Alas! poor Yorick

I was talking to some buddies the other day and they said that they didn't like Brandon Routh's performance in Superman Returns. Even some idiots like Roger Ebert said that his performance was "bland", this from the guy that gives "Anaconda" a good review, shove that thumb up your ass. I disagree with everyone...big surprise. The fact is he did a great performance. It's just that we've become so accustomed to Christopher Reeve's portrayal that we have no choice but to compare Routh to Reeve. If Superman were being released today instead of 1978, people today would be saying the same thing about Christopher's performance. That's because a lot of performances today rely on buzzwords and a single look as opposed to a well rounded character study. You're going to tell me that Vin Diesel or Ashton Kutcher have training?? The only thing that Vin did that was good was the voice of the Iron Giant. But then again how hard is it to find a low voice, then augment it with sound equipment? If you splice every scene that these "actors" did, you probably won't find a 10th of what Routh OR Reeve has. Christopher Reeve played The Man of Steel "as a friend trying to help"....something that would probably be considered boring by today's standards. Brandon Routh did the same thing. Has anyone seen the approach they were thinking of taking Superman in??? Tim Burton envisioned him as a thin black suited character with a metallic "S" on his chest, and whoever's idea it was to cast Nicolas Cage....JEEZ less said the better. Now in the case of let's say "Star Wars", Mark Hamill's performance was perfect, NOT because he was trained by Lee Strasberg or Robert DeNiro, it's because in the context of the film, he doesn't detract from it. Nobody ever says "Oh man they really miscast Luke". They wanted a 20 year old naive farmboy and they got him. If William Katt or Kurt Russell were chosen as Luke, the film wouldn't be the same but it would have been interesting to watch their take on the character. The character has to be done in such a way that you forget who you're watching on the screen. EVEN if it's a big name star. One of the (many) reasons I didn't like The Matrix is because of Keanu Reeves. His approach to that role was one in which it left me asking "Why didn't they cast someone else?" Ask anyone who saw that film if they remember how amazing Keanu was....they'll say that "the effects we're great". There are certain performances that are perfect and NOBODY can ever recreate them. Marlon Brando in The Godfather, Judy Garland in The Wizard of Oz, even Charlie Chaplin in....well almost everything he did. If you try to copy those performances you end up with either a spoof or an embarassing footnote on your resume. If you take a different approach to it you get James Gandolfini in the Sopranos. GREAT!! Point is, (I tend to ramble but hey, you're still reading) I think you have to know something about acting, choices actors make and how a film is put together to comment on a actor's role. Till then, keep watching the skies.