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David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

The New (And Probably Last) Superman Returns Trailer

I know I’ve been tough on Superman Returns, but this new trailer, which seems to be responding to some of the gentility of The Man Of Steel is much better. Consider the teen boys sold.
But is the closer, which you will see if you watch, a real Twister/ID4/Day After Tomorrow moment that make it a must-see movie for a lot of people? Or is it just too familiar?

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30 Responses to “The New (And Probably Last) Superman Returns Trailer”

  1. Blackcloud says:

    Third time is the charm. But I have to ask, what took ya so long?

  2. EDouglas says:

    This is the first time I’ve really been impressed. I’m there.

  3. jeffmcm says:

    This is better than anything we’ve seen yet, but I still have some reservations; mostly I’m really missing John Williams and Christopher Reeve right about now.
    The final shot is just fine.

  4. Blackcloud says:

    There will be some John Williams in the movie; fortunately they decided to keep his theme, which is what they should have done with Elfman’s Batman theme. Alas, Christopher Reeve will be present only in the memories of the movie’s audience.

  5. jeffmcm says:

    A theme is only as good as the composer using it; the music in this trailer sounds cruddy, and I usually like Ottman.

  6. Blackcloud says:

    I wasn’t familiar with the name, so I clicked it in the IMDB crew listing for SR. As far as I can tell, the only movie I’ve seen that he’s scored is X2; and I didn’t know he was the composer for it until I saw his filmography.

  7. palmtree says:

    Ottman’s Usual Suspects score is one of the best in recent memory (it’s often used for action movie trailers). His other stuff is decent but rather forgettable. The one advantage with him is that he is also the editor of the movie so he understands timing and tone.

  8. palmtree says:

    Patrick Doyle did a rather terrible job of using Williams’ music in the last Harry Potter. Better to start from scratch than to evoke memories of things which you can’t compete with.

  9. EDouglas says:

    Oh, Ottman did this? He’s great!

  10. martin says:

    i’m all for this film being a success, but this trailer still doesn’t do it for me. The last 30-45 seconds are good, but the first 2/3rds are a real mess and honestly worse than the same in the previous trailers. The TV spots are working much better for me (saw them at comingsoon.net/trailers). That last shot of the bullet looks like bad CGI to me and screams “cheesy”. It’s a great idea but kinda falls flat. Might work well in the movie. Feels kinda cheesy and desperate in this so-so trailer. Whoever is cutting the TV spots should be doing the trailers, but its already too late for that.
    Regardless, people get the idea. It’s Superman, he’s back. If you like Superman and all that stuff you’re gonna see it. If you don’t, you’re not gonna be swayed by these trailers.

  11. Josh Massey says:

    I echo the sentiments above – this is the first piece of advertising that’s gotten me to be excited about the movie.
    And I don’t agree “Batman” should have kept Elfman’s theme, by the way. “Begins” was a restart, “Returns” is basically a sequel (even though they won’t call it that).

  12. Tofu says:

    Elfman’s Batman theme would have been nice to hear at the END of Begins, but no big deal. In my opinion, Doyle blew Williams’ Potter work away in one try. Sometimes it is about tone, and not just melody or feeling.
    There still isn’t much new in this trailer, and yet it still gives away too much (the finale stab) and needs to move even FASTER. That said… I wouldn’t be surprised to see the trailer in front of X3 to be different from even this one.

  13. Wrecktum says:

    That reuses a lot of the same footage from the last trailer. More Brando voiceover. More “WRONG!!!” Clearly an improvement, but to much of the same.
    The last shot was more Matrix than Superman, but at least it was new material.

  14. anghus says:

    yeah, im with the ‘where the fuck was this when it could have really helped the film?’ camp.
    women have responded very well to the 2nd trailer, but are female moviegoers really going to propel this to the numbers it needs to get to?
    fanboys are a given. even the ones who bitch will see this twice. capturing the female audience seems to have worked with the 2nd trailer.
    Is it too late to rally the kids? Right now, this film has almost zero recognition outside of the internet savvy crowd.

  15. Josh Massey says:

    I’m a 5th grade teacher, and I can say my kids are completely stoked about “X-Men 3,” and only a few of them even know a new “Superman” movie is coming out (and the ones that know don’t seem to care, as Superman is their parents’ superhero).
    Of course, some of that could change as we get closer to the release date…

  16. palmtree says:

    I think TV is the key for kids. X-Men had a cartoon. Batman had and has a cartoon. Pokemon did. etc. Superman doesn’t have a contemporary one and that makes him far less on the radar. Smallville doesn’t really count cause kids are too young for it. Even my love for Superman is based off rentals and not theatrical viewings (I think IV was the only one I saw there).
    The big exception of course is Spiderman. So it can be done.

