← Back to Reviews
in
#330 - Superman Returns
Bryan Singer, 2005
After leaving Earth five years previously to search for the remains of Krypton, Superman comes back to Earth and must stop Lex Luthor from pulling off another evil scheme.
The flaws inherent in trying to make a compelling narrative about Superman have been picked over time and time again and Superman Returns not only brings them crashing back, but it adds them into a bloated and alienating excuse for a superhero film. Superhero movies that nudge the 150-minute mark often have a bit of trouble staying compelling for a significant enough portion of that time, but this one doesn't have trouble staying compelling because it never gets started. Learning that the makers were trying to stay true to the first two films doesn't exactly excuse how closely the main conflict mirrors that of the original film, with Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey, here proving to be the best thing about the film, even if seeing him play a bald supervillain just reminded me of when he did a cameo as a Hollywood version of Dr. Evil in Goldmember) planning a scheme that makes even less sense than that of the original Superman film. Fortunately, Superman (Brandon Routh, doing a serviceable Christopher Reeve impression) comes back to Earth just in time to fail Luthor's plan while also reconnecting with Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), who has since had a son and is now engaged.
Of course, several of the weaknesses common to Superman stories (chiefly his overpowered nature leading to incredibly contrived situations where he must rescue others and also the re-introduction of Kryptonite in order to make him momentarily weak) make unwelcome re-appearances in ways that don't often make sense. The actual action hasn't really held up even over ten years with a lot and the warmed-over romantic sub-plot between Superman and Lois is utterly forgettable even with the introduction of Lois' new fiancé (James Marsden) to shake things up. Unfortunately, it's not enough to stop Superman Returns from being an extremely tedious excuse for a massive blockbuster. The only reason I'm not rating this lower is because, for all its narrative flaws, it can never be as bad as Superman IV, but then again, what can be?
Bryan Singer, 2005
After leaving Earth five years previously to search for the remains of Krypton, Superman comes back to Earth and must stop Lex Luthor from pulling off another evil scheme.
The flaws inherent in trying to make a compelling narrative about Superman have been picked over time and time again and Superman Returns not only brings them crashing back, but it adds them into a bloated and alienating excuse for a superhero film. Superhero movies that nudge the 150-minute mark often have a bit of trouble staying compelling for a significant enough portion of that time, but this one doesn't have trouble staying compelling because it never gets started. Learning that the makers were trying to stay true to the first two films doesn't exactly excuse how closely the main conflict mirrors that of the original film, with Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey, here proving to be the best thing about the film, even if seeing him play a bald supervillain just reminded me of when he did a cameo as a Hollywood version of Dr. Evil in Goldmember) planning a scheme that makes even less sense than that of the original Superman film. Fortunately, Superman (Brandon Routh, doing a serviceable Christopher Reeve impression) comes back to Earth just in time to fail Luthor's plan while also reconnecting with Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), who has since had a son and is now engaged.
Of course, several of the weaknesses common to Superman stories (chiefly his overpowered nature leading to incredibly contrived situations where he must rescue others and also the re-introduction of Kryptonite in order to make him momentarily weak) make unwelcome re-appearances in ways that don't often make sense. The actual action hasn't really held up even over ten years with a lot and the warmed-over romantic sub-plot between Superman and Lois is utterly forgettable even with the introduction of Lois' new fiancé (James Marsden) to shake things up. Unfortunately, it's not enough to stop Superman Returns from being an extremely tedious excuse for a massive blockbuster. The only reason I'm not rating this lower is because, for all its narrative flaws, it can never be as bad as Superman IV, but then again, what can be?