TheRetroCritic

Oh boy... Where do I even start with this one?! You know how Superman IV is   goofy but in a way that's fun and enjoyably campy? Well  Superman III takes the zaniness to a whole new level, to the point where, at times, this feels not so much like a Superman film but rather a generic, corny, not good 80's comedy. This is a far more light-hearted movie than it probably should be, especially since it does have the odd good idea here and there, but it's too blinded by the delusion that it's hilarious to bother taking advantage of its potential. There's an interesting Superman film in there where Clark goes back to Smallville, meets up with high-school sweetheart Lana and tries to reconcile both parts of his personality. This leads to a badass conflict between Clark Kent and Bizarro (an evil version of Superman) after Superman comes into contact with an altered form of Kryptonite. All that stuff works well enough, though Clark's college reunion needed to be

Don't worry, I'm not here to rant anymore about Man Of Steel ... Let's talk Superman IV: The Quest For Peace ! A far more light-hearted subject, as far as I'm concerned. The fourth (and probably cheapest) film in the original Superman franchise, Superman IV is quite probably the most memorably goofy instalment in the original run of Christopher Reeve-starring Super-outings. This time around, Reeve himself got the chance to have more creative input and make this fourth movie his own. The result? Essentially a cartoon but an incredibly fun flick nonetheless. Everyone's back including Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane and, of course, Reeve as Superman/Clark Kent. New entries cast-wise include Luthor's impressively unfunny sidekick nephew Lenny (John Cryer with a magnificent haircut), Lacy (Mariel Hemingway's new love interest) and, of course, the real star of the show: Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow). Yes, this is the one where Lex

SPOILER WARNING F***. That'll teach me to get really excited about a blockbuster. Alright, how do I put this without pissing you guys off... Superman Returns was better. Woops... Sorry. I can't think of a film I was more looking forward to than Man Of Steel this year. On paper: there's no way it could have gone wrong. You had a brilliant cast, kick-ass trailers, some great writers behind it, Christopher Nolan as producer, Zack Snyder: a director known for making great-looking movies... But it all led to this: quite possibly the most charmless Superman movie to date. The film opens on the most Avatar -like Krypton you'll ever see (with touches of Dune thrown in for camp value) as we follow Jor-El (Russell Crowe) who is busy worrying about the fact that the entire planet is about to explode, though he doesn't seem too bothered about leaving the dying world himself, or getting his wife to safety somehow. Jor-El also happens to be at the heart of a

Here's the thing about Superman Returns : It's not THAT bad. I wouldn't even call it "bad", it's just... misguided, really. Instead of reinventing Superman for a new generation, here's a film which decides to pay homage to those old Christopher Reeve movies, the only Superman movies we've ever seen. Was that really necessary? No. That was a bad idea to begin with: not original, not ground-breaking, not different. As a slick retread and as a sort-of sequel to Superman II , however, it just about works. You've got Kevin Spacey taking on Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor role and doing a really good job, though he's only a tad more threatening than Hackman was back in the day. The film looks good, the classic Superman theme is still there, the action sequences (all TWO of them), as rare and far between as they may be, are really well done and Bryan Singer's direction is slick and stylish. That said, there's a serious problem when

There's a reason why both Superman reboots, Superman Returns and  Man Of Steel , have both referenced this sequel heavily. Several reasons, in fact. For one: Superman III and Superman IV weren't very good. Also... Zod. If there's one thing I never really enjoyed in those old Superman movies, it was Gene Hackman's goofball take on Lex Luthor. His wacky cartoon sidekicks and his lack of a genuinely threatening character always felt off to me. So when Zod and his pals showed up in Superman II and hijacked the movie, I was over the moon. Finally, we had some worthy villains for Superman to battle and on that level, the film didn't disappoint. Though good old Luthor still stuck around in a positively unnecessary subplot where you see him break out of prison and basically tell Zod where to go and what to do. It's funny to think that Hackman didn't even technically return for this movie (his scenes were originally shot by Richard Donner). Luckily, Ter

