According to Coming Soon, Superman Returns will be released with a rating of PG-13.
I must be getting too old to cover this stuff, because for some reason that bugs me. I can see the X-Men and Spiderman movies being rated PG-13, but for some reason in my head I always pictured Superman as a PG character. In the comic books X-Men and Spiderman have always seemed more suited to a PG-13 rating, the former dealing with issues of prejudice and alienation and the latter dealing with teenage angst and the realities of daily life and trying to squeeze in being a superhero when you can’t afford to pay rent.
But Superman… Superman is a product of an earlier, more innocent age. In addition to that he was raised by good parents on a good ol’ farm in the Midwest and he has morals and virtues that make Captain America look pale by comparison.
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I guess that’s part of the reason the Superman titles languished for a while. He became kind of an anachronism, out of touch with the times and with what was going on in other “edgier” titles.
I don’t normally read Superman comics, but I’ve picked up a few issues here and there and from what I’ve seen DC has worked hard to try to bring him into the world of 21st century comic books, concentrating more on his humanity and the issues he faces day to day. Of course they had the whole “Death of Superman” thing with the villain Doomsday a while back, and that storyline would certainly warrant at least a PG-13 on the big screen.
I guess in the end I’m a bit ambivalent about this film. I suppose that considering how all the promotional material I’ve seen so far (trailer, photos, upcoming movie-related statues) have left me with zero excitement factor for this film, the PG-13 rating is probably a good sign that there will be some cool battle/action sequences in the film.
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6 Comments
Yeah, I kinda have the same reaction. I definetly don;t want it to be dark, especialy, not even a little bit so…hopefully this rating doesn’t indicate a darker tone.
I’m okay with the paradigm shift. After all, if Batman could go from a cat-rescuing, tree-hugging wuss in the 60’s to an anti-social vigilante today, why can’t Superman knock some heads?
Brian
Well, I think they should try to keep the two franchises as different as possible- I mean you don’t get any different than these two characters. I would love an ongoing franchise of Batman and Superman films with very different tones but both with excellent production values and scripts.
But when I say dark…when I actually think about it I’m more worried about the cinematography than anything- but I haven’t seen too much footage from the movie yet so….
The Batman TV series in the sixties was really disconnected from the comic book of the time, kind of a wierd off-tangent rendition of the character (which in it’s own way worked REALLY well). Batman has always been the photographic negative to the picture of Superman… suspicious, looking for the worst in people and hidden motives, while Superman always looked for the good.
So yeah, the tone of these two franchises should stay different.
Vic
Well, I mean, to be honest, this film is bringing the franchise into a CGI-dominated era… Battle/action sequences can have much more detail than the Christopher Reeve films (which, by the way, I love, but I wasn’t even born yet so I don’t yet have that special connection people do with those films, although they are epic) which means more bone-breaking punches and falls. Bringing back the franchise in 2006 should alone warrant it a PG-13 rating. I don’t think the rating means that the film will have a darker tone, I mean, we’re talking about our Big Blue Boy Scout here. I just think that the rating warrants more intense action sequences due to the CGI-tech that is available now.
I’m surprised there are even mixed reactions about this film either created by viewing the teaser trailer or just “gut” instinct that this movie will be crap. I mean, did you hear the score in the teaser? That epic, somewhat mythological tune has my heart warmed already.
Um, so I guess I shouldn’t burst your bubble and tell you that was the music from the Chris Reeve version, huh.
Vic