What Could Superman Learn From The Lone Ranger?
What could Superman learn from The Lone Ranger?
Last week with Mark away at Camp Joy and rain every day, the wife and I did something we have never done in 37 years of marriage. We saw two movies at the theatre within one five day period.
On the way home from Flat Rock, NC we stopped to see the latest blockbuster version of Superman which is called "Man of Steel". Our ten year old granddaughter had already told me that the movie was boring, that it had too much special effects and not enough story. She also said that the part where Superman's father died was the best part. I should have listened to her.
I knew this would be a darker movie that the Christopher Reeves versions, but still the special effects fight scenes in Metropolis were too long, too violent and too reminiscent of New York's September 11th. Building after building was demolished, punched through or nearly destroyed by the fight between Zod and Superman. We imagined those make believe buildings were filled with make believe people and the loss of life in a battle like this one would have been, well, epic.
I don't read many movies reviews but it seems that most critics hated The Lone Ranger but liked Man of Steel. Critics must be smarter than me. I liked parts of Man Of Steel, but tend to agree with the grand. The death of Pa Kent (Kevin Costner) was the best part of the movie.
The Lone Ranger was a much better experience. I bought the tickets online and got the senior discount. When we arrived my wife showed her ID and they settled for my face.
Critics have been bashing this movie online and some of the criticism is fair. There was little here for Native Americans to feel good about.
But for those of us old enough to get that senior discount, the memories of the Clayton Moore and Jay Silverheels version is enough to make this movie worthwhile. I tell you when the William Tell Overture kicks in toward the end of this movie, the decades slip away and you're back in a simpler time. A time when it was easy to believe in two men who knew right from wrong, who knew where they stood, and who believed in fighting for justice.
That's what Superman could learn from The Lone Ranger: We want to be entertained, lifted up, not bludgeoned.
