Review: Superman Returns (2006)

Superman Returns
reviewed by Sam Osborn of www.samseescinema.com

rating: 3 out of 4

Director: Bryan Singer
Screenplay: Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris
Cast: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey
MPAA Classification: PG-13 (some intense action violence)

Let's face it, Superman's the granddaddy of all superheroes; the
guy who breathed life and inspiration into a gaggle of mutants, a
tragic bat freak, and that geeky Peter Parker with the weird thing for
spiders. So it's only fair the Superman be given the modern,
big-screen makeover. And his return is a fine one, fraught with love
and forlorn passion, egos and alter-egos, and a mastermind so evil that
it needs Parker Posey to ground him as his ditzy sidekick. Superman may
not have the inspirational power he did during his wartime comics, or
the whittled, carven face of Mr. Christopher Reeves, but he's got a
mountain of CGI wizardry behind him, and a director who ditched his
obligation to X-Men 3 to part the red curtains for ole'
granddaddy's return.

It's the unofficial sequel to Superman II from 1980. Superman, this
time played by the newcomer Brandon Routh, hurtles and crashes to earth
on a clump of crystals from his homeworld Krypton. He's returned
after a five-year homecoming with the knowledge that he's the only
one left from his alien race. Things have changed since his departure:
Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) is now knotted and mommied, engaged to
Richard White (James Marsden) and mother to little Jason (Tristan Lake
Leabu). Lex Luther's still around, now played by Kevin Spacey,
mocking up an evil plan to kill "not millions, BILLIONS!" with
crystals hijacked from the ice castle Superman's father set up. And
Superman's alter-ego, Clark Kent still works at the Daily Planet,
bringing the news to Metropolis at the direction of Perry White (Frank
Langella), the newspaper's head.

When Batman falls off a ledge, it hurts. When Spiderman falls off a
ledge, it hurts. When Superman falls off a ledge, the asphalt hurts.
Superman's fine, but the asphalt beneath him is cracked and
splintered. The man's just too perfect. It's almost too easy for
him. He can fly faster than a speeding bullet, breath ice, shoot
heat-rays out of his eyes, stop bullets, and has x-ray vision (to be
used respectfully towards women, mind you). I like my superheroes
flawed, thank you very much. Marv from Sin City was uglier than a brick
wall, and Hellboy has that little problem of being related to, oh yeah,
Satan. But when you're looking for big CGI set-pieces for your $150+
million film, having a character that can fly faster than a speeding
bullet, breath ice, shoot heat-rays out of his eyes, stop bullets, and
see with x-ray vision isn't so bad. It, in fact, makes for some of
the most spectacular stunts put to film. Superman was made for the
modern age of CGI movie magic. And because they can do virtually
anything imaginable these days in Hollywood, the limit for Superman
surpasses even the sky. Director Bryan Singer throws his hero into
awesomely large and perilous situations that tickle physics with
enchanting impossibility. They're big and they're fun, making
red-caped mockeries out of the hodge-podge spider-webs and batmobiles
of yesteryear. Consider the bar raised.

But the film must be flawed, as all these superhero flicks are. And the
fault line runs where it's run before: in the romance department.
Spiderman and Batman have fallen under similar curses, unsure of how to
approach the love lives of their men of steel. And even though the
relationship between Lois and Superman is well addressed here, the
romance is handled awkwardly. Lois is still hung up on her man-in-cape,
despite the engagement to nice-guy Richard White. Her confliction and
ensuing love triangle almost works, but snags on the unevenness that
separates superhero romance from a romance held in reality. The
disconnect occurs because the film can't find a romantic spin
that's both fluffy and raw. Superheroes' relationships are
apparently quite difficult to make relatable to relationships of us
normal folk.

But that's not to say that Lois and Superman don't work as separate
characters. Newcomer Routh stumbles on normal-people lines, but nails
the awkward geekiness of Clark and the goofy perfection that's
Superman. Kate Bosworth is a fine and strong Lois Lane, giving ambition
and power to the otherwise girly-girl role. Both, however, are
threatened to be overshadowed by the genius that is Lex Luther and
Kitty, played by Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey. Evil masterminds can
get too huffy and stuffy in their wicked solemnity, but when paired
with a darkly ditzy sidekick, a new dynamic is birthed. The characters
are worth the price of admission alone. Spacey has proven he can play
diabolical in such roles as John Doe in Se7en and Lester Burnham in
American Beauty. He's the caricature of such evil as Lex Luther, and
is anchored to reality only by the loopy likes of Kitty, the only one
of Lex's cronies bold (or stupid) enough to poke fun at his master
plans.

So Superman's return wasn't a bust after all. Bryan Singer's
X-Men betrayal paid off and rocketed the red-caped franchise to the
level of Batman and Spiderman. It's on par with these films, proving
that superhero flicks only need directors with a strong artistic
sensibility, along with the requisite gargantuan budget. Anyway, it's
good to have Superman back, and it won't be hard to anticipate his
inevitable return. Er...re-return.

-www.samseescinema.com