"Superman Returns": A bird, a plane, a...hit

It has been 19 years since Superman graced the silver screen and fans of all types of films, especially films based on comic books, had to be wondering, does the world need a new Superman movie? Need it or not, “Superman Returns” was made and is in theaters now. But how does the man from Krypton stack up in a world that is now used to seeing fantastic and amazing feats from mutants, vigilantes, super-heroes, fellowships and boy wizards?

The answer is that he holds his own just fine. While the film doesn’t hit a home run, it makes solid contact with the audience, hitting all the marks that a summer blockbuster should.

“Superman Returns” starts with a confusing mix of scenes leaving the audience unsure of just where the film is starting from and hoping they weren’t getting stuck with more origin scenes. Eventually it becomes clear that Superman has been away from Earth for five years. He left to see what was left of his home planet of Krypton, and while he was away Lex Luthor got out of prison and Lois Lane had a child and moved on in her life. Once he is back on the planet, Superman once again poses as Clark Kent, gets his job back at the Daily Planet and starts saving humanity as Superman.

There is a wonderful sense of familiarity that director Bryan Singer brings to the film. Despite the fact that there is an entirely new cast portraying these roles, the audience can’t help but feel that they’ve been in this world before. Metropolis is a lighter version of Gotham (Batman’s digs) and though the citizens have modern conveniences like cellphones, their style harkens back to the days of the early issues of the comic book. Jimmy Olsen still wears a bow tie to work and most of the men are in suits and the women wear dresses. It’s an idealized world and one that Luthor can’t wait to destroy.

His plan involves stolen crystals from Superman’s Fortress of Solitude and soon he has devised a seemingly fool-proof way to thwart Superman and rule the world. Now, who out there guessed that this plan involves kryptonite? Well, you’re right. Since that’s the only thing that can stop Superman (I mean, the man can stop machine gun bullets with his eye and can practically lift planets) you just know that the glowing green crystal is coming in to play at some point. I find that to be a flaw with the character. Heroes like Batman and Spider-Man are regular guys that can really get hurt if they’re not careful. They’re not (entirely) bullet-proof and their strength knows at least some bounds. Superman can and does do just about everything. Maybe he should start building up an immunity to kryptonite - sprinkle a little on his corn flakes every morning.

There are a few great action sequences in the film, including one particularly awesome spectacle early in the film involving a plane crash, and Singer moves things along fairly well thanks to a decent script from Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris that captures what was beloved of the first two films in the series and what audiences like to see in their summer movies today, namely explosions and fanciful derring-do.

The cast is top-notch for the most part too. Brandon Routh is an excellent Superman, practically channeling Christopher Reeve’s speech pattern, and Kevin Spacey’s Lex Luthor is a brilliant mixture of a humorous and horrible human being. Parker Posey also brings a lot to the table as Lex’s girlfriend Kitty Kowalski, though I think she would have made a great Lois Lane. Lois was the one problem with the film. Kate Bosworth gave it her all, but didn’t have any of the spark or feistiness that Margot Kidder gave to the intrepid reporter. Her performance seemed to get weaker as the film progressed and that may be more to do with the way she was written. She had very few, if any, one-liners and was just off enough to make it noticeable.

I suppose I also have to mention Lois’ son, Jason, who was born shortly after Superman’s departure. Tristan Lake Leabu does a good job as the fragile five year old and it appears he will play a larger role in future films, but I’m not sure the series needs it. Adding a kid to the mix would be like when they added Cousin Oliver to “The Brady Bunch.” “Superman Returns” may not be a perfect film, but I don’t think anyone wants to see this series jump the shark again.

“Superman Returns” runs long, over two and a half hours, and it could definitely have been trimmed a little bit, but the film is a worthy installment to the series. It is leaps and bounds better than the third and fourth movies and places itself closer to the top of the super-hero movie list (“Spider- Man”) than the bottom (“Daredevil”).

***