How many chances did they have to match if not surpass superman by Richard Donner?
4 tries and still no good superman films.
Superman II if finished by donner could have been a good film instead we got the laughably jokey Lester movie.
And don't even get me started on III Richard Pryor and more dumb jokes that don't belong in superman. By the time you get to IV you get the worst piece of crap, bad acting ever. Plus the worst special effects in a superman film from the people who brought us such classics as cyborg.
At Least Returns tried to return to the magic of the first film but failed miserably, unfortuntely even though reprising the thrilling John Williams superman march. I found Routh to be likable enough if no Christopher Reeve. Kate Bosworth on the other hand really was not all that likable, but i guess she was going for general bitchiness in Lois Lane. This was a modern woman who could make it on her own and af far as she acted she did'nt need superman.
Singer was obviously going for a highly stylized retro look with super saturated colors. Almost Exactly like the production paintings. I'm not sure but it might have been Ryan Church who did the star wars prequels and recently star trek.
The original epic script by Mario Puzo on the first film that was originally going to be one movie and then was split into 2, in my opinion deserved an academy award. Not sure if he won awards for working on the first 2 godfather scripts.
That the script Like Star Wars was so wholly original should have gotten it an award in my opinion.
Just Like i think Raiders of the Lost Ark and The Empire strikes back by Kasden should have won awards, or STAR TREK II by Nicholas Meyer.
Even Return of the Jedi on paper in some parts is a damn fine script, if not award worthy.
Even the script for episode 1 was pretty good on the first read through like a comic book other than Jar Jar's scenes. II had weak moments and III when dealing with the human side to the story, but the action was always played up by Lucas very well if not laughably so far over the top there are no difference in subtlety and nuance there should different levels there to compare and contrast. Its like a piece of music that is loud the whole time and plays a few discordant notes that are unsatisfying.
When the originals worked like a melodic symphonic space opera that engaged you as a person and involved you in the story. In the new trilogy there was nothing there to relate to, imho.