Review of The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? (2015) by Mitchell B — 27 Mar 2016

Here's the Superman film I really want to see... two hours of The Last Son of Krypton just pounding Kevin Smith's stupid smug face in. I can't stand the guy, as much as I enjoyed Clerks and Chasing Amy I swear I want to knock his block off every time I now hear any word out of his mouth, either on camera or in script form. And I think 99% of my hatred stems from his ridiculously oversized hockey jerseys. FOR FUCK'S SAKE IS THAT ALL YOU WEAR?! Just Google "Kevin Smith jorts" and tell me you don't want The Man of Tomorrow to just stone-cold melt him with heat vision.

Ok, so where was I? Oh yes, the movie. What a great insight into the way Hollywood works... or doesn't work. Who knew that Barbara Streisand's hairdresser held the reins to such an important film franchise? I've always thought that Nicholas Cage and Tim Burton were completely wrong fits for a Superman film but getting this glimpse behind the curtain I can see where, given the previous success of Burton's Batman and his take on Kal-El's place as an outsider on earth, this could have been a fascinating chapter in the Man of Steel's story. Nic Cage in a wig is still totally wrong but given the character in the comics at the time (super mullet) it's not as far off as I had always imagined.

Overall I think the most insightful thing about this behind-the-scenes doco is just how much the conceptual design can have an influence on (and be influenced by) studio execs. And some of the conceptual design here is terrifying. But this also shows how an imaginative director can filter and distill conceptual designs down to a specific vision. Part of me really wants to see Tim Burton's Superman even if it's one of the endless animated films that WB churns out.

But a bigger part of me just wants to get Kevin Smith a good tailor.