Overall Rating: ****
Synopsis:
After a mysterious five year absence, Superman (Brandon Routh) returns to Earth to find a world that has learned to live without him. His life as Clark Kent seems to pick up where it left off, but the love of his life, Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) has moved on and now has a five year old child. Now the Man of Steel must find a way to deal with the cost of his absence and take on the most notorious criminal mastermind of all time, Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey). Superman Returns continues the Superman saga but picks up after Superman II.
Review:
Its difficult to think that this new incarnation of the Man of Steel could possibly compare to the one imortallized by the late Christopher Reeve. In truth, no one can play Clark Kent like Reeve could, but Routh was not bad. I’ll be frank, I felt that if this movie was going to crash and burn in a ball of kryptonite laced flames, it would be Routh’s fault. I have nothing against him personally, but he got selected for the part strictly on his appearane. He supposedly looks like Christopher Reeve, but I’ve never seen the resemblance. He didn’t do a bad job and he seemed to get the dorkiness of Clark Kent correct.
The rest of the cast was ok. One stood out above the rest though. Spacey’s rendition of Lex Luthor was great. He has the same ambitions as the Hackman version of Luthor, but he more evil. Spacey seems to harness the ego-maniac withing and does Lex Luthor justice on the big screen. I feel there may have been someone better suited to play Lois Lane than Bosworth, but I’m not exactly sure. She did an ok job, but she doesn’t compare to Margot Kidder.
The action and effects were spectacular. This was another slight point of concern. I would have been terribly dissappointed if every scene where Superman is flying looked like Neo did in the Matrix Reloaded. He shouldn’t look like a video game character and luckily he didn’t. There are some truely awesome sequences in this film and its quite clear why they needed such a massive budget.
Considering other recent summer blockbusters, plot is an important thing to consider. Sometimes hype and effects/action sequences are used to compensate for a weak plot. That’s not the case with Superman Returns. There is a pretty substantial plot with good character development and ties for future films. The writers were true to the main characters. The only thing that might raise an eyebrow is the secret that is revealed at the end of the film. I’ll leave it to you to judge that part of the plot.
Overall, I highly recommend this movie. Its got a great plot, good acting, awesome action and its just plain entertaining. This one is a must see in the theatres simply because the big screen and the sound make a big difference. Though I rarely say this, this one is worth the primetime ticket. Go out and see it, you won’t be dissappointed.