Superman Returns

After an absence of several years Superman/Clark Kent (Brandon Routh) returns to Metropolis. The world has moved on, Lex Luther is plotting another plan involving Kryptonite and Lois Lane now has a kid. Everyone is curious as to where he's been the entire time, but it turns out he went back to see the remains of his home planet. One big flaw about the Superman films/comics is no one ever knows about Clark when his only disguise is a pair of glasses. And it was even more obvious when he turned back up out of nowhere the same time as Superman.

Directed by Bryan Singer (X-Men, X-Men 2) Superman Returns is a reboot/loose sequel to the 1978 original. But even though it references a little bit from that film (be it a Marlon Brando cameo or the original John Williams music score) it's less a sequel and more of a homage to that film. It's done considerably well however it's best viewed as its own film. If it was a real sequel Lois Lane and Clark Kent would be in their late 50's with it being 28 years later.

Kevin Spacey is the highlight as Lex Luther, he's over the top and sometimes hammy but he appears to be the only one enjoying himself. The other actors do good jobs but they are often bland, but in a way that's oddly a relief because there are no goofy comedic performances. Clark Kent is not the cliché clumsy nerd this time and Lois Lane isn't as whinny as she was in the other films. There's also no annoying background extras.

There are a few intense action sequences, the plane rescue being the highlight but they tend to rely on CGI that looks dated even for the time. There are so many shots where Superman is recreated using CG effects and it looks like something taken straight out of a video game. His suit has a plastic look to it, but to be honest the Superman suits have never looked great, it was only until Man of Steel (2013) when they got his suit right. The bright colours and underwear are fine for the comic but they don't translate very well on screen.

Running well over two hours, the film runs at a sometimes plodding pace and some scenes are drawn out a lot. However the film has a solid story and great performance from Kevin Spacey. The tone of the film isn't too dark drawing a fine line between its lighthearted and serious themes. The cinematography, set designs, music score and editing are all great. It's a film that deserves to be watched even if it suffers from a slow pace.

I became curious enough to re-watch this movie after seeing Brandon Routh's performance as Ray Palmer/A.T.O.M. in Arrow, Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow.

I feel that it is a highly underrated film and gets an unnecessary bad rap. Brandon Routh's portrayal of Clark Kent/Superman, I feel, is second only to Christopher Reeves, whom he does a great job of capturing.

The action scenes are top-notch and fun to watch. It even has one of the most brutal fight scenes in any Superman movie which could be a bit hard to watch. Yes, even more than the Zack Snyder movies.

This movie is far from perfect, but it is a lot better than what it's given credit for. I do recommend checking it out.

There have been critics who have been stinting in their praise for this movie, but others were quite condescending. This film is far from a masterpiece, and definitely not the best of the Superman franchise, but it was fairly solid considering what it could've been. First off, visually it looks amazing and I thought the special effects were extremely good. Same with the music score, full of those familiar motifs and some new haunting ones too. While Lex Luthor wasn't portrayed as the cold, shrewd yet somewhat lovable villain Gene Hackman played so memorably in the original movies, Kevin Spacey the competent actor he is played him very well. Also Bryan Singer's direction was able and had just the right edge, and I was intrigued by the film's concept. And I have to say, some of the action scenes were very exhilarating. However, there were elements that could've been better. One of the main problems I had with the film was the pace, I found it unusually slow and there are scenes like Clark listening in on Lois and Jason that dragged on for too long. And maybe I am in the minority who felt that it could've been half an hour shorter, and that the script was clunky at times. Also, I wasn't taken with the two leads either. Brandon Routh is handsome and he is charming but he isn't charismatic enough as Clark Kent/Superman, and Kate Bosworth left me cold as Lois. In regard to these two, the relationship between the two characters was underdeveloped. All in all, a solid and visually enthralling film, but it is let down by uneven pacing and a clunky script. 6/10 Bethany Cox

The basic premise of Superman Returns is that Superman has returned from an unexplained 5-year absence to find a world that seems to be getting along fine without him, that the woman he loves has moved on and has a family, and that he is- at least in terms of any beings similar to him- completely alone. The amazing thing is, this is the least angst-filled, least melodramatic superhero film in the past 5 years or so. I think the recent trend has been to try to get audiences to empathize with their heroes more by making them more human and actually taking them seriously. Peter Parker battles some very serious demons and is in constant struggle with being Spider-man, the X-Men films are very serious and political and the latest instalment, "The Last Stand," featured some startling and emotionally wrenching revelations, and Batman, well, need I go on?

