Best Director- Take two. Bryan Singer’s Superman

In July 2004 Bryan Singer left behind the Marvel Universe for DC comics rendition of the much loved man of steel, directing the sixth and final instalment to the original Superman film series, Superman Returns (2006).

The film was produced as a direct quasi-sequel to Superman II (1981), taking place 5 years after when the mythic embodiment of heroism that is Superman (Brandon Routh), returns to earth to find that the world didn’t necessarily miss him when he was gone. Meanwhile his old enemy Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) is once again plotting his demise, contriving a new sinister plot to wipe out Superman along with billions of others. With the realisation that his heart throb Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) has moved on with her life, Superman’s bittersweet return challenges him to prove himself to her and the world, embarking on an epic journey to save humanity.All together it was surprising to some that Singer bought a nostalgic, even romantic rendition of the much loved superhero classic when he has previously been known for his X-Men pictures that follow a realistic style with darker undertones. He led with a fairly traditional take on the characters mythology that honoured the legendary classic of Richard Donner’s Superman II.

The film received positive reviews from critics with compliments on its visual effects, story and Singers direction. It also dominated at the 33rd Saturn awards with winners for Best Fantasy Film, Best Actor for Brandon Routh, Best Writing for Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty, Best Music for John Ottman and of course Best Director for Singer, at the annual awards presented by the Academy Of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. It has propelled Singer as a director that really can do it all in comic book adaptation to the big screen and leaves us wondering what could be next.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bryan Singer- Philanthropist

Image
Over Bryan Singers time in the spotlight as a director and producer on Hollywood’s blockbuster movies, he has not only contributed to establishing one of the longest running film franchises but to a host of other worthy causes as a philanthropist. As would be expected, a number of charities Singer has endorsed lie within the arts and motion picture sector from which Singer has built his career. For example he has donated to the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror since 2008, a non-profit which host the yearly Saturn awards where Singer is a member of the presenting academy along with names like Spielberg and James Cameron. He has supported independent theatres in the US such as Celebration Theatre in Los Angeles and had a 7 year pledge to his school USC in support of the School of Cinematic Arts where he made his first film ‘Lions Den’ (1988) and graduated from the college in 1989. However Singers philanthropy work goes further than the movie industry to causes that span ...
Read more

Bryan Singer: Best Director

Image
  The Saturn awards take place annually and are the oldest running film-specialized awards, given by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. The academy award for ‘Best Director’ has been given 46 times since 1974. Considering Bryan Singer was just 10 years old when the awards included a best director category, he has already won two awards in his lifetime- the first for X-men (2000) and subsequently for Superman Returns (2006). This puts him among names like James Cameron, as he enters a grouping of only five directors who have won best director more than once. He has been nominated a further 6 times, the first nomination coming to him in his early directing years for The Usual Suspects (1995). He is now runner up in competition for greatest number of nominations, second to Spielberg (12 nominations). So how does one become  winner  of best director? The Saturn awards are voted for by the members of the presenting academy, just like the Ocars, Em...
Read more

Apocalypse Now: Bryan Singer’s New “X-Men” Movie

Image
  The definition of “apocalypse,” in Merriam-Webster, goes as follows: “A great disaster: a sudden and very bad event that causes much fear, loss or destruction.” Talk about concise. Someone at Fox should have pasted those words across the poster for “X-Men: Apocalypse,” which opens today in just about every cinema that you can think of. The first great disaster, in  Bryan Singer ’s film, is the sound that issues from James McAvoy whenever he opens his mouth. He plays Professor Charles Xavier, or Professor X, who runs a school for gifted children in upstate New York, and whose mountainous intellect is demonstrated first by a British accent and second, toward the end of the film, by an utter loss of hair. Both of these are cinematic customs of long standing, but does anyone still believe in them? Are there not clever and richly coiffed citizens of many lands? The problem is heightened, in McAvoy’s case, by the fact that he is a proud Scot, and I suspect that to be forced south ...
Read more