Directed and Written by : Jon Schnepp
Starring : Jon Schnepp, Jon Peters, Tim Burton, Kevin Smith,
Release Date : May 1, 2015
Back in 1998, there was going to be a Tim Burton directed movie, starring Nicolas Cage as Superman. It didn't happen, but the story behind it is wonderfully chronicled in this movie. This documentary is worth watching, just to see how a big hollywood movie starts up in the beginning stages and the kinds of people behind it. From the writers, the producers, the director, the art and design team, to all the movie making social politics involved.
There is some gripping behind the scenes drama that is touched upon here, especially when it involved Director/Writer Kevin Smith and Producer Jon Peters, on what their take for the "Superman Lives" movie was, especially since the two guys kind of contradicts each other in some ways. Then there's the understandably ambitious but questionable choice of having Nicolas Cage cast as Superman. Tim Burton's artistic take on the project, and all the design work that was done for this movie. Fascinating stuff.
Most of this documentary really had a nice quick pace of getting the audience invested in seeing this Superman movie come to life. Finding out what the story could have been, to seeing Nicolas Cage actually being in the costume, were all fun highlights. However this film started to feel a little dry towards the end, as it settled on just showing production designs after production designs; which honestly isn't as gripping of a story to tell.
Watching "The Death of "Superman Lives" : What Happened?," I at one point almost forgot that this movie never did come out. I can see why Jon Schnepp wanted to investigate the story behind this doomed project, because the "what if" of it is just too tempting to think about.
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