Keanu Reeves as Superman

M.C. Hampster writes "Fox News is reporting in this article that Superman is back in the planning stages at Warner Bros. with a possible Keanu Reeves playing the title role. Is this possibly the worse fit for an actor in a superhero role since Michael Keaton in Batman?" Perhaps they too will rotate in a new actor for each feature.

Re:Uh......Michael Keaton

Micheal Keaton was good for Batman because he could pull off a better Bruce Wayne. Any idiot can play "Batman".

What Keaton got Right

Keaton portrayed someone who was damaged. You could see in him someone who was uncomfortable dealing with the niceties of his high society surroundings, someone who knew that there was a dark thing writhing in the city that could only be fought against by something equally dark. The other players of Batman treated him as a one dimensional heroic figure.

I thought the first Batman movie was excellent. If only Jack had been 20 years younger he would have been the perfect Joker. He still pulled off a fine job.

The second movie introduced some nearly over-the-top performances (Danny DeVito and Christopher Walken) that seemed to give permission to the people who produced the next couple of movies to return to the campiness of the television series. The formula that is the theme of Batman (person is emotionally and physically wounded, person puts on a mask and exacts revenge on the rest of the world) is made truely formulamatic in the last few films. Tim Burton realized that such a formula could be made into camp unless you had actors with depth who could flesh out the struggle of dual persona. That is where Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, and Michelle Pfeiffer succeeded.

Best Said...

Woah

Best of Both Worlds...

Maybe they'll create a new super-character! Think about it, SuperNeo would have no weaknesses! "There is no kryptonite."

Re:hmmm

Superman is Kryptonian. He's a different species. He's not a member of any human "race". We're lucky he's even bilaterally symetrical.

Re:Superman is an illegal alien

He was not born in the U.S. Heck, he was not born on earth.

Still, you have to admire his willingness to stand up for Truth, Justice, and the American Way when he isn't even eligible to run for president.

I agree

I very much agree. I thought Keaton was quite good as Batman -- he certainly played a much more convincing Bruce Wayne than the others. Val Kilmer sucked -- too much of the playboy type, rather than the tragic figure that Wayne was supposed to be. George Clooney could have been okay, but again he tried too much to be the sex god rather than the dark figure that Batman and Bruce Wayne really are. Keaton got the brooding, darker side of Batman/Wayne much better than the others did. (And the Batman movies just weren't the same without Tim Burton's vision anyway.)

Keaton's choice was also greeted with skepticism by fans, but I think he did a good job. Which is why I would be willing to give Keanu Reeves the benefit of the doubt. But unfortunately Keanu is a lousy actor IMO -- he did okay in Matrix, but he stunk in just about everything else (his "performance" in Much Ado About Nothing was embarrassing).

Maybe the Hollywood execs thought they were 'honoring' Christoper Reeve by having an actor with nearly the same last name play Reeve's most memorable role. ;-P

But Christopher Reeve will always be the "real" Superman for me -- he was born to play that role IMO.

Cheers,

Ethelred [grantham.de]

Actually, I thought Keaton rocked.

Keaton had a dark psychosis to him... a perfect fit for the Dark Knight.

Clooney and Kilmer were both absolutely wrong for that role. The only redeeming thing about the franchise after Tim Burton left was the set design in the one with Schwarzenegger.

And, to stay on topic, I agree that Keanu Reeves is just wrong for this role.

Re:Actually, I thought Keaton rocked.

I absolutely agree with you 100%.

Keaton was by far the most believable and best-acted Batman of the bunch.

AFA Superman - I can't envision any actor other than Christopher Reeve in that role. But Keanu is an absolutely terrible idea.

sedawkgrep

Neo as Superman????

Okay, to the guy that posted this article...what are you, smoking crack? Keaton was the best of the Batmen. He played Bruce wayne as much more of an everyman than the others. He seemed much more the rich recluse than either of Clooney or Kilmer. After the first two Batman movies, the sequels just sucked precicely because Keaton wasn't in the film.

Oh, yeah, and Tim Burton used to do the directing...

It's the last name, of course!

You missed Christopher Reeve.

George Reeves, Christopher Reeve, Keanu Reeves. It's the last name that they're going for.

Keaton did rock

What he said. Keaton seemed unlikely to me when Batman was first announced, but was easily the best of any of the Batman actors I've seen. He played up the duality of the role beautifully, and the darkness of the character came through eerily, even brilliantly.

Keanu as superman though? I think that's a hell of a reach.

Re:Actually, I thought Keaton rocked.

Hear hear! Keaton made those movies... He was perfect... he passed as the tough guy, was a little bit of smart ass (as batman should be), and played a good rich science nerd. Exactly everything a Batman should be.

Re:Actually, I thought Keaton rocked.

The only redeeming thing about the franchise after Tim Burton left [...]

You hit the nail on the head with that phrase. I don't blame Kilmer or Clooney for the poor quality of the last two Batman movies. I blame Joel Schumacher (director)... he's the guilty one, your honor! He's the one that put nipples on the bat suit!

Its only cause of his last name...

George Reeves played the original superman on TV.

