The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? (2015)

In 1989, Tim Burton resurrected Batman to a whole new audience. The character hadn't been on a screen since the Adam West version in the 60s, and the new dark Batman ended up leaving a huge legacy to the genre of superhero movies. A decade later, Burton was tasked with doing the same to Superman, reviving a character many people lost interest in. Scripts were written, actors were cast, costumes were designed, but in the end it all fell apart.

I can really split this movie into two clean parts. One is really cool, really interesting, a look into the world of how movies get made. Kevin Smith had the first crack at writing a script, but was supposedly forced to include (and exclude) certain details. There is a great moment when Smith is listing the three mandates given to him by the studio executive, while the executive denies them. I tend to believe that Smith was telling the truth and the exec is just covering it up, but who knows. What it truly did was highlight the disconnect between the creative side and the cash side.

At heart, I'm a creative person. I do what I can to subversive. I'm not saying I'm Allen Ginsberg or anything, but in almost any case I will side with the artist over the authority. If Kevin Smith had been allowed to write the script he wanted, and make the movie the way he wanted, I think it would have turned out well. Jon Peters was the producer, the financial backer, and when it comes down to it, the money has the final say. Peters supposedly insisted on Superman not flying, not wearing his signature costume, and fighting a giant spider. Smith was eventually replaced, his replacement was replaced, and the vision was so convoluted that everyone washed their hands of it and walked away. The tragic part was hearing the people who were involved on the creative side talk about "what could have been" and how disappointed they were when it stopped. The writers, the director, the costume designers, the storyboard artists, the visual effects people, they were all excited to be part of this. But when the bigwigs start calling the shots, and pulling funding when the demands aren't met, we're left with nothing.

The other part is the terrible job by the filmmaker. Jon Schnepp is an uber-geek, a movie/cartoon/comic book buff who wanted to find out exactly what made "Superman Lives" fail. My issue is that Schnepp was entirely too visible. He composed many of his interviews in a two shot, with him sitting next to his subject. The problem is that he contributes nearly nothing to the shots. I was distracted watching him stare at a person and nod his head from time to time. The simplest solution would be to just leave the director/interviewer behind the camera. I watched this movie to hear Tim Burton explain what happened, not to hear Jon Schnepp mumble "mhmm" over and over.

If you're a fan of comic book and superhero movies, this is definitely an interesting watch. The tone that "Superman Lives" was going for would have been mind-blowing and (this may be a reach) could have put DC in the place where Marvel currently is. Even if you're not a big comic book fan, it's still a cool look into the behind-the-scenes beginnings of a movie.