The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? (2015)

An absolutely fascinating documentary about the lost Superman film, that was to be directed by Tim Burton, and starring none other than Nicholas Cage as Clark Kent. My imagination went wild the entire time. Just thinking about how amazing it would've been to see a Superman movie, as weird and as sublime as only a Tim Burton film could be. From the looks of it, it was going to be a masterpiece. But corporate shenanigans shut it down. They never gave it a chance. If you are a fan of Superman and the films of Tim Burton, you must watch this. You will be floored by all the footage you are about to see. From concept art, to the camera test starring Nicholas Cage in the Superman suit, you will be amazed at how much went into the Superman film that never was.

Low-budget but comprehensive documentary examination of the ill- fated 1990s attempt to reboot Superman. This is clearly a passion project of writer/director Jon Schnepp and it shows, for good and for ill. Schnepp's enthusiasm for the subject is infectious enough to carry us through what feels like an overlong film without too much drag. Somehow he managed to secure interviews with almost everyone important involved in the abandoned production, including would-be director Tim Burton, all three screenwriters who wrote and rewrote, Warner Bros. honcho Lorenzo di Bonaventura, costume designer Colleen Atwood, a large number of the technical artists who worked on the film's concepts, and most incredibly Jon Peters. Considering that screenwriter number one Kevin Smith has made a career trashing Peters over his involvement in what was supposed to be "Superman Lives," Peters is either brave or foolhardy for agreeing to participate.The most notable absence from the documentary is Nicholas Cage, who was cast as the Man of Steel and who we see only in archival footage of costume tests, but Schnepp has more than enough to work with. That is part of the problem -- this film presents more than anyone but the most obsessive fan boy would want to know about how the production progressed before it fell apart. It gets repetitive after the first hour and Schnepp isn't himself a dynamic enough filmmaker to keep it lively. The other problem is that, ultimately, despite some of the out-sized egos involved, there is no grand tale to tell here. "Superman Lives" died for perfectly sensible reasons, so this documentary ends on more of a whimper than a bang. While "The Death of Superman Lives" is catchier, this is really "The Short Life of Superman Lives" in that it gives us a good sense of what the film might ultimately have become, but doesn't really join the pantheon of fascinating tales of aborted projects.

The Death of 'Superman Lives': What Happened? (2015) *** 1/2 (out of 4)Remember SUPERMAN LIVES? You know, that new Superman movie that was going to be directed by Tim Burton and feature Nicolas Cage in the title role? It got into production but the film never managed to see the screen and this fun documentary explains why.What's so great about this documentary is that many of the main people involved with the production are interviewed here. This includes Burton, producer Jon Peters, the three different screenwriters including Kevin Smith as well as people involved in costumes, set design and various others. What's even more entertaining is that those interviewed are willing too speak their mind on what went wrong.As one person states, it would have been a great movie or something laughed off the screen and it seems Warner knew this and that's one reason the film was canceled. There's a lot of great stuff on display here including the interviews that are terrific. We also get to see video footage of Cage inside the Superman suit and having discussions with Burton and the crew. Speaking of Burton, you can tell that this film still bothers him.If you're a fan of comic book movies or just disastrous Hollywood mistakes then you should get a kick out of this documentary.

It is always fascinating to see the innards of the making of a movie. People that are working so much before you even know that the idea exists. Superman Lives, though, was not that special an idea.It would have been fun to see a long hared Nicolas Cage play Superman (and I honestly mean it, especially since he was still young and caring enough about his roles) and Tim Burton would have probably reinvented the superhero genre all by his lonesome. However it would have been neither completely revolutionary nor conservatory enough to appeal to movie studios. Its cancellation was not possible, but the most probable outcome.The documentary goes ahead and describes how the work for the movie started and how they prepared concepts and costumes and they were weeks from starting filming when the project was canceled. Fun to see Kevin Smith contradict Jon Peters on how things actually happened and who had which idea, but in the end the viewer doesn't care one way or the other.I feel that the documentary, unlike others in the genre, like Jodorowsky's Dune, failed completely in making the viewer care. You didn't see Cage heartbroken for not making the film (in fact he didn't appear at all, except in archive footage), you didn't see Smith or Peters cry tears of frustration for not getting the thing done, and the footage about their preparations and the minute details about the Superman costume left me cold.Bottom line: Good to watch it in order to learn how movies get conceived and made. Bad if you want to enjoy yourself or feel anything about this movie that was not made.