Christopher Reeves played him in the movies from the late 70's early 80's.

So logically they want Keanu Reeves now..

Re:Its only cause of his last name...

Well to be pedantic, he's Christoper Reeve, with no final "s". Oh and sources [imdb.com] says it'll be his birthday in 10 days (the 25th). Happy Birthday Superman, I hope you get well soon.

Re:Its only cause of his last name...

Three Reeves?

Must be a glitch in the Matrix...

--

Super Curse

If I were Keanu I would be veeery leary of taking on this role:

George Reeves committed suicide (or was murdered);

Christopher Reeves became paralyzed;

Reeve(s)-Superman is statistically a cursed combination;->
Indeed, any actor should probably stay clear of this one...

Best
Samawi

Time for a name change.

[wil@hollywood]$ mv /actor/unemployed/wil.wheaton /actor/rich/famous/wil.reeves

I can see it now:

When they decide to remake Superman 1:
(For Reference [imdb.com])

Wil "Wheaton" Reeves as Superman
Patrick "Stewart" Brando as Jor-el
Brent "Spiner" Hackman as Lex Luther
Jonathan "Frakes" Beatty as Otis
Margot "Marina Sirtis" Kidder as Lois Lane.

Yes Mr. Reeves, most of us would pay to see that.

Keaton

Hey, wait a minute... I _LIKED_ keaton as batman! The first (OK, not first, but you know what I mean) movie was by far the best of the lot. Of course, that could be attributed to Nicholson...

Heaven help us

I just can't image Ted "Theodore" Logan as Superman. It just doesn't work.

They should do what they did with Spiderman - find a little known but good actor and have him re-invent the role. That way, the audience won't bring any misconceptions into the cinema, which will ruin the whole experience.

Re:Heaven help us

It works if Bill S. Preston, Esquire, plays Jimmy Olson, who, in a major plot twist, turns into an arch-villain. Makes for a good plot, since I always found Alex Winter pretty funny. In a well-conceived parallel plot, the talented sidekick ends up with nothing while his handsome, affably stupid "buddy" gets the girl/money/fame. This turns Alex/Jimmy e-vil, and he begins plotting Super Ted's downfall... "I have way lots of kryptonite, you futuristic dick-weed! Time to die, Super Dude!"

huh?

Michael Keaton played THE BEST batman, everyone I know agrees. He brought the perfect mix of mystery, drive, and intellect. You could see the dark motivations in his face, a person driven by the slaying of his parents. George Clooney? That was a cruel joke.

If this "mistake" is as bad as batman, I'll be first in line for the theater.

Re:huh?

It wasn't so much that he had the 'dark motivations' on his face as that, like the comic book Batman, he separated the two. Bruce Wayne was one character, and Batman was a completely different character.

Dual personalities at their best.

Here we go

The only movie I've seen this guy work well in was The Matrix, basically because he was perfect for the roll without needing to act. (Ok, I was entertained somehow by Speed, but don't ask me why. I haven't figured it out.)

In all fairness, it's probably pretty hard to find someone who can play the role. My take on it is that they should find some actor who isn't known to the public. If someone has played other characters, it's kinda hard to get over that association. No one thinks of Superman as someone you'd know from somewhere else.

(Sort of on topic - I was very glad to hear the news that Christopher Reeve has regained some sensation and muscular control.
http://www.cnn.com/2002/HEALTH/09/13/reeves.reco ve ry.ap/index.html
There's a real story of inspiration and hope. My hat's off to him. This is why you never give up.)

Re:Here we go

The only movie I've seen this guy work well in was The Matrix

Aren't you forgetting Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure, the greatest movie ever made? "Ted" was by far Keanu's best performace to date. He was the perfect choice to portray a SoCal airhead. His performance just seemed so natural.

Conan O'Brien said it best...

Instead of kryptonite, his enemies will just use big words to stop him.

I protest Keanu

One of the few movies I like Keanu in (Matrix), he doesn't say a lot. One of his biggest lines is "Whoa!" And that's a Good Thing.

Neo can get away with that, but Superman is suppose to give patriotic speeches and such, which would require Keanu to talk, which is bad. I don't have any evidence for this, but I bet as the number of words Reeves says in a movie increases, the quality of the movie decreases.

Why do we need ANOTHER superman anyway? Four wasn't enough? 3 Indiana Jones' wasn't enough? 2 Home Alone's was pushing it. Why so many sequals. Oh, that's because the movie industry is just reusing old ideas to make big bucks instead of making quality films with new stories in new directions. Maybe something with a little social commentary here or there.

Matt Fahrenbacher

Keaton was the best Batman.

His psycho bent on it was fantastic. Who did you prefer? VAL KILMER? GEORGE CLOONEY? Please ...

Real Superman having a more impressive comeback

In recent news, for those of you who missed it...
(shortened - please excuse any bad english since I'm translating from Swedish.. perhaps anyone has a good link?)

Christopher Reeve Defeating His Paralysis

"For the first time since his spinal paralysis, Christopher Reeve can move fingers and toes. This makes his doctors believe that he might be able to walk again.

