Fandom Anger (Smallville Rant)

[SoulBlazerFan]

I know there are a few of you whom at least seen Smallville at some point. If you don't have a clue what Smallville is (I imagine all of you do, I just love to ramble) it's a television series started in 2001, featuring the exploits of a young Clark Kent in high school before he becomes Superman. The show has garnered alot of heat over the years for being so vastly different from the mythos of the character.

Eventually, the show shifted gears, and essentially became DCU (DC Comics Universe) on TV. The beginnings of the Justice League are seen, including the likes of Aquaman, Green Arrow, Cyborg and Impulse (Aka Kid Flash).

NOTE: TONS OF SPOILERS AND RAGE LAY AHEAD. PROCEED AT OWN RISK

But the show is really about Clark Kent on his journey to becoming Superman. At the end of last year, they gave us fanboys hope of a brighter tomorrow with this scene:


Salvation Dream Sequence

As you can see, in the box, he sees the Classic Superman emblem. I'm not going to even get into some of the minor nitpicks here, but someone did say this: In his eye you see the symbol forwards, when the reflection of it should've shown it backwards.

This was from the season 9 finale of the show. They announced that Season 10 would be it's final, and Clark would be taking steps to becoming the legend he was destined to be. One issue, though- the producers felt the Christopher Reeve suit- the one from the original movies, wouldn't have photographed well, and, in their own words, "didn't fit in with their world." So they opted for the next best thing.

Superman Returns suit on Smallville

Being the fanboy nerd I am, I noticed the obvious differences between the symbols on the suit, but that can be forgiven.

(As a side note: You'll notice Clark is wearing a full black outfit. In the show, he's not referred to as Superman- ever- but as "The Blur," the faceless superhero of metropolis. The black shirt he is wearing does have the iconic symbol, however. In season 10 he drops the Neo look and wears a custom leather "S" jacket)

Season 10 features it's own version of Darkseid, which isn't a corporeal being, but exists as a dark force attempting to corrupt the world.

Darkseid On Smallville

He places his mark on those who have a weak will, and the world having fallen under his dark spell, the planet Apokolips is being magnetically pulled towards Earth. (You'll see the planet in a later video)

Long story short, the moment I waited (And the entire fanbase waited for) finally arrived: Clark embraced his destiny, and put on the suit.

Clark Dons the Suit

Lets break this scene down. Clark arrives at the fortress, has a conversation with his AI dad Jor-El. The suit raises out of ice, and it's the suit from the earlier videoes; The Superman Returns suit. However, when his adoptive father, Jonathan Kent (Five years dead at this point- don't ask) hands him the suit- it's a completely different one. Not only does it look horrible- the symbol isn't even the same one- but it looks fake as hell.

So, okay. We see his head move out of frame, and he pulls up a... CGI suit? I was scratching my head here. I forgave them, because there was still ten minutes left on the show. I figured we'd see something more iconic later. And I thought we would here:

Clark as Superman

So we get to see... a small CGI Superman, Tom Welling (Clark Kent) in extreme close ups with a CG cape flowing in the back... and, ready for this... CG stolen from Superman Returns. (The scene where he is floating in Space in the distance is remarkably similar to a shot from Superman returns... in fact, one shot that moves from behind him and then cuts to another close up has BRANDON ROUTH (Superman from Superman Returns) hairstyle. the only thing added was a new cape with the "Yellow S" featured.

But the (brutality) show didn't end there.

Smallville Finale Scene

Once again, left to swallow a brutal pull. I don't know about you, but the "S" on his shirt looks fake. Some people say he was wearing the top half of a suit, another was saying it was just an "S" shirt. I think it's just a blue Shirt with a photoshopped "S" on it. It actually looks fake to me. Judge for yourself, however. I feel like one those crappy T Shirts "I came to NYC And all I got was this shirt." Mine would say "I watched Ten Years of A TV show and all I got was a shitty CGI Superman"

So, the various sources say that they couldn't afford to make a suit for the finale especially only for a few scenes. I call bullshit. They made costumes for villians in one shot in the previous episode, for other characters who were one off... why not the main character?

Also, the finale was a two part episode, which means it had two episodes worth of budget. The entire first half had NO ACTION WHATSOEVER. I figured they left the budget for the final hour of the series. What you saw is pretty much all we got, save for an exploding guy and three arrows exploding some other dude. I can't imagine the Planet Apokolips cost that much to CG, since it barely even appeared. (Maybe a minute and a half total) Some of the CG was taken from Superman Returns, so they saved budget there.

So, why didn't they use the suit in the beginning? Well, this one is logical. The suit is a miliskin fabric, which has to be custom fit to the persons body. It would show any imperfection that person may have. Now, since the suit was designed specifically for the actor Brandon Routh, it wouldn't have fit on Tom Welling, who has a wider chest and completely different body structure.

Next on the chopping block: They say it would be too expensive to make a suit. Well, a forum poster on a Smallvile site said he got his own custom suit for about 700 bucks, including the boots. So, 700 was too much for the producers to handle? My ass.

So, not that I've whittled down the other issues, the final one remaining is this: Tom Welling, the actor who played Clark Kent, had stated he never wanted to wear the suit. So, all the other issues come down to this; he never intended to wear it, and compromised by having only close up shots and 99% CGI Superman.

Now, you might say I should get over myself, being this much of a nerd. And you're right, I probably should. But when you've spent ten years of you life watching a show, one that was given the chance for proper closure- and all you get is shitty/recycled CG from an even shittier movie... how am I supposed to take it?

I feel betrayed, not only as a viewer but as a fan in general. I've laughed, cried, smiled, gotten angry with this show, with it's brilliance (And ignorance at times) but I stayed loyal and true. I rushed home not to miss the finale with a sense of hope and wonder- and I was left annoyed, betrayed, and confused.

The actor, Tom Welling, had stated he didn't want to be typecast as Superman. Well, problem is, he hasn't acted in anything other than Smallville since 2005- which included the remake of "The Fog" and the sequel to the remake of "Cheaper By The Dozen." So, tell me, does it matter if you get typecast? Seems like he ALREADY IS. He should get over himself.

Did Hugh Jackman get typecast as Wolverine? No, people loved him for it. Christian Bale as Batman? So, what's up his ass?

Well, I think that concludes my rambling rant for the day. Let me know what you think.

[tay120n64]

That depresses me. I mean, I quit watching at the end of Season 5, but this is ridiculous.

You'd think they could put some effort into the finale.

[SoulBlazerFan]

Theres alot of things that I've been angry at due to this show. Bad decisions abounds, including the idea to introduce (SPOILER COMING)

Doomsday and NOT EVEN HAVE THEM FIGHT.

Clark/Doomsday Fight On Smallville

I timed the fight... from just before the first punch is thrown to when they fly... it's less than a minute. So you're telling me the only being to kill Superman is subdued in under a minute?

That's a major screw up right there. But this was a season-long letdown, the entire season 8 built up to a couple of punches, and two super jumps? GAH.

But that's no where near the letdown of ten years, not even getting a single shot of Superman in full costume that isn't CG.

But nothing was more disappointing than what I listed above. I forgot to put the video on here, but this goes even further into my hatred of that ending:

Darkseid's Human Form

So... Lionel Luthor is Darkseid? I actually called this before I saw it... I thought the shape of his beard in the episode kind of resembled Darkseid's face. But... yeah. That's the ENTIRE faceoff against Darkseid.

Another one of the many reasons this finale blew ass.

[Flamez]

...I liked it