Wednesday : 28 June 2006
Let’s just cut to the chase: I saw Superman Returns this morning.

And I loved it.

Bryan Singer did a great job of bringing the Man of Steel back to the silver screen. He didn’t linger on backstory. You got a brief glimpse of Krypton before it exploded and then, “faster than a speeding bullet,” you were into the story. And, they set things up nicely for there to be sequels, should the movie prove successful. (I’m pretty sure that’s a lock.) There were also, in true Brian Singer style, nods to the history of Superman: Shots that came directly from the comic books, Noel Neill and Jack Larson (Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen from the 50s Adventures of Superman series) had cameos, and stylistic touches in the sets and background characters.

Brandon Routh did a good job of portraying both Clark Kent and Superman. He is not – nor did he try to be – Christopher Reeve, but he didn’t need to be. The actor did not overshadow the character. He breathed life into a Superman for a new generation… while remaining true to the spirit and essence of the Clark Kent that the late Mr. Reeve brought to the screen.

Kevin Spacey was an excellent choice for Lex Luthor. His performance wasn’t over-the-top. Instead, he was a… human… Lex Luthor. Greedy. Driven. But without being a ham. You knew why Luthor hated Superman. You knew why he wanted to carry out his plan. And you could see that he was determined to let nothing stand in his way to achieve that goal.

I liked Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane. To me, you could see that she was conflicted in her feelings about the return of Superman into her life. She had made decisions about her life in his absence and moved on. She did a good job of bringing that emotion to the screen.

All in all, I think that this movie falls in line Superman: the Movie and Superman II very well. I give it a definite thumbs-up with an okay.

And I can’t wait to see it again.

Namaste.