Talkin’ Turkey With Tim Babb
Day 20

I may have voiced my dislike of the movie “Man of Steel” a few times around here. I’ve been less vocal about my disappointment in Superman Returns. That flick has some fun moments, but the plot is really weak. It’s a shame that in this modern boom of Superhero movies, that the first and greatest superhero doesn’t have a good movie.

It’s especially a shame because he could have. There was a great Superman movie out there just waiting to be made. I was reminded of this last night when a comedian friend of mine wrote:

I’m going to be lazy and rewatch Man of Steel and see if I still hate it.

To which I replied:

Don’t watch that Batman with superpowers movie. Superman vs. The Elite is on Netflix streaming. A way better movie that still manages to be dark and hopeful and preserve the Superman character.

If you’ve never heard of this movie, check out the trailer…

Go watch that now. Like I said, it’s on Netflix streaming. You may not be able to tell from that trailer, but that is one of the best Superman movies I’ve ever seen. …and that is saying something because it doesn’t have a single bar of the John Williams theme in it and I STILL love it.

Superman vs the Elite is an animated movie that came out in 2012 but it was based on the Superman comic “What’s So Funny About Truth, Justice & the American Way?” which came out in 2001. Which is to say BOTH Bryan Singer and Zach Snyder had access to the source material and could have made this as a live action movie. This would have been the way to reintroduce cinematic audiences to Superman. It keeps the soul of the character of Superman while putting him at odds with today’s darker, more cynical world.

This is the kind of movie you can show someone and say, “See? THIS is why Superman is awesome! THIS is why he’s the best!” I couldn’t say that after watching Superman Returns and certainly not Man of Steel.

Up, up and away…