it is definitely the grandfather of them, and it is one of the best.