Saturday, September 21, 2024

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

HELL YEAH MORE SUPERMAN. And this is a documentary about the guy who played Superman in the original movies? Awesome. I've never seen those movies, but I don't have to know they are infinitely better than those fucking Zack Snyder ones. Anyway, as soon as I heard about it I was incredibly excited. I wasn't sure if I was gonna review this movie, since I don't think people engage with documentaries the same way they engage with structured narratives, so I didn't know if my review style would work. But I want to tell people about this movie so I'll muddle through.

What's The Movie About.

Christopher Reeve and his role as Superman, his accident and subsequent adjustment to life, and the founding of the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation.

What I Like.

The whole movie, pretty much. I like the way they present the information, I like the glimpse into Christopher Reeve's life. They were incredibly respectful of the man while still acknowledging his flaws. They showed a lot of footage of home videos his wife took and I liked seeing hi trying to spend time with his kids after his accident. I didn't know Christopher Reeve directed movies either, that's pretty cool. I actually didn't know a lot about him, so this movie was fascinating. Probably the coolest thing was learning that he was best friends with Robin Williams, although it seems obvious in hindsight. Like of course the man who's still who I want to be when I grow up is best friends with Superman! The biggest thing I like about this movie was the message of never giving up. Christopher (and his wife, who I learned died of cancer only two years after he died) was faced with an impossible situation, and he never gave up. There were moments of weakness, sure. But he persevered. He kept fighting. I'm absolutely not ashamed to admit this movie made me cry like four or five times, and all of them were in relation to Chris overcoming or succumbing to the more tragic parts of his life. (Or when Glenn Close said Robin would probably still be alive if Chris was like WOMAN YOU CAN'T DO ME LIKE THAT.) There's a really cool visual of a stature of Superman/Christopher floating through spaces that get's green crystals when they talk about Chris's injuries and the movie opens with an awesome shot of the statue right in front of nebula that looks like a cape. It's so cool that I completely disregard that the movie should have ended on that shot instead of opened on it. Either way, this movie is really quite excellent.

What I Didn't Like.

It's just a shame YOU CAN'T WATCH THIS ANYWHERE. WHY THE FUCK IS THIS A LIMITED RELEASE?! I get it's a documentary and maybe that doesn't have as much appeal as a regular comic book movie, but our theater is showing this movie for only TWO DAYS. I HAD TO PAY TO WATCH IT. Yes, I was happy to, it was a worthwhile experience. But why limit the opportunity for people to watch it? Seriously. This is baffling. 

Final Summation.

This is a movie about Superman and hope of course I like this movie. I guess watch it on Max in like a month. I guess I was kind right about not being able to review documentaries as easily, but honestly the half-assed nature of this piece might be just because this movie is pretty damn good. I don't have much to say beyond that.

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