Superman Returns

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Review by Vives Anunciacion
Inquirer Libre June 28 2006


Directed by Bryan Singer
Written by Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris
Based on the comic book character created by Jerry Siegel & Joe Shuster
Starring Brandon Routh, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth
G / 153minutes
Warner Brothers/ Legendary Pictures/ DC Comics


Call me a sentimental idiot. Christopher Reeve will always be my Superman, and when he died I thought he brought the Man of Steel with him for good. Many others will wear the suit, but Reeve will always be the only Superman, right? Wrong.

So how was Superman Returns? Kate Bosworth is a little off as reporter Lois Lane, and Kevin Spacey shifts from great to good as a brooding Lex Luthor. The surprise is Brandon Routh who practically owns Superman. He is the new Man of Steel. By default, I’m now a fan.

I didn’t expect to like Superman Returns that much – no, I didn’t expect to love it. I was reduced into a giddy kid again, amazed at how much magic this movie has taken hold of me. Is it that good? It still could be better, but right now it’s already breathtaking.

At the heart of Superman Returns is a strong emotional core about a man who must assert his significance to a world in denial that it needs him. Yes, there are spellbinding special effects but this superhero is all about emo.

The magic starts as the screen bursts into a kaleidoscopic space travel from Krypton to Earth with the familiar laser blue credits design marching to the crescendo of John William’s legendary musical score. That by itself is a show worth the price of admission.

In the years during Superman’s absence, criminal businessman Lex Luthor is out from prison and has found a rich benefactor to fund his evil schemes. Lois Lane has won a Pulitzer Prize, is a mother, and engaged to Richard White (James Marsden), nephew of Daily Planet editor Perry White (Frank Langella). In other words, the world has conveniently moved on without the Man of Steel.

On his return to Earth, Kal-El (Brandon Routh) learns the world didn’t seem to miss either Clark Kent or Superman. Only Jimmy Olsen (Sam Huntington) welcomes him back warmly in Metropolis. After a showstopping airplane rescue reintroduces Superman to the world, the superhero quickly resumes his role as savior of his adopted home. But on top of these is a protracted relationship with Lois that needs closure.

Great performances abound, but then no movie’s perfect. The movie soars in all of its Superman scenes, especially each time Supes uses his powers to save people. Routh is magnetic as Superman, a joy as Clark Kent, but looks unsure as Kal-El. Maybe because those characters are developed differently, Superman having the best scenes and Kal-El having the least – if only Clark had more scenes in the movie. Routh may remind people of Chris Reeve, but this Superman is definitely his own. Great job for an absolute newcomer.

Plotwise the weakest points are Luthor’s real estate plans and the thing with the kid, which take elements from Superman I and II, but tries to make its own story regardless of any clear backstory. However, Spacey’s lines are potential cult quotables. Least effective is the average musical score, which underwhelms as a superhero’s accompaniment and never soars when Superman does.

The Jesus/ Superman messianic parallels are not an accident. Singer elevates the Blue Boy Scout to the status of divinity, both in imagery and text, as he does when Superman descends to the earth unconscious in a crucified pose or when he floats in space to listen to the events down below; and most especially in the recurring “the son becomes the father, and the father the son” theme as Kal-El repeats the voice of the father inside him in Routh’s best performance at the end of the film.

While the Dark Knight shows that people can overcome their personal demons, and those mutants prove that politics is what we make of it, when the going gets really tough, it is never a crime to look up and seek comfort from the guy in the sky.

This is no mere fantasy - no careless product of imagination. Superman Returns is a spellbinding amalgam of the hero created in 1938 and in the Richard Donner movies, and pays grand tribute to the sentimental favorites for existing fans while rebooting the super franchise for the next generation of believers.

There will be many versions of Superman; other Reeves and Rouths will wear the suit and cape. It is not the person or the actor, but the unpolluted spirit within the suit that is legend. Superman Returns resurrects the original superhero in all his glory.

And he shall live forever and ever.