Coming up on 10 years on Letterboxd. I've claimed this as my favorite film for all that time and I often cite it as the best film ever made. But I'm yet to write a proper review.

What to say? To whom am I directing this? I have exactly one Letterboxder I follow who thinks this is not a good film. Direct it at them? That seems unnecessary. The individual in question anyway only watched the theatrical cut. Like with…

Watched this in the theatre as part of a double feature with the new sequel.

My profile lists this as one of my 4 favorite films. I consider it without contender to be the best science fiction film ever, and a strong contender for the greatest film I've ever seen.

I'd like to ramble a little bit about it.

We're talking of course about the Final Cut. The theatrical cut of the film is a monstrosity we will never speak…

40 years after the first Superman comic comes his most famous movie.

I think Gene Hackman does a great job, playing somebody, but this real estate swindler is not my Lex Luthor. That whole plot belongs in a Scooby Doo episode, not a Superman movie. I mean, it's better than stealing fractions of a penny, but everything related to Luthor's scheme is the worst part of the film, particularly the deus ex machina resolution. The comedy of Luthor's gang just…

To give this film 5 stars is more tautological than meaningful. I consider it the best action film simply because I judge all other action films in relation to this. This is, in a true sense, the canonical action film. Sometimes people put things in a film canon if they are great films or must-watch films. But the word should really be reserved for those films against which others are measured. This is my vote for the canonical action film.…

I find it impossible to review this movie without talking at length about the 20 years of superhero movies that brought us here. Apologies in advance.

**************BACKGOUND*********************

We are currently in a wave of superhero films. In the last 20 years, Marvel and DC have seen at least 66 films based on their properties. Depending how you count, this wave began either in 1998 with Blade. Or in 2000 with X-Men. Blade proved a Marvel property could find success on…