Ladies and gentlemen, I did it. I went and watched Superman Returns. And in my humble opinion (IMHO i suppose), it was wonderful. The direction is top notch (not that I expected less of Bryan Singer), the story was woven together very well, and the acting was great.
Brandon Routh did admirably as Superman, but I suppose the only complaint I had against him would be that I didn’t see anything new- you could tell that he can do a wonderful impersonation of Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent, and that his understanding of the Superman character was done aptly. But there wasn’t much originality other than that.
Kevin Spacey also did well as Lex Luthor, capturing the character’s genius with delusions of grandeur. Of course, Spacey’s greatest strength is his innate ability to mock someone without saying a word, and to communicate with a faint glance. It’s perfect for Luthor, and Gene Hackman was also wonderful with that. The difference in style would probably be the deciding factor as to who to crown the best Lex Luthor, with Hackman performing Luthor as a conniving but hilarious used car salesman, against Spacey’s performance of Luthor as a god among men.
The person that most impressed me in the story was actually Kate Bosworth, who plays Lois Lane. I hadn’t seen much of her acting before, and when I heard she was cast, I was initially skeptical. She hadn’t done anything that I’d considered worth my time watching (wasn’t she in some beach movie?), and I didn’t understand it. But from what I hear/read, her chemistry with Brandon Routh was palpable and real and so she was cast. Interestingly, the same story happened almost 30 years ago. The studio had decided on Christopher Reeve and auditioned numerous actresses (including Stockard Channing) until they decided upon Margot Kidder.
It’s impossible not to consider the original Superman by Richard Donner when watching Superman Returns. Singer has left thank you notes laced throughout the movie, including the title sequence, the original score by John Williams (and trust me, hearing that once again in a theater full of people excited about Superman gave me goosebumps), and even the final shot of Superman flying over the planet and looking into the camera.
This creation however, is clearly Bryan Singer’s. The understanding of the complicated love triangle between Superman, Lois, and Richard White (James Marsden, in a subdued and genuine performance) is done subtly, without pushing boundaries. Instead of making it easy on the audience to wish that Lois would simply leave Richard, the movie makes you wonder about which life is honestly better for Lois and her son. A life with a (super)man who is not just yours but of the world’s, or a life knowing that your one true love is still around and makes your heart flutter.
Singer has also taken the Superman as a modern day Christ idea and gone far. A Son is sent from above by his Father to save mankind. “What do you hear,” Superman asks Lois on a ‘flight’ above Metropolis. “Nothing,” she replies. “I hear everything,” Superman explains, “and these people need a Savior. And I’m here to save them.” At another point, Superman falls back to earth, his arms outstretched in the classic Christ-on-the-cross pose. Although it can be an effective allegory, the thought crossed through my mind a couple of times- “Why does this movie need to have the gravity of bringing religion into it? It’s a comic-book.”
All in all, this is a movie that needs to be seen. There are some points when I wish I was back in the theater back when the original Superman was released so I could feel the magic of watching Christopher Reeve. But with Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns, I finally have a reason to believe a man can fly again.
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