Superman: Requiem

This is Jack O'Halloran,I lent my name to this project because I thought the talent going in was very good. When some one has a passion and delivers a project. With a limited budget as these people did successfully. Not only delivered a product but one that has substance and their dedication and talent stood out. I had no problem lending my name to the project and I don't do that lightly. Being from the original cast of the films Superman1&2. I applaud their efforts for what they did. And I would work with them in the future. When you judge something in our Industry. You need to take in all the components involved. This project was done on a minimal budget which means people gave their time for no money. To have that passion and turn out a product that meets criteria is brilliant. Anyone can take 30million dollars and make a movie and a lot of those don't meet the level of what these people produced. Giving people support in their projects, is what our industry is about. When I see and feel the creative passion in people. Realizing the length they are going to with their drive and determination to finish something properly they have my vote and support. I truly look forward to the next project they do. Because I know there will be a next project if we allow them to grow. We need creative life in our industry and we can't discourage them we must support them. Especially when there talent shines thru their adversity.

Where to start? At the positive. Superman Requiem is a really ambitious attempt by a group of amateur film makers who have seemingly come together to make a home movie that picks up events following Superman 2. The plot largely centres around Superman/Clark kent's return to find that Lois has fled to London. He is left to rebuild, and we focus on his subsequent battle with the son of Lex Luther who seeks personal revenge. Again, I want to make a point in commending the film makers for actually getting this film made, given that due to copyright and intellectual property this will have certainly been entirely self funded and everyone will have worked for free due to their love of the source material. The home made special effects are also decent enough at first glance. Unfortuanately, that's all the positives right there. The direction is shambolic, with absolutely no fluidity to any of the scenes, most of the camera work is stiff and you can tell that 'action' has just been called as each new scene starts. The acting is dreadful. Martin Richardson is a very unlikely Superman not only in his slight and gangly build, but in his awkward delivery, appearing almost embarrassed at the dialogue he is forced to spout. Stacy Sobieski fares little better as Superman's new love interest, coming across wooden and disinterested for the most part. Beyond the two leads there are some truly shocking supporting performances. Alex Luther is somewhat watchable but his crew of henchman are utterly terrible. I did quite well to get past the opening 5 minutes of the film, given that the acting was so poor in the 'set up.' Children's nativity plays are more believable. That said, this has to be forgiven considering that it is a fan film and that these are not professionals. With that view, I hope that they enjoyed the experience and will keep a DVD of their movie but leave film making to the professionals from now on.

What I like about the film: Opening and closing credit graphics. Music. That's it. Pains me to say that since I've been a Superman fan for 40 years.

I see people defending it because it's a fan film. I've seen plenty of fan films that are amazing, especially in the Star Wars and Batman genres.

The acting is beyond horrible, the script was trash, redundant and cliche, and the story actually could have worked with some major tweaks.

And with due respect to Mr. O'Halloran, I get what you're saying about passion and commitment to a project. The only goal for the director, actors and crew should be that their project WOWS an audience. But if the final product falls flat, it falls flat. People watch films to be amazed, not walk away and say, "Well, give them a participation trophy because at least they worked hard and tried."

You don't need to be a film major to critique a film that you don't like, just like you don't need to be a school trained chef to complain about subpar food and service in a restaurant. In fact, if you had a horrible experience at an eatery, would you say, "It's OK, they had passion and they tried?" Or...would you make a mental note to never eat there again?

Same with this film. I watched it because I am a huge Superman fan, and I do like fan fiction. But this was Abysmal.

Even the trailer was so bad they didn't put dialogue in it I couldn't make it past the trailer.

First, to take this movie and try to compare it to a theatrical release would be doing it and everyone involved in it a disservice. As the writer/director wrote, comparing it to a fan film is more accurate. Using that scale, this film is among the best of the fan films out there. The only one I have seen surpass this is some of the Star Trek fan films like – Star Trek: Of Gods and Men. That beats this because they were actually able to get some of the actors from the original Star Trek series to take some roles (including Tim Russ, Nichelle Nichols (Uhura) , and Walter Koenig (Pavel Chekov) and others). They also had a bigger budget than the $20,000 listed here.

Having said that, using actors with experience helped raised the level here. Julian McDowell as Perry White is a highlight. Yes, as others posted, Martin Richardson does not have the appearance of Superman – but in a fan film – exact appearances are a luxury not a necessity. Overall, the acting is acceptable. Special effects are limited of course as $20,000 does not buy much, but with the limited funds, they do the best they can with it.

Gene Fallaize did this as a fan of the film series, and I am guessing he only had a limited amount of time to write the script in order to do the filming in a short 30 day period. Mr. Fallaize also admits this was done to prove he can direct and get experience for a bigger budget feature film. It appears it worked as on IMDb he is now involved with bigger productions and has a full plate as of 2013 with a number of "B" level films.

So for what it is, it is not that bad. Is it the absolutely best fan film out there? No, as its budget was way too limited to make it anything like that. A few fan films, like the Star Trek film "Of Gods and Men" with their bigger budgets and some original actors have this beat. But for a film that cannot make any money, which is posted on You Tube for fans to watch – it is okay. Yes, the story is weak in a number of ways. But I will give it that the film is creative, and if given a chance, can be somewhat entertaining. Just don't expect a big budget production like seen in the theaters today – you will not get it and be sorely disappointed.