So, here we have Superman in the first new film in almost 20 years. He has his issues, but unlike all the other Super heroes around, he seems to be very solemn about it all. After all, he is Superman, not Clark Kent; Clark Kent is his mask. Obviously a huge nitpick people will have is that Clark comes back the very, very same day as Superman and not one single idiot in the city of Metropolis seems to notice, right? Well, yes, that bugged me too, at first. But then, the more you think about it, that's just how Clark Kent is designed: completely forgettable (except by Jimmy), always in the background, and always overshadowed by the bigger story, which is Superman. David Carradine has a very great speech about Superman at the end of Kill Bill Volume 2 that justifies everything quite nicely to me, so I suggest seeing that if you haven't already. What this movie does a great job of doing is just showing this classic, iconic super hero doing what he does best: saving the day. There's something so refreshing about finally getting that clear view of Superman for the first time after he saves a planeload of passengers from certain doom, and saying with a smile: "Don't let this turn you off to flying, folks. Statistically it's still the safest mode of transportation."

But that brings us to the actual plot. It goes for simple, safe, repetitive— tedious, even? And, honestly, it's the kind of plot that just doesn't justify the runtime. Lex Luthor comes up with a ridiculous plan that even in the world of comic books is pretty hard to swallow. He compares himself to Prometheus, how he is so generous with the "mortals" by sharing his wonderful discovery, though planning on killing billions in the process. Lex obviously forgot the last half of that story, where Prometheus is punished and confined to terrible pain for all of eternity. But maybe that's the point. I mean, we all know from the very beginning Lex won't win, he's doomed to lose, that's just how it's meant to be: Superman wins and Lex loses. Written in the scriptures: is, was, ever shall be, in comic strips, TV shows, feature films, living in an ageless universe, for all eternity.

Bryan Singer is obviously aware of this. Singer also directed X-Men 1&2, and I think his biggest problem as a director is that he lacks a sense of completion in his works. X-Men is not the kind of movie that you watch, and then once it's over, you want to watch it over again. It's the kind of movie that you watch, and then once it's over, you want to see the next one. The X-Men films were each done with the presumption that there would be a next instalment, and that's fine I guess if you like always being on the edge of your seat waiting for the next one, but when his Superman movie does the same thing and drags past the 2-and-a-half hour mark, there's a problem. If nothing else, the movie establishes that Superman is indeed back, and we should expect to see more of him in the future.

Superman Returns is definitely a grand film. It's big, it's loud, it's expensive. I usually don't think to myself, 'hey that looks expensive,' when watching a movie, but I did in this case. It doesn't try for anything new or bold, it doesn't want to, and it's nice to see a super hero movie where the hero is the generic do-gooder, and helps mankind because he really wants to. That's why I think Superman garners more universal appeal than any others. But, honestly, the angsty heroes can be much more interesting. Certainly so with last year's Batman Begins, which I thought was a great, perfect movie, while I though Superman Returns was really good, but probably could have been better.

My rating: 7.5/10

Bullet points:

Good - using the Williams score, original titles style and Brando voice-over for the start sequence: all good calls;

Bad - Kate Bosworth: bad casting. No charisma. Never for a second convinced me that she was a spunky reporter;

Good - Brandon Routh: I thought nobody could fill Christopher Reeve's shoes, but this lad does well;

Bad - costume. They got it right in the 70s movies. The effect of darkening the colours, reducing the shield size and dropping the waistline of the trunks is well-known to clothes designers - it makes the wearer look tall and thin. Reeve looked broad and imposing.

Good - saving the shuttle/plane, and dealing with the Metropolis "quake";

Bad - not enough of that stuff;

Good - Spacey's Luthor. Clearly grown from the same seeds as Hackman's, but much more definitely a villain. I believed that this Luthor was fundamentally evil;

Bad - Kitty Kowalski. What an underwhelming character. Miss Tesmacher-lite;

Good - Richard White - a potentially interesting new character, to sit in a potentially very interesting group dynamic;

Bad - Tristan Lake Lebeau. Superman's son is autistic? Sorry, kid - you were rubbish.

Good - tweaking the franchise back into life again;

Bad - forgetting that Superman isn't Batman. Superman is supposed to be light. Superman is supposed to be FUN! Don't take it so seriously, next time!