I’ll start with what I didn’t like because I have less criticism for the series and more acclaim for it.
Areas of opportunity:
- What bothered me the most is vilification of Jor-El. Even now, this just disgusts me to the core. Jor-El is supposed to be a highly benevolent person, yet the series makes him out as a villain with ulterior motives for sending Kal-El (aka Clark Kent / Superman) to earth. WTF!!! He sent his only son to earth because his planet was going to explode! This just pisses me off! Many of the wonderful characteristics and honorable personality traits that Superman develops is from Jor-El.
- I was also troubled by the effects of different colored Kryptonite rocks. Obviously green Kryptonite is deadly to Clark… and red Kryptonite fucks his mind up. I feel this is well known fact to anyone who is familiar with Superman lore… however, the series decided to add black Kryptonite and apparently splits people. Why did they invent a new kind of Kryptonite? There are already other established Kryptonite colors they could have picked from… there’s blue Kryptonite that strengthens Superman (and is deadly to Bizarro), there’s gold Kryptonite that has the potential of vanquishing all of Superman’s powers permanently if he were to be exposed to it, etc…
- I didn’t like the introduction of characters that Clark isn’t supposed to meet until he’s older. Lex Luthor is the only acceptable character for this show because much of the series’ plot revolves around the notion that Clark and Lex could have been friends before they became arch-enemies. Other characters like Lois Lane and Perry White should not have made appearances in this show! He’s supposed to meet these people after he’s made the clear choice to split his persona into that of Clark Kent and Superman… in the show, his character is the combination of what will be known as the typical Superman character and the Clark Kent character. Most of his future disguise (regardless of what Jennifer seems to think is only the eye glasses) is the character of Clark Kent that he becomes. This is the character that Perry White and Lois Lane know… not the Clark Kent of this show whose personality is a mixture of Superman and Clark Kent.
- Finally, too many people know Clark’s secret in this series. At the rate of people learning his secret, the entire town of Smallville should know his secret by the time the series comes to an end.
- I love the fact that the series sometimes uses the John Williams Krypton theme music. As much as I am a Star Wars whore, my favorite John Williams music is his Krypton theme. I think the Ron should be in total agreement with me on this point! Here's a clip of the Krypton music for those who are unfamiliar with what I'm talking about:
Powered by Castpost - Up until Bryan Singer created the X-Men movies, comic book movies really sucked for the most, except for Superman (the first movie that is)! Btw: Bryan Singer is also the director of the new Superman movie, so I’m 100% confident that it will be truly awesome. Anyway… my point about the original movie is that it was great… and I loved the fact that the Smallville series incorporated actors from the original movie into the story line. Christopher Reeve, who played Superman, was given the role of Dr. Swan in the series before he tragically died in October of 2004. Margot Kidder, who played Lois Lane, was given the role of Bridgette Crosby in the series. Terrance Stamp, who played General Zod, provides the voice of Jor-El in the Smallville series. Annette O’Toole, who played Lana Lang in Superman III, has the role of Martha Kent in the series.
- I also enjoy the interpretation on how Lex Luthor becomes evil. I like to think that every starts out good… it’s just some become evil through the journey of life. So it’s interesting watch Lex struggle with his own being… trying to do what’s right, but ultimately just making the wrong decisions that puts him on the path to becoming the greatest criminal mind the world has ever known. In the end, you have to give him some respect… a normal human being constantly fighting the world’s greatest superhero. You’d expect some villain with super human powers to be Superman’s arch nemesis, but it’s simply a normal human being who happens to be criminal mastermind.
- The series also stays true to Clark and Lana’s relationship. They can’t really ever be together because ultimately Lois Lane is the love of Clark’s life. What’s funny though is that the same reasons that Clark and Lana don’t work out are very similar to why Clark and Lois don’t really work out. I call it a typical hero problem. Lois is in love with Superman, but not with Clark. She loves the superhero, not the mild mannered reporter. This seems to be a common problem amongst superheroes. The lyrics of Chad Kroeger’s Hero speak directly to this problem.
- Lastly, I think it was a wise choice to focus on the character of young Clark Kent and avoid bringing in the Superman costume. Superman is someone he becomes at a later age once he’s fully secure with who he is. It would be grossly premature to bring the notion of the Superman costume into the Smallville series.
NOTE: I really enjoyed the new Superman Returns teaser trailer! The trailer uses the Krypton theme, which make me giddy like a little school girl! And I absolutely love the fact the Bryan Singer is still using Marlon Brando as Jor-El in his new movie. I really have a great appreciation for the manner in which Brando played Jor-El in the first Superman movie!
What I find ironic is that Jor-El essentially speaks to Superman from beyond the grave… in a very similar manner that Brando is still playing the part of Jor-El!
6.2
6.7
9
7.5
3.2
0
