Superman Returns

I've been looking forward to Superman Returns for a while now. It's a sequel to the first and second films of the previous franchise (disregarding the later films), in which shortly after the events of Superman II, Superman learns that astronomers have discovered the location of Krypton, and he leaves Earth to go see it for himself.

Five years later, Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) gets out of jail (since Superman never showed up during his trial) and finds his way to Superman's fortress of solitude (which he'd visited in the second movie) and steals some of the crystals from the fortress. Around the same time, Superman (Brandon Routh) returns to Earth and is cared for by his mother (Eva Marie Saint, of all people!). As Clark Kent, Superman returns to Metropolis and reclaims his old job with Perry White (Frank Langella). However, he finds that Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) has a young son Jason (Tristan Lake Leabu) and is engaged to White's nephew Richard (James Marsden).

Luthor happens to pick as a time to test his theory that the fortress' crystals can be used to create new land a test of a new space shuttle. His test drains power from the eastern seaboard, causing the shuttle test to go horribly wrong, calling Superman into action for the first time since his return. From here, Superman contends with Luthor's plan as well as trying to reassemble the pieces of his life, especially with respect to Lois, who won a Pulitzer Prize for an article entitled "Why The World Doesn't Need Superman".

Superman Returns was almost exactly what I expected: A fun action film that takes itself just seriously enough to not be complete fluff, but which avoids plumbing its themes in any depth at every opportunity.

As with the original Christopher Reeve films, a lot of the film's success is due to its star, Brandon Routh here. Although he doesn't much resemble Reeve in still shots I've seen, when you see him in the film he has the mannerisms, the voice, and the expressions of Reeve's man of steel down to a T. (Unfortunately he's not nearly as believable as Clark Kent, looking too young and a little too dumpy in the role of the reported. Too bad, since Kent - even more than Superman - was where Reeve really shined.) Spacey is a terrific Lex Luthor, being better than Gene Hackman in the original films largely because his character - though still totally around the bend mentally - is much more convincing evil. Would that Hackman had had the opportunities that this script presents Luthor.

The film has plenty of problems, which it mostly tries to shove aside. It's largely inconsistent with the romantic side of the story in Superman II. One wonders why Superman, yet again, fails to anticipate that Luthor would use kryptonite to stop him. Superman's reason for leaving Earth feels flimsy at best (I have a suspicion that originally Superman was supposed to have died and come back to life - as he did in the comics in the early 90s - which would have explained many the weaknesses in this part of the story), and we don't even get treated to any scenes of his travels. The explanation for Clark's disappearance - not to mention the amazing coincidence that he and Superman return at the same time - is completely unbelievable.

So, you do need to switch off parts of your brain to watch the story. But emotionally the film is fairly rewarding, and the effects and action scenes are terrific. This seems like faint praise, but frankly the airplane scene and the final confrontation with Luthor - which make up much of the film - are really quite spectacular.

Ultimately, it's the film's refusal to really come to grips with its premises - Superman really did abandon Earth after promising not to do so; whether the world really doesn't need Superman; whether his experiences have changed him in any way - are what keeps it from being more than a big spectacle. Big spectacles are worth something, and I can see myself watching Superman Returns again (if nothing else, it's made me want to watch the first two films again). But it's really a big missed opportunity; it could have been a lot more than it is.

So, with this coming on the heels of Batman Begins (which is the better of the two films), think there's any market for a World's Finest film?