Review: Superman Returns

Posted by: Tom Milroy  •  June 28, 2006 @ 11:59am

Filed under: Reviews

I have seen the new Superman: his name is Christopher Reeve. It's actually a young man named Brandon Routh, who looks like Reeve's younger brother, or son.

I am not a comic book geek, so I saw very little to complain about in Superman Returns. Sure, at 150 minutes, it's about 20 minutes too long, but other than that, nice job by the producers and director Bryan Singer (X-Men 2).

The plot is simple: our hero returns after a 5-year hiatus, trying to find himself I suppose, but when he comes back, he finds Lex Luthor up to his old tricks and Lois Lane involved with another man. She also has a 5-year-old son. As you'd expect in 2006, the effects are dazzling, thanks in no small part to Winnipeg's Frantic Films.

I'm still not sure what Lex Luthor's evil plan was, but that doesn't matter. Kevin Spacey seems to be having a great time playing him. Parker Posey is his lady-friend Kitty. Kate Bosworth is fine as Lois, but doesn't have the same swagger that Margot Kidder brought to the role in 1978. Thanks to archive footage, Marlon Brando makes an appearance as Superman's dad, Jor-El.

There's plenty of room for sequels because, as you'd expect, Lex doesn't die, but he does lose the battle.

Entertainment Weekly picked Superman Returns to be the biggest movie of the summer. We'll have to wait and see.

Don't worry if you haven't seen the earlier Superman movies, just return to this one.