Superman Returns (2006) vs Batman Begins (2005)

After Christopher Reeve's last stint as Superman in Superman: The Quest for Peace   there had been many attempts to reboot the franchise. I'm not sure anyone was worried they couldn't make a better film than 1987's disastrous film but Christopher Reeve was a very hard act to follow. Many actors had been considered and we now know that many popular actors have tried the famous suit on behind closed doors over the years. Nicholas Cage came closest to playing Supes when Tim Burton, who had found great success in bringing Batman to the big screen, was hired to bring the same magic to the Man of Steel. They got very close but it wasn't to be (See the brilliant documentary The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? for more details). Batman & Robin had also been a disaster for the Batman franchise, not financially but certainly critically, too much so to risk another outing, although a follow up film had been green-lit before the film was even released. Both superheroes were in need of a reboot, you have to wonder though why it seemed so hard, given the huge wealth of comic stories written over the years. Both characters needed vision, understanding of the source character and commitment. They needed passionate leaders who knew the character and who would fight for their ideas. Batman got this in spades when Christopher Nolan became attached to the project. Tim Burton famously said that he had never read a Batman comic before making his 1989 movie. It is clear Nolan had read them all. Before Joel Schumacher left the franchise he was set to make Batman Unchained (also known as Batman Triumphant). It would see Nicholas Cage play the Scarecrow and his hallucinatory powers would see all previous Batman villains return to the film as dream-like visions. All previous actors, including Jack Nicholson were said to be interested. It sounds like a pipe dream and indeed, it was. Nicholas Cage was said to have one of the biggest comic book collections in the world at the time but after loosing the Superman and Batman gigs, he pretty much sold everything he had. You've got to feel for the guy. Nolan picked the meat of Schumacher's lost film and made a dark and beautiful modern classic. It had everything the fans wanted and maybe even had a few tricks up its sleeve the fans didn't even know they wanted. Christian Bale was the perfect choice for both Batman and Bruce Wayne. The film introduced a couple of villains only the true fans would probably know, a brave move many would say but a sensible one I would argue. Liam Neeson played Ra al Ghul, Batman's one time master and Cillian Murphy plays The Scarecrow, whose powers of hallucination conjures all sorts of creepy possibilities. The cast was pretty epic, with Gary Oldman playing a brilliant version of James Gordon, Michael Cain as Alfred and Morgan Freeman as Lucas Fox with Katie Holmes, Tom Wilkinson, Ken Watanabe and Rutger Hauer in supporting roles. It looked glorious and wasn't in the least bit camp. 1989's Batman was something special, 2005's Batman Begins was something epic. It's fair to say Superman Returns had to do something rather special to compete. In my opinion, it failed miserably. Bryan Singer took over directional duties after both Tim Burton and McG had tried and failed to get their Superman films off the ground. It really can't have been easy. 1978's Superman gave the best adaptation of Superman's origin story, Singer, quite understandably, didn't want to compete. Plus, we'd seen it all before, it was seen as best to just get on with the action. Fair enough, however, Superman Returns was to be seen as a direct follow up from Superman II and here lies the problem. It's never nice for a director to come along and say "Forget the last two films ever happened" no matter how bad they were but seriously, you can't make a convincing sequel twenty-six years later with a completely new cast. It's nonsense. As it happens, I believe they cast the best possible man for the title role but everything and everyone else was horrible - including Kevin Spacey (although I loved the Jack Larson and Noel Neill cameos). I'm afraid Kate Bosworth was completely unlikable as Lois Lane, there was no chemistry between her and Brandon Routh and the hinted at son of Superman sub-plot was utterly cringe-worthy. It is a bit hokey when you think that in the original 1978 film Lex Luthor was, essentially, a dastardly real-estate agent and I do think they should have come up with something new for his character. Creating a giant continent sized island of Krypton to claim as his own and build luxury condominiums on was a little too silly as it was but to have Superman somehow lift it of the face of the planet, when just a little piece of it nearly killed him in the first film, was beyond Stupid. I love the original Christopher Reeve films, they each have their own silly mistakes in them but surely Batman Begins should have shown the way? The only thing Superman Returns got right was Brandon Routh, the only thing Batman Begins got wrong was Katie Holmes.

In this particular episode of  Superman vs Batman - Batman wins!