Superman: Requiem

 

Superman: Requiem

Director / script-Jane Falaise, producers-Tony Cook and Daniela Pellegrini, photography-Stephen Bell-young, music-Joseph penny, original music themes-John Williams, visual effects-Felipe Infante. Production company-copsug Pictures Ltd / EagleHouse Pictures
Cast and crew

Martin Richardson (Superman / Clark Kent), Stacy Sobieski (Ali Nowels), Paul Khanna (Alexander Luthor), Julian McDowell (Perry White), Lucy Brugger (Eve), Tony Cook (chopper), Audrey kaipio (Kat grant), Amelia Tyler (Lara Laure van), Sarah Hough (nurse), Leo batsuba (Jamie), Darren Whitfield (Jamie's father)
Conspiracy

Superman misses Lois Lane, who moved to London with her son. In the Daily Planet, he opens a letter sent by Lex Luthor's son Alexander announcing that a bomb will be detonated at the gas works. He races there and shields the bomb with his body as it explodes. However, this is a trap and Luthor has placed fragments of Kryptonite inside the bomb. When Clark Kent fails to show up for work, fellow reporter Ali Nowels goes to his apartment and is stunned to find that he is Superman. He was injured and the kryptonite caused him to lose many of his powers. Ali inspires Clark to keep the claim of Superman that still exists for the sake of law and order. Luthor then announces that he will attack Lois Lane. Clark immediately heads to London to stop this while Ali follows. However, this is a trap set by Luthor whose henchmen beat and tortured Superman to find the place of the deeds left by his late father

There is a huge selection of fan films made using copyrighted properties, including various Star Wars, Star Trek, Batman and Spider-Man short films, even a whole series of superhero girl fan films. Superman: Requiem is one of these fan movies. In this case, it is based on the films of Christopher Reeve Superman. It was produced by British director Gene falazzi who shot the film with a budget of 20,000 dollars while all these fan films fall outside the commercial release and are rarely seen outside the scope of YouTube and torrent downloads, Superman: Requiem is one of the fan films that received reasonable attention, was supported by Warner Brothers (although he was not allowed to make any profit) and had a premiere in London

The important thing to note is that Superman: Requiem is made more as a tribute to Christopher Reeve's first two Superman films-Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980) – than in the Superman comic book. The opening credits pay tribute to Reeve and Tom Mankiewicz, the screenwriter who received creative consultant credit on Reeve's films. The opening repeats the Blue credits that miniaturize us against the starry scenery from the first two Superman films. The score is adapted from John Williams ' score for the films. And when Clark Kent has a portrait of Lois Lane on his desk, it is one of Margot Kidder, while the portrait of Alexander Luther's father is of Gene Hackman in the role of Luther. There is a visit to the Crystal fortress of Solitude, which was created by digitally inserting characters into the footage from Reeve's films. There is even an exact replica of specific shots from the originals - such as Clark changing into a Superman costume at a turnstile, or the last shot with Superman in orbit. The film even includes Bryan Singer's Superman Returns (2006) as part of its continuity with reference to Lois Lane's son. (Although we didn't really need to re-enter the kiss that induces Amnesia, one of the lame parts about Superman II?)

While this is a tribute to the Superman films, valaize also quotes from comic books. The character of Daily Planet reporter Cat Grant makes her first screen appearance here. Moreover, the film seems to be trying to incorporate some plot from the title of the best-selling comic book The Death of Superman (1992-3). There are direct visual quotes from the story with images of Perry White presenting two versions of the Daily Planet with front-page headlines about Superman alive / Superman dead and Superman's torn head held up as a flag, while Martin Richardson spends much of the latter half of the film wearing a black T-shirt with Superman featured on it just like the resurrected Superman. There is also the overall plot of Superman's death where Superman was injured and lost many of his powers (unlike murder) before making a long recovery and return
Martin Richardson as Superman in Superman: Requiem (2011)
Martin Richardson as Superman

My main problem with the film is the casting of Martin Richardson. He is of average height and lacks the taller build that Christopher Reeve had, not to mention the lack of a muscular build. Moreover, when he puts on Clark Kent's glasses, he has a thin, oval-shaped face that looks a lot like someone auditioning for the starring role in the nerd killer (1991). The scene on the roof where Stacy Sobieski convinces Richardson to stand up for himself and keep pretending Superman gets awkward-Richardson's portrayal of Superman here seems uncertain and full of self-doubt, wondering "Is this really the man of steel? The superhero who defends the world from villains?"(Sobieski, by the way, gives a great performance and Lois Lane could have done well if the film had not been slaves to the films of Christopher Reeve – the name of the character Ali noyles is an anagram of Lois Lane). Likewise, the scenes in which Luther's henchmen pick up Richardson and take him for a beating make Superman, a character who should be larger than life, a symbol of all heroic ambition, in a weakened state

One of the biggest issues with the movie is that it's a Superman movie that goes out of its way to avoid conceiving any of his superpowers. What it feels like is a return around the time of Superman (1948) serial or television adventures of Superman (1953-8), which could not make a Superman comic book due to lack of budget and effects technology. The film here presents a useful plot device from the presence of Kryptonite caused Superman to lose most of his powers for the duration of the show. The superheroes we get are low-key heroes who avoid visual effects and rely more on physical effects and editing such as the early scene where we see Martin Richardson seemingly getting up from a lake carrying a child who has fallen into it. Particularly shoddy is the optics in the scene where Superman flies over the gas plants to get to the bomb