Here's the new Man Of Steel trailer. Still lookin' good ;)

Are you ready? You better be: *creams*

The first film to really make superhero flicks into something genuinely big and epic, Superman: The Movie  is the classic that made Christopher Reeve into a star overnight, spawned 3 more sequels plus a slick modern homage not to mention made Superman into the iconic cinematic hero we all know him as. But how does it stand up today? Well, back in the day and even when I watched it as a kid, Superman was pure popcorn entertainment: it looked great, John Williams' score was, of course, amazing, and the whole thing was light, fun, creative and unique. From the Krypton opening where we meet Marlon Brando's light-suit-wearing Jor-El to the heroic time reversal at the end (I'll get to that one...) it was vintage comic book nonsense and I loved it. Hell, I was such a fan I even sat through Supergirl AND the Superboy TV series not to mention that corny 90's Lois & Clark show, all of which I dug completely and all because director Richard Donner once told us "Yo

Well, it's the weekend and although many more Batman things are in store for the rest of Bat Month, including my thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises , here's more DC goodness in the shape of the first teaser trailer for Zack Snyder's Man Of Steel starring Henry Cavill. Wow, a "gritty" Superman movie?! It's so crazy it just might work... 

Yay! Fellow BFF Axis Of Ornament contributes one of his genius comics to Bat Month! Click on baby Batman to read ;) You can find him on Twitter @AxisOfOrnament and on our goofy observational blog enterthesnowman .

Zack Snyder is a weird one. Directing career so far: 300 , Watchmen , OWLS, Sucker Punch, Superman. I can't say it's been a smooth, flawless ride so far but it's been...interesting. Even the best of the bunch, Watchmen, was far from perfect and failed to to live up to the source material's deeper aspects. What it seems to come down to is a disconnect between style and content. Snyder's films, Sucker Punch included, look fab from start to finish and the over-ambition is always welcome as it gives us the sense that there's nothing Mr Snyder will shy away from. Alas this can also prove to be something of a curse. Titanic scales, tedious slo-mos, gratuitous sex/violence, CGI up the ass, grungy pop music...these seem to be regulars now when it comes to Snyder's films. He's like a Michael Bay wrapped inside a Robert Rodriguez. And although I can't stand 300 and care not for owls I enjoyed Watchmen in parts and was looking forward to this new comic b

With casting news still coming up, the latest of which was Laurence Fishburne playing Perry White, I was under the impression that the project was still coming together very slowly and nothing had been settled on. But, of course, with only Green Lantern and an evasive Dark Knight Rises to face the mightily productive Avengers , I guess something had to give. So here we finally have a first look at Henry Cavill in that iconic costume: First impressions? Is Superman robbing a bank?  I'm kidding, he looks...like Superman. Which is a pretty good sign I would say. With the film coming out in 2013 (in a million years), it looks like we can expect a trailer probably around about the Avengers release...conveniently. Lets hope director Zack " Watchmen " Snyder doesn't fall into the Bryan Singer trap of imitating the old Superman movies and bring something fresh and new to the table.

Green Lantern is no Superman. As a character, green ring-toting Hal Jordan can be as likeably cocky as he wants he'll never be taken as seriously as his DC comics buddy. For one thing: his story is absurdity itself. Something about free will having a colour (?), purple aliens and magical glowing lanterns...? If only there was a live-action film! Oh... Well, they gave it a go. After the trailers popped up ages ago online, it seemed pretty clear that although clearly a lot of money was pumped into the project, a lot of Green Lantern would still fail to transcend the inherent silliness of the whole premise. Ryan 'Van Wilder' Reynolds alone seemed to lack a certain je-ne-sais-quoi one looks for in a superhero. Just look at Brandon Routh: adorable Clark Kent but The Man Of Steel? Surely you jest. Surprisingly though, Green Lantern is no disaster. In 3D, at least, it is visually fun even if the effects are very hit-and-miss. The CGI costume is a tad off-putting, a lot of