- No one that have been affected by such severe injuries have regained motion and feeling in the way Chris has, said doctor John McDonald at Washington University of Science.

Breathes On His Own

In the last months, Christopher Reeve's health has dramatically increased. Besides his motion and feeling abilities, he can breathe on his own for one and a half hour. He is grateful of the progress and says the best thing is that he can feel the hugs from his wife Dana and his three children.

- To feel the smallest touch is truly a gift, he says in the coming issue of People Weekly.

Reeve also mentions that he can feel needle stings over large parts of his body, make difference between warm and cold and sharp and blunt.

But the treatment hasn't been free. His muscle stimulation and special training has cost the 49 year old movie star more than 2,5 million per year (not sure if that's 2,5 million swedish crowns or USD). The costs has partly been covered by his insurance and partly by collections made by his friends in Hollywood."

So, to me, Superman will still be the only super man to me, especially after reading this.

Re:Real Superman having a more impressive comeback

Translation pretty good, compare to http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/09/13/10316083 26069.html

Nerve injuries CAN recover, but continued stimulus is a big key. Real life case: Several decades ago my uncle was trapped under an upended road grader for several hours, while acid dripped from the battery onto his elbow. Ate a hole in his hide and completely destroyed the main nerve that controls everything from elbow to fingertips. Even after the acid burn healed, he had no feeling or motion in the hand or forearm AT ALL, and was not really expected to regain any use of it.

After 9 months of daily stimulus (mainly massage, with some forced exercise by moving the arm and hand around manually) he began regaining use of the limb. Within a few more months he had full use of the hand again.

At the time (this was ca. 1967) some progressive doctors believed that if sufficiently stimulated, severed nerves would regrow at a rate of about an inch per month. Which is roughly consistent with my uncle's experience. (Also with my own experience when I severed the nerve in my thumb. Took about a month to regain feeling in the tip.)

And you're right. Christopher Reeve will be Superman forever, the one and only.

Why pick on Keanu?

What makes Keanu a worse actor than say Sean Connery? As near as I can tell, what most people mean when they say he can't act is that he has a particular style that tends to come through no matter the role. That's definitely true of Sean, and he's one of the world's favorites. I'm really curious, because I think he's done a good job in a wide variety of roles.

Re:Why pick on Keanu?

I think that the Self-Made Critic put it best in his review [brunching.com] of The Matrix:

Any review of a Keanu movie must start with Keanu himself. Basically, just how bad is he in this one?

Is he playing a role that adeptly hides how unbelievably horrible he is (Parenthood, the Bill and Ted movies)? Or is he playing a role that broadcasts his complete and utter lameness for all to see(everything else)?

Actually, there is a third class of Keanu films. These are films that are so packed with other distractions - explosions, car chases, semi-naked hotties - that Keanu is given little actual acting to do. These movies include Speed... and... and ... did I mention Speed?

Well you can slap The Matrix into that third category. Keanu is so buried in effects and gunfire that he has little to do other than pose. And he poses pretty well.

Keanu?

There's nothing super about Keanu. There's nothing Super about Keanu either. Clark Kent needs to be muscular and yet VERY button-down with a wry charm and amazing command of the language about him. Superman needs to be stoic and heroic with bulges everywhere...including his mind. Keanu is none of these things in any role or physical appearance he's ever had. His fame is rightly from being the 90's grunge guy. It's like trying to get Stallone to play a nerd.

Instead, I think they should use Chris Klein [imdb.com].

How times have changed.

I remember when Tim Burton first announced that Michael Keaton was going to play Batman -- "there's something in his eyes," he said -- and the fanboy crowd went ballistic. They shouted that Batman wasn't Mr. Mom, and that Burton had ruined the one comic book movie that fans had been waiting their whole lives for.

Now, a decade later, nearly every post says Keaton was the definitive Batman, and all the other actors (who at first blush seemed to be perfect Batman types) were the ones who ruined the franchise.

Michael Keaton's gotta be proud. He played a legendary character no one thought he could pull off, and then walked away from it, so everyone could see just how tough the job actually was. Now he's doing, what, Jack Frost II? Hollywood oughtta make him Perry White, Clark Kent's editor, in the new Superman pic. They owe him.

FWIW, I don't think we've seen the definitive Superman performance yet. Chris Reeve's Clark Kent was too buffoonish, his Superman too milquetoast. If Batman is supposed to have gone off the deep end because his parents were killed, how much more insane would losing your parents, your species, and your entire planet make you? Superman's a fascinating character, in his own way at least as flawed as Batman. I hope Hollywood can find an actor who can give as much to Superman's character as Keaton did to Batman.

(I should say that I have nothing but respect for Chris Reeve as an actor and human being. Superman is fantasy; Chris is real, and through his tireless advocacy and fundraising he may ultimately be responsible for saving more lives than his comicbook counterpart.)

They should just wait...

..a few more years until the current cast of Smallville is old enough to be convincing in the parts. (Which shouldn't be long, they're a little old for the parts now -- but it's still an enjoyable show.)

Although I'm curious about how and when Chloe Sullivan changes her name to Lois Lane. ;)