I first saw Superman: The Movie when I was six years old, sitting on the hard wood floor and looking up at the TV. It wasn’t DVD quality since it was playing in the old betamax player but oh, when the credits started to roll and Krypton exploded and Clark bungled his way to Lois and he smiled his dorky smile I fell in love.
When Superman says he believed in truth, in justice and the American way, it was hamhanded, yeah, but the way he said it made you believe in him nonetheless. When Clark removes his glasses and straightens his shoulders and his voice changes, you can believe the transformation because Christopher Reeve just nails it.
Watching Superman isn’t an exercise in logic, it’s about emotions and believing that good guys always win and true love exists.
And that’s exactly what I felt when I learned that there were plans to film another Superman movie. In a way, I’ve been waiting for this movie for half my life, I haven’t been on the look out for news but whenever I heard about anything about Superman (and did I mention I was a big fan of Lois & Clark? Just don’t please don’t talk about Smallville because SV!Clark is not my Clark) my ears would perk-up and I’d scrounge for any information about the movie. But eventually something would happen and the movie won’t be produced. One particular development left me happy it didn’t push through (C’mon, can you see Nicolas Cage as Superman?). Directors and actors came and went and then, I heard that Bryan Singer had come on board I didn’t allow myself to hope but then I started seeing the trailers and the Superman video diaries and I couldn’t help but hope.
Months crawled by and suddenly it was July and Superman was here, finally, at last! When it premiered in the Philippines I spammed my friends with the news much to their amusement and annoyance, I think. I skimmed blogs for reviews and when the day finally came that I could watch it–
It was perfect.
It wasn’t a perfect movie I’ll grant you, what with Kate Bosworth (That surfer girl from that surfer movie) as Lois but, oh, I can’t help but love it. The moment the credits started rolling, the moment the Superman theme unfolded, the moment I realized that the font they were using were almost exactly like the ones used in the original Superman movies I have fallen head over heels in love.
It’s not logic, it’s so very far away from logic, it’s about the heart and letting yourself believe that, yes, little girl, a man really can fly.
Tea & Tannis 