Nolan to get involved with Superman reboot?

Oh no, no no no no no. No to Nolan. Listen, I actually like Memento, even though I found it needlessly gimmicky. It would have been the same movie told from front to back. Even Insomnia was halfway decent (and better still, less gimmicky), though I’m told it can’t hold a candle to the 1997 Norwegian original. Then came Batman Begins, which, while not an exemplary film, defined the meaning of “reboot,” especially in the garish light of Joel Schumacher’s abysmal entries (here and here). I remember saying to my wife at the time that Nolan’s Batman was exactly the way I imagined he would be on the big screen.

And then, downhill all the way with The Prestige (back to plot gimmicks plus all sorts of foreboding “darkness”) and The Dark Knight (plot? What plot? Just throw out the storytelling and add dollops of  foreboding “darkness”, dammit!). Looking at the trailer for Inception, Nolan’s not about to change direction.

So, you can imagine why I’m aghast at the news that Nolan has been roped in to “godfather” the production of the next Superman movie and worried by terms like “edgier” and “more sophisticated” being bandied around the news. Nolan is probably capable of making a franchise reboot take off, but people need to remember that Superman is not Batman. Superman—and to some extent Superman II—already got it right. Superman Returns clearly tried to bring back the very same magic (with some unnecessary Jesus Christ posturing thrown in) but failed to properly update the Man of Steel with other than a few cosmetic changes.  The question now is whether Nolan (as mentor) can help create a modern Superman without betraying the core of the character from the first two movies. I hope he doesn’t prescribe plot gimmicks and try to turn  Superman into the frigging Dark Knight.

It’s gratifying to see that I’m not alone in my opinions of what they should and should not do to the next Superman film. IGN has an article here that I agree mostly with, especially the section on “Maturity, Not Darkness.”

In many ways, Superman is a much more significant cultural icon than Batman, and I would like to see the film franchise given a fresh look; something along the lines of All-Star Superman would be nice. Let’s hope they find a great cast, a great director, and that Nolan doesn’t screw things up.

PS: Here’s a little does of “anti-darkness.” See what I mean about cultural significance? They wouldn’t put the Bat here.

Sources: Deadline Hollywood, IGN

Work, life, and All-Star Superman

Just came across this post on Sri’s (my wife) blog; seven days late, shame on me). Lately our conversation topics have centered more and more on work, mainly because work is what’s keeping her in Hong Kong right now in an apartment that’s only slightly bigger than the bathroom in our house, and work is what I’ve been thinking of quitting for the past several months. Don’t get me wrong; I know work sucks for a lot of people; it’s just that recently it sucks just a little bit more than usual for me and Sri. And being apart for close to six months doesn’t help.

 

Let me  jump track to All-Star Superman, which I recently finished reading. Honestly I never got why the series was so acclaimed … until I started on the second-half. Superman dying is not a new idea; the masterstroke here, though, is that the Man of Steel doesn’t go out in a glorified to-the-death battle with Doomsday; he dies gradually, his powers fade, his body quite literally disintegrates. The end of his life now in sight, what does someone like Superman do? The answer is that he does what he must, and what he can, with the time that he has left.

Now I see why so many critics and those who work in the comics industry consider All-Star Superman possibly the best Superman comic. Ever. I don’t know if it’s just a premature wave of mid-life crisis hitting me but lately I’ve feeling like a boxer down on the mat, and I can hear the ref counting; the feeling intensifies at work. So you can bet All-Star Superman struck a major chord in me. When you’ve lost sight of why you do what you do, an utterance like “The measure of man man lies not in what he says but what he does” takes on a whole new meaning; when Superman writes his own obituary even as he struggles to do all that he must before he is gone forever, all the while believing and proving that “There’s always a way …,” I cannot help but be deeply affected. What am I doing with the time that’s given to me in this life? What am I doing with what’s left of it?

By “what we do” I mean the choices that we make, both the mundane and the momentous. Should I exercise today? Should I watch that movie? Should I spend an hour listening to music, or should I play with my two-year-old daughter? Should I accompany my mother to the clinic or attend a crucial meeting at work? Should I eat a hamburger or just have a salad? Should I quit my job? Myriad questions bombard us every day, demanding decisions. And there are no right or wrong answers, only consequences.

Yep, sounds like the “What does it all mean?” stage of life is upon me, and it must seem foolish to think the answer (or at least part of it) lies in a comic book, and a superhero comic at that. With the current economic climate and an apartment on the way (we”ll probably move in next year or so), leaving my job is more critical than usual. But since I’ve already given my superiors a heads-up (I told them two, maybe three months), I guess I’ve already decided. Consequences? We shall see. I’ll be sure to keep you posted on this blog.