Movie Info

Superman Returns

It was logical that following the success of Batman Begins, DC comics would try to bring back Superman. Superman has been floating around Hollywood for years before landing a good script, cast and director. The project must have been interesting enough that Director Bryan Singer left the third X-men movie to direct this feature. So how was the final end product? Read on...

Director Bryan Singer wanted to bring back the glory days of Superman. After a few ill-fated sequels to the original Superman series, Singer decided to remove that continuity and continued the story after the events in Superman II.

The story goes like this. After learning that scientists have found the remains of Superman's home planet, Krypton, Superman (Brandon Routh) abruptly leaves everything behind and heads to space to search for his origins. Jump 7 years later and Superman has returned. The whole world welcomes back their saviour but Superman finds that things are not the same as he when he left.

Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), Superman's love interest, has moved on in her life and is engaged to the Daily Planet's Editor's nephew, Richard White (James Marsden). To make matters more complicated, Lois Lane has a son as well. Lois has definitely been busy since the departure of Superman. As Superman/Clark Kent deals with the events unfolding with Lois Lane and the Daily Planet, the other main plot progresses along.

Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) regains his wealth and starts scheming on a way to rule to world. Luthor has been able to locate Superman's Fortress of Solitude and steals the advanced Kryptonian technology found there. Eventually Luthor's plans are stumbled upon by Lois Lane and Superman comes to the rescue.

That's it. That's the story (minus some minor sub-plots). Yes, it's been simplified a little but that's really the plot. Singer decided to go with the nice simple return to the Superman franchise. Did I enjoy the movie? Yes and No.

Let's start with the positive points in Superman Returns. The movie is successful in removing some of the crap that was created by the last few Superman sequels. The special effects in the movie were great and acting was believable.

Routh's resemblance to Christopher Reeve's version of Superman is uncanny. It was a really good choice to select an unknown actor for the role of Superman. In the early years of the Superman Resurrection, Nicholas Cage was the leading candidate to play Superman. That would have indeed been a travesty.

Bosworth captured the attitude and personality of Lois Lane and Spacey was a great Lex Luthor. Lex Luthor is a cold, calculated genius and Kevin Spacey plays that role to a tee. The casting in general was great. Frank Langella was a good choice for Perry White and so was Sam Huntington (Jimmy Olsen). Marsden's inclusion as competition for Superman was also done well.

Singer successfully created a movie that linked to the previous movies which pleased long-time fans. Singer didn't reference too much of the past and allowed enough time in the movie for first-time Superman viewers to totally catch up with the characters. The whole 7 years away idea was great.

Now to the bad points. To me, there were a lot of plot holes. You'll notice them once you've finished watching the movie. There are too many convenient answers and the plot seems a little too simplistic for my liking.

The biggest flaw in the movie wasn't something I could point out, but my friend David managed to hit it bang-on. By updating Superman's character for newer viewers, Singer and co. have effectively ruined Superman's persona. I won't exactly say what happened, but Superman's actions in the movie...well, they're not actions Superman would take. Superman is the ultimate Boy Scout. The do-gooder who's morality is higher than all of mankind. This was clearly missing from the movie.

One other thing that bothered me was the ending of the movie and revelations that are revealed. To sum it up in one word? Stupid. Stupid Stupid Stupid. I'm not really looking forward to a sequel (Routh has been signed for two more films) as there were too many conclusions in the end.

Overall if this wasn't a Superman film, I would say that the movie was entertaining and fun to watch. However, it is a Superman film and Superman is an icon. Icons have certain images to maintain and I'm afraid that this movie has really strayed from that image. Of course, this is the opinion of a fanboy. Others who watched the movie with me enjoyed the film and found it entertaining. So perhaps the movie wasn't exactly catering to the fanboys and was instead targeted for the masses. In that case, a great success. Unfortunately, my ratings reflect how well I enjoyed the movie. Four it is.

Dragoncrypt 7/22/2006 12:06:27 AM