DC Movie Mark Out 4 - Superman (1978)

I've heard the 1970s Superman film spoken of with reverence for as long as I've been around, but somehow i ain't ever seen it. So, you know, I'm fixing that. There's 4 of these, plus a Supergirl one. I just finished watching the first two so here's a text review, since my computer is still being a butt and i can't make videos on it until i figure out how technology works. I've tried hitting it with rocks, yelling at it, even complaining about it, but so far nothing has worked, so i'll keep experimenting. 

Superman

First things first, and this is the most obvious thing that everyone remarks on. My god, Christopher Reeve is so fucking good in these movies. All this time i thought it was just a boomer meme, but this guy IS Superman, and no one else who has played the character even comes close. The difference between his Clark and his Superman couldn't be farther apart, but somehow still manages to feel cohesive, like two equally genuine sides of the same guy. 

Neither persona comes off like an act or a disguise. As Clark he's a classical oldschool nerd, his wimpy voice, posture, mannerisms, and lack of confidence is just exaggerated enough to seem like it's right out of a comic book, without ever going too far into Steve Martin comedy territory. He comes off like a very shy, unremarkable fellow, but still a real person. Someone you could see actually existing at your job. He's a sweet guy who doesn't rock the boat and backs down from confrontation, and you would never in a million years even entertain the thought of being Superman. Even if you saw him without his glasses, you'd just think "huh, that guy kinda looks like Superman, how quaint".  

Meanwhile, when in Superman mode, he's everything Superman should be. Masculine but gentle, always calm, always confident, but never condescending. In many ways the polar opposite of Clark Kent, but in just as many ways, totally recognizable as the same guy if you know him. Reeve manages to pull off two completely different personalities, while still remaining the same person. It's incredible, and genuinely one of the most pitch perfect performances of a comic book character i've ever seen. He embodies the idea of the dual identity so accurately and completely that it actually outshines any comic book portrayal up to that point. 

The film itself seems aware of what a kickass job he's doing in the role and delights in showing it off. When he takes off his glasses, stands up straight and changes his voice, the camera stays on him in real time, and it's nothing short of a fucking magic trick. He transforms so convincingly before your eyes that even Pistachio Disguisey would say damn, that guy is definitely turtley enough for the turtle club. 

Reeve does this trick in both movies (maybe all 4 but i haven't seen em all yet), and it's absolutely magical every time. The best scene in the movie is when Clark is about to take Lois out, right after watching her swoon for the dude in the tights. Without words you can see how bad he wants to let her in on the secret, he starts his transformation and begins to tell her, right before chickening out at the last second, and reverting to soyboy mode. It's heartbreaking. You actually feel for the guy, a dude who seems like he should have no problems and nothing to worry about, but his inner conflict is conveyed completely in this one small moment. 

The world see's Superman as a perfect alien God, and Clark as an invisible beta-male, while only we in the audience are allowed to witness the full spectrum of his humanity. You can feel the man's loneliness and isolation. His desperate longing for someone to be fully himself with. This is a man who must shoulder the unbearable burden of cucking himself. Even with his unimaginable strength, the emotional weight of this load seems to physically, visibly weigh him down as mild-mannered Clark Kent. 

It's not just the best scene in the movie but maybe the single most perfect scene in any superhero movie. It encapsulates the character completely and conveys real human longing in a way that's impossible not to be affected by. This is how we know, emphatically and definitively, that even taking into account his mythic celestial origins and far-out birthplace among the stars, this guy is one of us. 

Watching these first two films back to back, Reeve's all too frail and human misfortunes later in life stand as a deeply ironic tragedy, but if ever there was a silver lining, it's that the legacy of this flawless performance will never, ever be outdone. 

The already great performance is helped along even further by a script that really seems to get the character. Another great scene later on features Superman tied up in a pool with kryptonite. He's completely defenseless here and very close to sleeping with the fishes, if fishes slept in pools. The way he escapes from this predicament shows a brilliant understanding of Superman's true strengths, which go far beyond fantastic powers and physical might. 

Superman does something here that no other Superhero could ever get away with in a movie. He begs. He doesn't pull some Batman-esque escape trick out of his ass, he's totally fucked were it not for his ability to ask for help, something Batman could never do. By appealing to Lex Luthor's girlfriend's humanity, and promising to save her mom from Lex's callously destructive plot, Superman manages to free himself from the perfect deathtrap with the one thing he has that Luthor could never have anticipated, his humanity, and his belief in the humanity of others. 

It's fucking brilliant. In a moment of true vulnerability the ultimate hero has to be saved by none other than the villain's arm candy, and that's part of what makes him the ultimate hero. It's not his invulnerable skin or heat vision that saves him, but instead his ability to see and inspire the heroic side in others, even his enemies. 

It's almost as if timid, weak, and desperate Clark Kent has to save Superman, thereby showing and proving that the man is just as important to the equation as the Super. When the movie came out, people were wowed by the special effects, and while those effects look rather dated now, scenes like this are as timeless as the character himself. This movie nails the important stuff so well that parts of it hold up even better than many of the more visually impressive cape flicks from recent years. 

I say parts, because unfortunately my lavish praise must be reeled back a bit to discuss the film's very flawed pacing, which manages to feel even more dated than the effects. At least old special effects can be charmingly dated, but there ain't a damn thing charming about this film's bloated runtime. 

The movie takes its sweet time with Clark’s origins and upbringing, which is fine, and perfectly appropriate given the film's place as the first real big-budget exploration of this character. But in 2021, it's a lot of stuff we've seen a lot of times. You don’t see him don the costume until about 40 minutes in, and this would be totally acceptable if it picked up the pace a bit after that point, but alas, the pace remains tediously un-picked up. 

This is a long movie with scenes that just drag on forever, and more filler than a modern day Maiden LP. There are seemingly interminable stretches that made me space out, only to regain lucidity and realize I hadn't really missed anything. At points i was tempted to declare the film Superboring, but ultimately the sporadic moments of greatness were enough to carry the meandering stretches in between toward being a movie that holds up reasonably well in spite of itself. 

My final verdict is that this is an undeniably good movie, with moments that more than justify its place in history, and will doubtlessly ensure it's continued relevance, but it's just a tad slow and bloated. In current day, audience's tolerance for the often listless pacing will vary. 

Personally i have all the patience of a Husky whining for his walk, so the boring parts had me climbing the fucking walls like i was trying to escape a cage match. But the film has real heart, a script that does the character justice, and an all-time great performance by Christopher Reeve. Ironically, or perhaps fittingly, it is Superman himself that saves the Superman movie. 

In my Super opinion it deserves a respectable score of...

3/5