  17. palmtree says:

    I loved the last shot, because so many times you see things get very close to eyes but never actually there. Made some kind of statement about pushing the action further. Aside from that it was more of the same, and yet different because the tone was fresh and darker, not as campy. I guess choral music and watching Superman being tortured will do that.

  18. RDP says:

    Superman had an animated series from 1996 to 2000, and he was a prominent member of the Justice League animated series that began in 2001.

  19. Nicol D says:

    This trailer is fantastic.
    But for myself, it’s a bit of a Hail Mary pass late in the 4th quarter.
    It hit all the right notes, made Superman look Super and heroic and the line about him hearing millions of people crying for a savior was excellent.
    But if that is not the film they promoted 3 months ago, then I have to believe it is not the film they made and it is a great editor’s response to a bad situation.
    Again, knowing what I know due to spoilers, I do think while this trailer is stellar, what you’re gonna get is the first two. A mopey Superman for a modern era.
    Also, the last shot is excellent. It plays perfectly on Superman iconography from the comic’s heyday, just like Batman busting the drug ring in the warehouse did to Batman.
    But this most likely will not be Batman.

  20. brack says:

    You can see where all the money went, it definitely looks purrty.
    I’m definitely seeing it. I have faith in Bryan Singer, having done a great job with the first two X-men movies. I don’t know how “excited” I am, since, well, I’m not 13 anymore.

  21. right says:

    the big problem with the trailer is that Superman doesn’t actually SAY anthing! Other than the “every day, I hear people crying for a savior” line (which is good), all we get is him saying “hello” in a goofy way to the little kid. Isn’t it weird they’re not letting more of his personality come through and instead focusing on Lois and Luthor (plus the badass action shots)?

  22. palmtree says:

    RDP, I stand corrected.
    Now I’m baffled…why don’t kids want to see this?

  23. Wrecktum says:

    Because it’s corny, dorky and nostalgic.

  24. Josh Massey says:

    Those recent Superman series appealed more to older fanboys than actual children.
    I would also point out the film’s PG-13 rating… but then again, “Goblet of Fire” certainly wasn’t harmed by it.

  25. tfresca says:

    I thinkg WB is dropping the ball. They had a lameduck network. I’d re run the Superman cartoon on the stations every night between now and the premiere. But the fact is the cartoons will only make people more disappointed by the movie. WE needed to see some epic battle/villians in this movie. Lex Luthor wasn’t the answer. To me this this is The Incredible Hulk version 2.0. People have MORE feelings toward the Superman from the comics/cartoons than his movie characterizations which were sketchy at best. The opposite was true for the Hulk, few people read the comics but you could play the song from the tv show and get instant recognition even today. I do have some faith that this won’t be awful. Singer hasn’t made a bad movie yet.

  26. jeffmcm says:

    ^^^Apt Pupil is fairly crummy.

  27. THX5334 says:

    What I don’t understand is…They haven’t really shown “Superman” in the USofA trailers at all.
    In fact, this international one is the first time I’ve even heard Routh utter a line as the character?
    Isn’t it a bad sign when they don’t show the actor playing the lead character, that is the title of the movie, oh say – I don’t know…Acting??
    (and I was even more surprised, because when you hear Routh’s voice, it actually helps to take away from some of the “Fey” that people are complaining about the look of the character.)
    They don’t show him “acting” in any of the trailers at all. That worries me more than anything.
    How about Moriarity and others saying X3 isn’t as bad as they say?
    I don’t know, if there were bets in Vegas on which comic book movie of the summer is going to be more quality – The odds have gotten better for X3.

  28. Arrow77 says:

    I don’t have any worry about Singer being able to pull it off. If there is not a whole lot of acting from Routh, it’s because when a movie cost that much to make, the studios have a tendency to show where the money went.
    I never tought X-Men 3 was going to just plain suck: Ratner is a competent director. My worry is that it won’t be as good as the first two and Moriarty didn’t convince me with his review, where he sounded more relieved than enthusiastic. I don’t want to lower my expectation to the max just to enjoy the film.
    The gap will be closer than some people tought initially but I still think Superman will be the better film.

  29. Aladdin Sane says:

    I like this international trailer the best…
    I have to trust Singer on Routh…he made some interesting decisions actor wise when it came to the X-Men films, and those turned out pretty good overall (Berry being the one really sore spot). Anyhow, I’ll be there opening night in my superspandex. Okay, okay, no one wants to see that…

  30. Josh Massey says:

    “People have MORE feelings toward the Superman from the comics/cartoons than his movie characterizations which were sketchy at best.”
    I couldn’t agree less.

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