Superman Returns

John Chard

Apr 13, 2020

8/10

The light to show the way. After a five year hiatus, Superman returns to Earth to find that Lois Lane is now a soon to be married mother, but some things don't change, loony Lex Luthor is loose and his latest plan will kill billions of people. I first reviewed Superman Returns some two years after its initial release, I had first caught it on release back in 2006 and was really taken with Bryan Singer's approach to a subject he clearly loves. I was awash with nostalgic fervour back then and the moment the theme tune kicked in (great move by Singer to use the John Williams original) I was grinning like a Cheshire cat, yet it seemed I was in a minority back then as regards the film's worth, and with each passing year I find I still am. Superman Returns will forever be known as the franchise entry that has too much heart, because it finds Singer giving Superman emotional fortitude and, crucially, making it the heart of the story. Those that purely wanted a big colourful popcorn explosion will forever be unfulfilled it seems. Yet it has to be said that fans of Singer's work (such as I) totally get the emotionally heavy approach he has taken, watching Superman shred himself after learning of Lois' love for another, makes for compulsive viewing. Because our man of steel is conflicted, not only with his sense of protective being, but also in the rigours of love, it's this conflict of Superman that drives the film on. Not to say that there isn't any action here, though, in fact some of the sequences here are truly exhilarating. Oh yes, the popcorn crowd are well catered for, planes, space shuttles and a tension filled helicopter, all figure in and around Superman and Luthor's world. Brandon Routh dons the cape worn so brilliantly by Christopher Reeve in the 70s, and smartly Routh takes the route of "if it isn't broke then don't fix it", there's no need to put ones own stamp on a character already so well defined and well loved. Looking like Reeve, and playing out uncannily like him, Routh studied Reeve's performances to get as close to the Reeve incarnation as he could, and he gets it down pat whilst adding a bit of brooding honesty into the mix. Kate Bosworth gets to be Lois Lane, it's a very solid and controlled performance that would have seen her as a shoe in for the role again if Singer had of taken the reins for a sequel. Taking up the role of Lex Luthor, and clearly having a great time, is Kevin Spacey, this is a more clever Luthor incarnation, it's spiteful and devoid of campery. While along for the ride as Luthor's moll is Parker Posey, she's sparky with a hint of devilish sexiness. Bryan Singer reinvigorated the Superman franchise, and in doing so brought a new verve to the characterisation of an American icon. It has proved to be divisive amongst the fans and critics alike, so much so that Singer has left the Superman world. But viewing it even now brings many rewards, it is a damn fine Superman movie. You can never have too much heart at your film's core, that is as long as one remembers what made prior efforts work in the first place, Singer did to my mind fuse both very admirably indeed. 8/10

r96sk

Jan 9, 2025

6/10

<em>'Superman Returns'</em> brings an ounce of life back into the series, at least when compared to the prior three installments, but unfortunately overall it's disappointing. For such an overlong run time, I feel like nothing actually happens in this either. I doubt I'll remember it. Brandon Routh is decent as the title character, I don't have any notable positives about his performance but then I don't hold any negatives about him either. The same can be said about the rest of the cast to be honest, Kevin Spacey plays a bad guy well (barely acting, some may say). It's better than <em>'Superman III'</em>, which I guess is one of the reasons for this to even exist; given it ignores events from that film onwards. For me, whilst it's not out and out bad, I didn't get anything noteworthy from this 2006 flick.

Geronimo1967

Aug 1, 2026

6/10

I suppose it didn't really help Brandon Routh that he looked so much like Christopher Reeve when it came to distinguishing himself in this role. Consequently try as he did, he just didn't. This largely unnecessary but perfectly watchable sequel sees him return to "Metropolis" after a five year absence in deep space to discover that "Lois" (Kate Bosworth) is married and has an enigmatic young son "Jason" (Tristan Lake Leabu) with "Richard" (James Marsden). "Perry" (Frank Langella) is still the curmudgeon running the "Daily Planet" and the drippy "Jimmy" (Sam Huntingdon) is still trying to get himself noticed. "Clark" is welcomed back, but his alter ego knows that something is amiss. The scheming and plotting "Luthor" (Kevin Spacey) is out of jail and now has a plan that ought to see his caped nemesis reduced to a green, glowing, gibbering wreck and so leave the world open to his dastardly machinations. What chance "Soop" can thwart this plan and sort out the emotional maelstrom he left behind when the remnants of his planet were discovered half a decade ago? As action adventure films go, there are parts of this that work well and Routh delivers fine in his red and blue lycra, but the pacing is all over the place and the last twenty minutes, paired with some seriously soporific scoring, really did make me wonder if the expected reckoning was ever actually going to happen in my lifetime, never mind his. Langella is nowhere near cranky enough; the relationship between Bosworth and just about everyone falls flat for most of the time and even though it is lovely to see a brief cameo from the legendary Eva Marie Saint, the film has factory production line written all over it. If you like the superhero genre, and I do, then there's enough for two hours maximum so some judicious editing and a little more action wouldn't have gone a miss. It's fine, but you'll never remember it.