Initially I liked the fact that Bryan Singer decided to follow in the footsteps of Richard Donner's 1978 classic Superman, but after watching Superman Returns I realize that this was a big mistake. Instead of being a fresh start for the franchise Superman Returns is trapped in the phantom zone bouncing back and forth between Superman 1 and 2. Ok ladies and gents I hope you're strapped in because this is going to be a very bumpy ride. If you're worried about spoilers don't worry I've got you covered, so read on.
First of all the story is weak and makes little sense. Superman leaves earth for five years because scientists have found a few pieces of debris from his home planet of Krypton. Chronologically this film is meant to be the third film in the series. Now if you've seen Superman 1 and 2 you would know that there is no way in hell he would leave Lois Lane and the rest of earth's people for that long. I could see Superman take-off for the weekend, a couple weeks, or maybe even a month to investigate but not much more time than that, especially not five years.
So Supes returns to earth, kicks it with his mother, and reminisces about when he was a kid with glasses on running and jumping at super speeds. Glasses? Why does the young man of steel need glasses? Was young Clark already leading the double life of being a mild mannered school boy and Superman? I'm nitpicking here but there is a saying "the devil is in the details", an alien with superpowers would not need glasses.
After a brief visit with mom Clark decides it's time to get back to work so he rejoins the Daily Planet after 5 years without any trouble whatsoever. So we're supposed to believe that Superman would be gone for five years, and we're also supposed to believe that Clark would be gone for five years without calling Lois or Jimmy even one time. A lot of things have changed for the fearless reporter Lois Lane. She has a son, a new fiancé and couldn't care less about the man of steel. The good thing is that the son won't annoy you like a lot of the smart ass brats that you see in movies nowadays. The problem is that he's in the film in the first place, but I'll get into that later.
Things go haywire on a plane carrying Lois Lane and Superman returns just in time to save the day. The plane sequence is short but is hands down the best action you will see in the film. The world is elated that Superman is back but certainly not his arch nemesis Lex Luthor who is back to his old tricks again. The worst part of the story in this film is Lex's latest attempt to create beachfront property. He travels due north to the fortress of solitude and learns all he can about Kryptonian technology. Lex uses a crystal to create a new continent that will replace most of the U.S. and kill "billions" as he joyfully states. The plan is stupid because this continent is the most horrible place you could imagine living on. Nobody in there right or wrong mind is going to pay through the nose for it, even if the survivors could come up with the money after such a disaster. The movie would be much better if Lex used the technology to create weapons of mass destruction and demanded the ransom of a country or two. The story is a corny combination of Supes being gone for five years, Lex's idiotic plan, and the unnecessary soap opera drama between Superman, Lois, her son and fiancé.
The acting in Superman Returns consists of a couple of hits and a lot of misses. I never gave Brandon Routh a chance especially after seeing that first picture of him after he was announced as the new man of steel. The main reason for that is because he was following in the footsteps of the late, great Christopher Reeve who will always be Superman for me. Anyone coming after Chris Reeve was going to catch hell from me. The thing that turned me around was when I saw Routh doing an interview and I noticed that he looked and sounded a lot like Christopher Reeve, this is both good and bad. It's good because Routh follows the best example of Superman ever seen on any screen. The problem in Superman Returns is that Brandon Routh is channeling Reeve's performance for most of the film and never gets a chance to make his own mark as Clark Kent/Superman. Brandon Routh is very good in this film and hopefully he will have the chance to reach his full potential and become the Superman for this generation like Christopher Reeve before him.
Sam Huntington who plays Jimmy Olsen is also very good and could've used more screen time. He's very likable and has some funny moments. Unlike Routh, Huntington had the chance to create his own version of Jimmy Olsen and still remain true to the character. I was shocked that I liked Parker Posey as Kitty; she smartly does not mimic Ms. Teschmacher from the original film. It was nice to see James Marsden doing all the heroic things he didn't get to do in the X-men series. He is Lois's fiance and is basically the human version of Superman . Lois's son Jason (Tristan Lake Leabu) was also surprisingly good and there are two scenes with him that really made me laugh.
Kate Bosworth was poorly cast as Lois Lane. She looks too young and lacks the spunk of a Pulitzer Prize winning fearless reporter. It doesn't help that she has a child which kills the character of Lois Lane. I didn't buy her as Lois Lane not for one single solitary second. Lois Lane is supposed to be a seasoned reporter and Kate Bosworth looks like an intern. Kevin Spacey looks miserable playing Lex Luthor. Some may like the fact that this version of Lex Luther is "darker" that before, but I miss the subtlety of Gene Hackman's Lex from the original Superman. Hackman's Lex was witty, charismatic, sly, funny and when the time came he could be evil. He was not campy like some people say. In Superman Returns Spacey's Lex is just mad at the world and definitely needs to lighten up a bit. Even his thugs look bored. Frank Langella is too low key as the head of one of the city's biggest newspapers. Check out the Perry white from the original and you'll see what I mean.
Superman Returns starts copying the original Superman 1 and 2 right from the opening credits. I'm not talking about mere references to the previous films; I'm talking about whole scenes being copied including even the dialogue in some cases. This is why I said that it was not a good idea to follow the Richard Donner films so closely. Superman returns does not have its own identity and is just a hybrid of the first two movies. A movie must be expertly paced when it's over 2 and ½ hours long or you'll be sitting there bored to death. This movie has a decent start that eases you into story and gets better when Superman gets to do what he does best, save us poor helpless humans. But once the soap opera drama between Superman, Lois, Richard and especially Jason starts the movie slows down to a snails pace and remains that way until the anticlimactic and disappointing end. Even Lex's dastardly plan can do nothing to speed things up or create any excitement. Superhero films are not fun when they are bogged down in some silly soap opera drama that you would see on the Lifetime channel, and Superman Returns is no exception. This franchise needs a re-boot much like Batman Begins which still holds the title of the best Superhero movie since the original Superman. Hopefully for the sequel the filmmakers will take a chance, start fresh and allow Brandon Routh to live up to his potential and truly become super. Superman Returns is a remix that has the exact same beat as the classic Superman, but none of the fun or the soul.
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