Superman Returns

Superman returns to theaters in a big way this summer, with possibly the best blockbuster of the summer. I was pretty skeptical of this movie from the get go, even with Brian Singer signed to helm the project it still worried me. For one, I just did not see the reason to make another Superman movie. Also, I hated the idea of an unknown playing the man of steel. I now see that even if no one was really clamoring for another Superman movie, the reason to make it is because special FX have grown leaps and bounds since the last Superman movie, and now anything is truly possible.

The initial genius here is setting Superman Returns directly after Superman 2. In doing this Singer managed to skirt the idea of this being a remake and avoids people comparing this to the earlier, fondly thought of movies. The second piece of genius is casting unknown Brandon Routh as the man of steel. My doubts on casting an unknown were put to rest when I literally saw him seemingly channeling Christopher Reeves. He is so similar to his portrayal of Superman it is almost creepy. I'm not sure if Routh has the chops to go on to bigger and better things like Reeves did (well, maybe not bigger or better, but he had a solid post Superman career) but for this project, Routh and his fresh faced unknown was perfect. Equally perfectly cast was Kevin Spacey as ubervillian Lex Luthor. Spacey seemed the obvious choice from the get go to me as he can play both over the top evil and also funny and sinister. More importantly, he looks cool with a bald head. Spacey managed to play Luthor as over the top evil, without being quite as cartoonish as Hackman's earlier portrayals. My biggest issue with the film is Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane. She is badly miscast here. I actually like Bosworth as an actress most of the time, and she certainly did what she could here, but she is simply too young and too fresh faced to pull off Lois Lane. Kate's Lane just can't pull off being a somewhat grizzled newspaper writer and I just don't buy her as a mother of a 5 year old. I think Rachel McAdams or Jennifer Garner may have been better choices here. James Marsden, Frank Langella, and Parker Posey all do solid supporting work as well.

The plot of the movie is Superman 101. Luther has an evil plan to rule the world and a little bit of Kryptonite. Superman must stop him. Simple enough. The first hour or so plays out like a Superman starter kit, making sure you know enough about the overall story to follow what will come. We find out the man of steel has been gone for 5 years searching in vain for his destroyed home planet. The world and more importantly Lois Lane have moved on in this time, so when Superman returns, it is an uneasy alliance at first. He wins over the rest of the world easy enough, but winning back Lois Lane proves to be a bit harder. That is all I will give you of the plot because I run a spoiler free site and I would hate to accidentally toss one out here. Suffice it to say, Superman has indeed returned, and like Batman last year he has returned in top form. This movie keeps what is great about Superman and adds cool new things to keep the viewer guessing. Singer and his fellow X-Men writers have breathed life into what many thought was a dead franchise. I for one will be waiting in line to see the sequel.