| Superman Returns Features | |
| U.S. Release Date: | 6/28/06 (wide) |
| Running Length: | 2:37 |
| MPAA Classification: | PG-13 (Violence) |
| Theatrical Aspect Ratio: | 2.35:1 |
| Cast: | Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, James Marsden, Parker Posey, Frank Langella, Sam Huntington, Eva Marie Saint, Marlon Brando, Tristan Leabu |
| Director: | Bryan Singer |
| Screenplay: | Michael Dougherty & Dan Harris, based on characters originated by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster |
| Cinematography: | Newton Thomas Sigel |
| Music: | John Ottman, Original theme by John Williams |
| U.S. Distributor: | Warner Brothers |
Superman Returns is the sequel fans have been waiting for. Yes, there were four movies starring Christopher Reeve, but only the first two were actually worth watching. Superman Returns is the long lost Superman III.
However, Superman Returns is a weird jumble of Superman, and Superman II, and doesn’t exactly count as a sequel. Superman Returns begins somewhere in between the first two movies. For about half of the movie I was thinking “Doesn’t Lois Lane know that Clark Kent is Superman?” The answer is yes in Superman II, but during Superman Returns she seems to have no clue! Many oddities of this type occur throughout the movie, and it is best just to pretend they aren’t there.
Unfortunately for Superman Returns, a $200 million budget wasn’t enough to come up with an original storyline. If you are familiar with the original movies at all, many parts of the movie will seem like regurgitations with better graphics. Also, there are many dialogue nudges at the original, such as “I hope this experience doesn’t discourage you from flying, statistically it is still the safest way to travel…” and the drawn out father to son speech about living their lives through each other.
Superman Returns takes place sometime around Superman II. Superman (Brandon Routh) hears that astronomers have found remnants of his home planet Krypton, and he leaves Earth to find any survivors. He returns disappointed approximately five years later to find his life on Earth completely changed. Clark returns to his job as a reporter for “The Daily Planet”, but when he returns only photographer Jimmy is excited to see him. Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) has a boyfriend, Richard (James Marsden), and a five year old son, Jason(Tristan Leabu). Richard cannot convince Lois to marry him, perhaps due to a certain lurking long-long love….. Richard isn’t a bad guy, and we honestly feel bad that Lois continues rejecting him. Jason doesn’t have a whole lot of acting to do, but his presence is a key to the rest of the story.
Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) has escaped prison due to Superman’s failure to testify against him in court. He is on the loose again after coming into some money, and is looking to grow some of the classic “beachfront property” while obliterating much of the United States.
The entire cast fits their characters extremely well. Brandon Routh, though bearing little resemblance to Christopher Reeve, looks great in spandex and produces okay chemistry with Lois. He fits Superman’s well-worn shoes quite well. Many people may be wondering about Kate Bosworth….that’s right, the girl in that surfer movie. With a drastically different hair color and a more girly attitude, she plays a good Lois Lane. The director, Bryan Singer, has somewhat changed the attitude of Lois Lane, from Margot Kidder’s helpless girl to Kate’s take-charge attitude. A bald Kevin Spacey bears a striking resemblance to Gene Hackman. Luthor still has a love for power, great classical music, and beachfront property while maintaining his sly, cutting insults. However, Spacey’s monologues about world domination are less lengthy than Hackman’s.
Brandon has a hard time portraying Clark Kent. He does well as Superman, but it is hard to believe that no one, especially Lois, can detect that Kent is Superman. Reeve was a convincing Kent, Routh is not. Plus, Reeve was way nerdier than Routh is, and you wouldn’t really know Reeve was attractive under that nerd-exterior. Reeve’s portrayal of Superman is innocent and is also sweeter, like the kind of guy you could be attracted to in real life. You could tell Reeve’s Superman was in love with Lois. Routh is attractive, but not in that accessible-superhero kind of way.
It is good to see that a large chunk of the movie’s budget was spent on special effects. Not that the 1980’s effects weren’t advanced for their time, but a few passes by a lego Fortress of Solitude wouldn’t really go over well with today’s audience. One of the most striking scenes is Superman’s first rescue after his leave of absence. The scene builds tension up to the climax and finishes it off with fabulous special effects. I really cared about the fate of those people on the plane, and I really, really wanted Superman to save them. The best part is that Superman looks real compared with his surroundings. You become convinced that he really is flying next to a Boeing 777 and launching himself over endless fields.
Ever wonder why the bad guys don’t just shoot Superman in the face? Just wait…..
Unfortunately, the love story turns cold during the second half of the movie. Superman and Lois just can’t convince us that they’re in love anymore. There just isn’t enough alone time between the two to really spark anything, and the time they do spend together is spent with Lois guilting Superman for leaving. Also, Superman’s alter-ego Clark Kent disappears around the half-way point. There is no stand-off between Luthor and Superman, the Richard/Superman/Lois triangle is never resolved, and there is no action sequence that tops the airplane scene at the beginning of the movie. The movie leaves us with little satisfaction at its closing.
Besides looking good, the movie also sounds fabulous. John Ottman takes the credit for the score, but allows John William’s original theme plenty of run-time throughout the film. Gone are the days that the original theme sounded like one weak trumpet with some out of tune violins for a background….it has been re-recorded and sounds absolutely fabulous. John Ottman did a great job on the soundtrack as well, crescendoing to reinforce the importance of the scene and backing off enough to support calmer moments.
The film clocks in at 157 minutes, but I never found myself checking the clock. Despite its frequent flashbacks to the originals, there is enough new content to keep fans excited about the movie, and although this film is a little hard to place in the original trilogy, it nevertheless has deserved its place among the hard-to-follow originals.