Genres: Action | Adventure | Fantasy | Sci-Fi Countries: Australia | USA Actors: Brandon Routh Clark Kent/Superman Kate Bosworth Lois Lane Kevin Spacey Lex Luthor James Marsden Richard White Parker Posey Kitty Kowalski Frank Langella Perry White Sam Huntington Jimmy Olsen Eva Marie Saint Martha Kent Marlon Brando Jor-El Kal Penn Stanford Tristan Lake Leabu Jason White David Fabrizio Brutus Ian Roberts Riley Vincent Stone Grant Jack Larson Bo the Bartender Directors: Bryan Singer IMDB Rating: 6 out of 10 (74652 votes)

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Bryan Singer’s love of the 1978 Richard Donner Superman film is evident from the very beginning of Superman Returns, a movie which signals the rebirth of yet another comic book superhero film franchise. From the opening scroll of credits to the set design and the film’s borrowed John Williams score, Superman Returns captures the tone of Donner’s work while re-introducing a beloved – and missed – character to movie audiences.

The Superman film franchise returns in grand style with Superman Returns, an enjoyable if somewhat safe addition to the list of Superman movies. The combination of a 200+ million budget, Bryan Singer (a director who’s proven he understands the needs of comic book fans as well as regular audiences), and a guy who looks uncannily like the late Christopher Reeve in the title role, helps Superman Returns deliver decent thrills. The film contains some truly moving emotional moments and enough wit and humor to justify the return of the Man of Steel to the big screen after a 20 year absence.Forget Superman III and IV. Superman Returns is a sequel of sorts to the first two films, and ignores the events of the latter two movies completely. Five years have passed since Superman (Brandon Routh) left Earth to search for what’s left of his home planet. The reason he didn’t stick around to fight evil here on our planet isn’t delved into to any real degree, and what he actually did during the five years away from Metropolis is never revealed. We just have to assume Superman felt an overwhelming need to search out his homeland and leave it at that.

In truth, the bare bones plot only has a couple of elements to it, which may turn off those who expect something a little more complex from their comic book-based movies after Batman Returns and Spider-Man 2. Lex Luthor’s bad, which is a given, and Lois and Superman need to figure out where they stand now that she’s a mom and involved with another man. That’s it.

Director Singer has called Superman Returns his first chick flick, and though I’d argue with him over that label, he’s correct in calling this his first film for both sexes and all age groups. It’s not necessary to be a fan of comic book films or even Superman to become a little emotionally involved in Superman Returns.

Superman Returns isn’t about a savior returning to Earth to protect us from evil (sound familiar?). No, this Superman film has as much to do with romance and self-discovery as it does with combating evil. There’s a lot of heart and soul in the story of Superman Returns, and the hero feels real pain and isolation in being the only one of his kind in existence.

Singer’s $200+ million budget was put to good use but I feel there’s an intangible something missing from the finished film. Sometimes the effect shots swallow up the pivotal emotional sequences, and the balance of action, romance and drama is slightly off. There’s also a good 20 minutes of the 2 ½ hour running time that could have been trimmed without screwing up the film. There’s only one reason for a sequence that finds Superman taking on bank robbers on the roof of a building, and that’s for the payoff shot of a bullet bouncing off of Superman’s eyeball. While the effect is cool beyond words, it’s also totally unnecessary.

Despite its shortcomings, Superman Returns is one of the better comic book inspired films of the past decade, ranking right up there with Singer’s X-Men series. It didn’t blow me away, but Singer and his cast have delivered a beautiful film with solid performances and first rate effects. It’s just too bad there wasn’t more meat to the plot.

Rebecca Murray
Hollywood Movies Guide

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