Superman Returns (2006) | RETRO REVIEW

Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth in SUPERMAN RETURNS — PHOTO: Warner Bros. Pictures (Still image from trailers).

Directed by Bryan Singer — Screenplay by Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris.

It seems crazy when you put it like this, but after Superman IV in 1987, we didn’t get to see the Man of Steel on the big screen until 19 years later. In that waiting period, several projects were tinkered with and abandoned, including a fifth Reeve-led Superman film, a Tim Burton-directed and Nicolas Cage-led film titled Superman Lives, and Superman: Flyby, which had people like J.J. Abrams, Brett Ratner, McQ, and various actors attached before it was eventually let go. But in 2006, we finally got a new big-screen Superman with X-Men director Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns, which received a decent-enough critical reception despite the fact that Roger Ebert gave it a negative review. I’ve always been quite underwhelmed by the film, and I had hoped that my latest rewatch could change my stance on the film, but, unfortunately, I still think this film is a little bit of a dud.

Continue reading “Superman Returns (2006) | RETRO REVIEW”

REVIEW: X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

X-Men Apocalypse Poster

The following is a review of X-Men: Apocalypse, a Bryan Singer film.

I think X-Men: First Class is one of the most brilliant superhero-team movies ever made. The sequel, Days of Future Past, was a confident time-travel film, and I thought that film really worked well too. Indeed, since we’ve been met with the second wave of X-Men-films, starting with First Class in 2011, the franchise has been pretty spectacular. Sadly, X-Men: Apocalypse doesn’t work as well as the two X-Men-films that preceded it. Continue reading “REVIEW: X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)”

REVIEW: X-Men Days of Future Past (2014)

WARNING: Expect spoilers from the movie, as well as some details about the end-credits scene

For a long time I had been looking forward to this movie, until it was only weeks away – then I became afraid that it would basically be another Hugh Jackman solo-movie. Boy, was I wrong. Though Jackman is the main acting presence – this movie belongs to McAvoy’s Xavier. This movie, though, does not leave the old stars behind – they get a lot of screen time – and it works. Continue reading “REVIEW: X-Men Days of Future Past (2014)”