When I first heard that Zack Snyder would be directing the upcoming Nolan-produced Superman flick, I admit I felt a great deal of trepidation. Zack Snyder? Zack “How Slow Can You Go” Snyder? Zack “Slow and Low, that is the tempo” Snyder? Zack “Let’s turn a 1.5 hour movie into a 3 hour movie” Snyder? Zack “Another comment on how he uses an excessive amount of slow-motion in his films” Snyder? Let’s just say I didn’t think Superman would quite work so well in slow-motion, and that worried me.
Yes, Snyder did, in my opinion, an excellent job at translating Watchmen from the page to the reel. There were some changes made, and there were some things I didn’t approve of or appreciate, but overall it was very well done. Now he’s set his sights on Superman, and so far, things have been looking good. While Brandon Routh will unfortunately not be returning, having turned in a wonderful performance as both Clark Kent and Superman, we know that his blue and red underwear will be filled by Henry Cavill. I’m a fan of Henry, so I’m happy with that choice. Earlier this month, we heard that Diane Lane has been cast as Martha Kent. I approve, because it gives Diane Lane another movie to be damn good-looking in. Oh, and she can act, so that’s a nice perk. There have been rumors that Kevin Costner was to be Snyder’s Jonathan Kent, and yesterday those rumors were confirmed to be true. I’m a fan of Costner, to be honest. He’s made some bad movies, and been in some bad movies, but when he gets a good part, he plays it well. Casting, so far, has really managed to improve my outlook for this movie.
Now we know that Snyder’s Superman will venture out on its own, without tying itself down to the events, characters, style, or story of the previous Superman movies. To the LA Times:
…the one thing that everyone can start to think about is that we’re making a movie that finally goes with the approach that there’s been no other Superman movies. If you look at ‘Batman Begins,’ there’s that structure: there’s the canon that we know about and respect, but on other hand there’s this approach that pre-supposes that there haven’t been any other movies. In every aspect of design and of story, the whole thing is very much from that perspective of ‘Respect the canon but don’t be a slave to the movies.’
There are three key words in that quote that give me a great deal of hope: “Respect the canon…” Too often, the canon is thrown away in translations. Respect the canon, and they will come.
