The 1978 Superman film was nothing short of genius; the special effects were well ahead of its time, the characters were brought to life with talented actors and actresses, and importantly the plot for the first two films was cohesive and engaging. This all changed with the dismal failure of a film that was Superman III. The story took Brainiac, an established villain, and shifted the core of the plot into one which saw a computer savvy character being brought into direct conflict with Superman. While the franchise had some problems to begin with (turning back time and the strange kiss that wiped Lois Lanes memory), Superman III signalled the decline of the franchise. We then had to endure the seemingly never ending cascade of money making escapades by production companies which forced Superman IV, Supergirl and Superman Returns on the world. Cinematic history would have been better left ending the Superman franchise with the defeat of General Zod and his cohorts at the end of Superman II, yet this franchise was continued until the considerably darker Man of Steel attempted to break its links with the franchise (meaning we missed out on the greatest part of the franchise...John Williams frankly genius music).
A 21 year old History graduate looking for someone to listen to his ramblings. Lover of comic books, movies and all other superhero related things. Published in The Independent, always looking for interesting things to write about...Follow me on Twitter at @samclements1993, and check out my blog: http://samuelclements.wordpress.com/
