I’m really not very interested in the latest reboot of Superman, Man of Steel, because frankly, I’m not sold on Zack Snyder.
Seriously, the guy who just gave us Sucker Punch being put in charge of one of the most beloved superhero franchises in history?
Still, I think at least one part of the movie will be good, the exploits of General Zod, with the inspired casting of Michael Shannon.
General Zod may in fact be the favored Superman movie villain, even more so than Gene Hackman’s great turn as Lex Luthor, and Terence Stamp did a terrific job playing Zod in Parts I and II.
It was a great part the right actor could steal the movie with, and I think that’s exactly what Shannon will do in the new Superman.
When it was announced there was finally going to be a movie about the ’70’s all female band The Runaways, I knew whoever was going to play their bizarre kook of a manager, Kim Fowley, had a chance of running away with the movie, and that’s truly what Shannon did.
There were even parts of The Runaways I forgot I was watching a movie, it was that close to the real thing.
As for the casting of Russell Crowe as Superman’s father, eh, yeah, like whatever. Crowe used to be a terrific actor, now he’s just another insufferable celebrity jerk. Ironically enough, another insufferable Hollywood egomaniac, Kevin Costner, is on board to play Jonathan Kent. (Snyder doesn’t have daddy issues, does he?)
Of course, the casting of the original Superman was brilliant, and everyone was perfect for their roles.
It featured Marlon Brando’s last good performance (reportedly he was on his best behavior and kept his prima-donna nonsense to a minimum), and it was wonderful to see Christopher Reeve become a star from the film.
The kind of chemistry the first Superman had is very difficult to duplicate, so let’s hope Snyder chooses his actors slowly and carefully before the next Superman starts rolling.