Director / script-Jane Falaise, producers-Tony Cook and Daniela Pellegrini, photography-Stephen Bell-young, music-Joseph penny, original music themes-John Williams, visual effects-Felipe Infante. Production company-copsug Pictures Ltd / Eagle House Pictures.
Martin Richardson (Superman / Clark Kent), Stacy Sobieski (Ali Nowels), Paul Khanna (Alexander Luthor), Julian McDowell (Perry White), Lucy Brugger (Eve), Tony Cook (chopper), Audrey kaipio (Kat grant), Amelia Tyler (Lara Laure van), Sarah Hough (nurse), Leo batsuba (Jamie), Darren Whitfield (Jamie's father)
Superman misses Lois Lane, who moved to London with her son. In the Daily Planet, he opens a letter sent by Lex Luthor's son Alexander announcing that a bomb will be detonated at the gas works. He races there and shields the bomb with his body as it explodes. However, this is a trap and Luthor has placed fragments of Kryptonite inside the bomb. When Clark Kent fails to show up for work, fellow reporter Ali Nowels goes to his apartment and is stunned to find that he is Superman. He was injured and Kryptonite caused him to lose many of his powers. Ali inspires Clark to keep the claim of Superman that still exists for the sake of law and order. Then Luther announced that he would attack Lois Lane. Clark immediately heads to London to stop this while Ali follows. However, this is a trap set by Luthor whose henchmen beat and tortured Superman to find the place of the deeds left by his late father

There is a huge selection of fan films made using copyrighted properties, including various Star Wars, Star Trek, Batman and Spider-Man short films, even a whole series of superhero girl fan films. Superman: Requiem is one of these fan movies. In this case, it is based on the films of Christopher Reeve Superman. It was produced by British director Gene valazzi who shot the film with a budget of 20,000 dollars while all these fan films fall outside the commercial release and are rarely seen outside the range of YouTube and torrent downloads, Superman: Requiem is one of the fan films that received reasonable attention, was supported by Warner Brothers (although he was not allowed to make any profits) and had its premiere in London

The important thing to note is that Superman: Requiem is made more as a tribute to Christopher Reeve's first two Superman films-Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980) – than in the Superman comic book. The opening credits pay tribute to Reeve and Tom Mankiewicz, the screenwriter who received creative consultant credit on Reeve's films. The opening repeats the Blue credits miniaturizing us against the starry scenery from the first two Superman films. The score is adapted from John Williams ' score for the films. And when Clark Kent has a portrait of Lois Lane on his desk, it's one of Margot Kidder, while the portrait of Alexander Luther's father is of Gene Hackman in the role of Luther. There is a visit to the Crystal fortress of Solitude, which was created by digitally inserting characters into the footage from Reeve's films. There is even an exact replica of specific shots from the originals such as Clark changing into a Superman costume in a revolving door, or the last shot with Superman in orbit. The film even includes Bryan Singer's Superman Returns (2006) as part of its continuity with reference to Lois Lane's son. (Although we didn't really need to re-enter the kiss that induces Amnesia, one of the lame parts about Superman II?)

While this is an homage to the Superman films, valaize also quotes from comic books. The character of Daily Planet reporter Cat Grant makes her first screen appearance here. Moreover, the film seems to be trying to incorporate some plot from the title of the best-selling comic book The Death of Superman (1992-3). There are direct visual quotes from the story with images of Perry White presenting two versions of the Daily Planet with front-page headlines about Superman alive / Superman dead and Superman's torn head held up as a flag, while Martin Richardson spends much of the latter half of the film wearing a black T-shirt with Superman featured on it just like the resurrected Superman. There is also the overarching plot of Superman's death where Superman is injured and loses many of his powers (as opposed to being killed) before making a long convalescence and returning
My main problem with the film is the casting of Martin Richardson. He is of average height and lacks the taller build that Christopher Reeve had, not to mention the lack of a muscular build. Moreover, when he puts on Clark Kent's glasses, he has a thin, oval-shaped face that looks a lot like someone auditioning for the starring role in the nerd killer (1991). The scene on the roof where Stacy Sobieski convinces Richardson to stand up for himself and keep pretending to be Superman gets awkward-Richardson's portrayal of Superman here seems uncertain and full of self-doubt, wondering "Is this really the man of steel? A superhero who defends the world from villains?"(Sobieski, by the way, gives a great performance and Lois Lane could have done well if the film had not been slaves to Christopher Reeve's films – the character's name Ali Nowels is an anagram of Lois Lane). Likewise, the scenes in which Luthor's henchmen capture Richardson and take him for a beating make Superman, a character who should be larger than life, a symbol of all heroic ambition, in a weakened state

One of the biggest issues with the movie is that it's a Superman movie that goes out of its way to avoid conceiving any of his superpowers. What it feels like is the return around the time of the Superman (1948) series or the television adventures of Superman (1953-8), which could not offer a Superman comic book due to lack of budget and effects technology. The film here presents a useful plot device of the presence of Kryptonite causing Superman to lose most of his powers for the duration of the show. The superheroes we get are low-key heroes who avoid visual effects and rely more on physical effects and editing such as the early scene where we see Martin Richardson seemingly getting up from a lake carrying a baby he fell into. Particularly shoddy are the optics in the scene where Superman flies over the gas plants to get to the bomb