AsMoral Wrote:While the rest of the state of Arkansas was attending church I was attending an early morning matinee of Superman Returns.

I had been anticipating the return of the man of steel for years now while it lingered in development hell upon being wrestled from the destructive hands of the Salkinds.

With Bryan Singer stepping away from his lucrative X-MEN franchise to helm the new man of steel picture I had the highest of hopes that I was in for a visual treat topped by an incredible story of Superman's return after a long absence.

What did I get? A close call that somehow felt flat, a little one-dimensional. The openening was goosebump inducing and was a throwback to the openings of Superman I and II. Picture the blue lettering flying off the screen accompanied by the John williams theme. I felt like a kid again.

From the depths of space we find ourselves transported to the Smallville, Kansas kent farm and from there we move on to Metropolis which mirrors the sequential progression in the first film, one of many nods to the original.

The appearance of Superman in the film is a memorable one that again gives a gentle nod toward the original movie while Brandon Routh eeriely channels the spirit of Christoper Reeve.

Routh is competent as Superman adding little to the already established character while the supporting cast continues their characters as we last remembered them. Lois and Jimmy and Perry White are all well written and delivered in the same manner as their earlier counterparts which felt surreal. Akin to coming home after a long trip and remembering the sights and sounds of your family but they somehow look different than you remember.

The script was well written with some minor flaws. An early and unneeded flashback shows a young Clark running and leaping through his family's cornfield. As if we the audience isn't smart enough to know this is a young Clark Kent the film has the would be Superman wearing glasses. WHAT? He didn't wear glasses until he became Superman and donned the Clark Kent disguise. That would be like Jesus wearing glasses in the upcoming Nativity Story. Superman doesn't have poor vision.

My major gripe is a revelation of proposterous proportion that, if handled poorly, will cripple this new franchise. I will not divulge just what this surprise twist is, but suffice to say, it pissed this viewer off.

The film lacks in the action department as well. This may seem a brazen statement sice a major portion of the film is flying and other super powers but the overall menace in the film brought on by Kevin Spacey's diabolical Lex Luthor is just boring, much like the nuclear missle crisis in the first film. It was weak and not a major threat to the Man of Steel. Bring on the Super Villians and put Lex back in the shadows pulling the strings. He is a smart villian with an untapped monetary advantage but overall he is no real match for Superman and this is where the film was not fun.

Great care was taken in the making of this movie, Bryan Singer worked directoral wonders and made a very entertaining film.

The theater in which I saw the film presented it in Texas Instrument's Digital Light Processing (DLP) and it was not film at all but a crisp, bright and vivid picture that seemed to engulf the audience, and this was not the IMAX version.

Overall, the movie hit the mark to earn the title "summer blockbuster" and leaves me anticipating just how Singer will move the story forward over the next couple of films. I just hope he doesn't bail by the third to direct some other new adventure like Captain Marvel or Wonder Woman.

Superman is the first movie in a long time that leaves me nodding with approval, even if it is long winded at 2 hours and 34 minutes.

GeraldRice Wrote:I saw this over the weekend. Regarding the twist, I had a problem with it too. Assuming you'll know what I mean, the twist is based off something that happened in part II, but considering what happened in that movie the chararcter-who-is-not-Superman is not supposed to know something that he/she does.

To me, this seemed like a tribute to Richard Donner's Superman. X-Men I and II and the Usual Suspects were not like this, they had a distinct style I could attribute to Singer. I imagine that's why there's Lex Luthor in it and why the Brando footage was used.

I didn't need the recap. I think at this point everyone knows the general story of Superman. I understand that Lois Lane plays an important part in the story of Superman, but I don't care about Lois Lane's emotions. I wish she was more in the background. She's just not relevant to me.

Here's how I see the next film: there's going to be some kind of super villain. Hopefully there won't be more rehash- General Zod won't pop up again or something like that. It'll be Brainiac and by the end of the movie Doomsday will be introduced. And then the third one will be Doomsday v. Superman and that'll set up Reign of the Supermen and someone else will step in for Singer for the 4th installment.