from:
http://www.buzzscope.com/features.php?id=942
On the Fly #3
by Sandy Collora 2005-04-25
Well comic fans... Most of you knew this was coming. Due to the absolutely crazy amount of emails and phone calls I've gotten over the past few days asking what I think of the new Superman costume, I'm pushing the CG column to next week and right here, right now, I'm gonna tell you what I think about the new Superman costume, straight from the heart.
Before I get started, let me explain something... I didn't want to write about this, but after numerous calls from people in the industry whom I deeply respect, encouraging me to do so, I felt I had to. The Buzzscope guys gave me this column because they felt the fans would want to hear what I think. I feel it's my obligation, not only to the site and all of you, but to myself, to express how I feel about the photograph of the Superman costume that has been revealed and how I think the film itself will be deeply affected by it.
It is not my intention with this installment of the column to disrespect, malign, or undermine what is currently being done by Warner Brothers and the filmmakers with the new Superman film. I respect Bryan Singer as a director immensely and think he's exceptionally talented. At this point, I can only dream of a career even as remotely successful as his, and what you are about to read, though passionately and strongly written, is simply my own opinion, nothing more, nothing less.
The first word that came to my mind when I saw that picture was: Weak. That, in my opinion, is the best and simplest way to describe that costume.
The biggest and most obvious problem I feel with it, is the fact that everything about it, including Brandon Routh himself, is just too small. The symbol, the neckline, the shorts, the boots... It all looks wrong to me. Really wrong. If anything, Routh looks more like an odd, little too old, doesn't quite fit into the costume, version of Superboy to me, rather than a real Superman.
It lacks power, presence and an overall cohesiveness that makes it somehow look like someone dressed up like Superman, but it's not SUPERMAN. Judging from what I've heard from not only people actually working on the movie, but from the overwhelmingly negative response on the some of the chat boards and forums to the photo, my intial, gut feeling is that most people are not going to buy Brandon Routh as the man of steel and I think the costume has much more to do with it than people think.
Superhero costumes these days seem to be designed by committee. Everyone involved puts in their 2 cents about what the costume should look like, so instead of the true vision of the director and costume designer, we wind up with these weird, odd, hodge-podge conglomerations that almost always loose the original impact and charm that made them work in the first place.
Which brings me to my next point. Superman's costume is already designed, it just needs to be translated into a different medium, from the page, to the screen. Nothing needs to be "updated", changed, or re-designed. Granted, little things have to be figured out and modified to make the costume work physically on film, but you don't need to change it that drastically. The original film, not to mention, my little promo proved that for sure.
Take this into consideration as well... Chris Reeve totally embodied the character. He was and will always be Superman. Everybody loved the costume and his performance because it was very traditional. Making a Superman movie with that as the previously established material and character has got to be incredibly daunting. Take it from me, I know... I've done it.
Given the lackluster response to last two Batman films, Christopher Nolan and Christian Bale have a much better shot at getting the character of Batman right and pleasing the fans. The New Superman film however, will not have that luxury. Donner and Reeve nailed it. Period. It was perfect and everyone loved the first Superman movie. Which prompts the question: Why change the costume?
Well, I think the answer to that question lies somewhere in the fact that this film is basically a 200 million dollar commercial to sell action figures and toys. If you haven't already seen it, I highly recommend watching the DVD "An Evening With Kevin Smith", in particular, the part where he talks about the Superman movie and his involvement in it. It's very, very enlightening (Clip can be downloaded here 16.2 MB).
Being a filmmaker myself, in the process of getting my first feature into production, I understand why all this is done, and to a large degree, I actually agree with it. Movies these days, especially Superhero, Sci-Fi and action adventure films, need to more than just movies, they have to be able to generate revenue for the studios outside the theater, through a myriad of ancillary and merchandising avenues. Which is a good thing... Hell, I'm the guy buying all that stuff, but that still doesn't explain why more traditional Superhero costumes wouldn't work not only in the film, but for all of the ancillary as well. I just don't get it.
There are also two things that I want to clarify here that really bug me about how this costume is being described in the media:
Firstly, the fact that in the USA Today article, where the picture originally surfaced, it's mentioned that the new Superman is all Routh and not a rubber muscle suit. Well, that is 100% incorrect. What you're looking at is actually a sculpted rubber muscle suit underneath a spandex suit, very similar to what was done in the Spiderman films. In my opinion, Brandon Routh not only has the wrong body type for Superman (his torso is too long), he's not big enough, hence the sculpted rubber muscles.
Secondly, in all the interviews I've read, including the USA Today article, Singer refers to, and describes the costume as being something very "traditional". Well, sorry guys, it's not. To me, the only thing traditional about that costume is the fact that it's blue and red, and they didn't even get that right, as I feel the red is too dark. There's nothing traditional whatsoever about the neckline, which by the way, is "designed" to hide the fact that he's wearing the muscle suit underneath it. The sculpted, three dimensional symbol, the S on the belt, the rubber cape, the silly little S texture (yes, that's what it is) all over the suit and not only the position, but the design of the shorts are in no way, shape or form, traditional.
I've been a dedicated Superman fan my whole life and have seen and studied every incarnation of this character at length, yet the parts of the costume mentioned above, that Singer and company claim are so traditional, have never existed in any previous incarnation of the character. Period.
This all goes to show how studios and filmmakers use the press to create or manufacture solutions to issues or problems that are inherent to their films. Problems that simply should not be there in the first place. They somehow think that if they put things out there in the press early, like "It's all Brandon Routh, no rubber suit here." Or "The costume is very traditional." They'll somehow convince the public that those things are true when they most certainly and obviously aren't.
I strongly feel that the image and personification of Superheroes (particularly this incarnation of Superman) that people are being sold on these days, is really missing the mark. It's lacking sprit... Lacking a soul. And contrary to what is being shoved down our throats by some of the media, it's lacking tradition.
I'm concerned about how self absorbed this industry is becoming regarding Superheroes and what they should look like on the silver screen. They seem so far removed from the bold, powerful, masculine, larger than life role models that so profoundly and positively impacted me as a child.
They can change the true essence of what our Superheroes are at the commercial level, but they'll never change it at the core, or in the hearts of those to whom they mean and represent so much more. SC
SUPERMAN RETURNS 1st official PIC of new Superman
Originally Posted by Neural_AI1
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