I liked it a lot. Namely for how different it was than I thought it'd be.

Comic book movies, for the most part, haven't worked for me: I thought Batman Begins was a bit dark and dull, and I thought the Spider-Man films have suffered from whimsy overload. But Superman Returns, while far from perfect, really captured an "epic" feeling in Superman himself that I found missing from the aforementioned superheroes.

It was really different, though. I loved it opening in medias res, not boring us with the "discovery" scenes that I think by now are a bit worn. And I loved that Lex Luthor, while a bit of a flawed character in that at no point did I feel like he was posing any actual threat, was a bit of a riot.

I was expecting another Spider-Man here, but fortunately (for me, at least), that's not what I got.

B+

A worthy return for the Man of Steel. While not the comic book masterpiece that the original was, it is a great restart for the franchise and a pretty good film. Bryan Singer certainly loves the character of Superman, and especially the original film, as this one is chocked full of references and homages to it. The biggest problem with the film is the pacing - it drags far too much at times, and the ending is far too long. Cutting around 30 minutes would've done this film wonders. Still, it's very involving and entertaining, with great action, comedy, romance, and drama - it's got it all. Very well done.

The general story itself is well executed, but parts of the plot (especially Lex's plan) are completely without logic or plausibility. But the whole idea with Superman returning, and the world learning to live without him, was quite interesting. The acting I was quite worried about going in, but it was one of the stronger points of the film. Routh was great, he embodied the character well without imitating Reeve. He really made it his own. I felt he was much better as Clark, however, and the film could've used more of him to balance all the seriousness and action. Bosworth was surprisingly good as Lois, bringing a new element to the character. Spacey was excellent as Lex, expectedly. He didn't ever overact or become silly - had just the right mix of evil and humour. No one else really stood out, but I didn't find anyone overtly annoying - not even Posey or the kid. I am glad they didn't make Marsden an asshole - made the love triangle more believable. On the whole, very good acting.

The action is quite good, but there wasn't nearly enough of it. Too much melodrama and not enough plot development plagued parts of the beginning, but it cleared up and the film rolled along nicely. The climax could've have been a bit better built up, and not followed by even more melodrama, to further tighten up the story. The production design was quite good, as were the visual effects - not as obviously stunning as some other films, but very well done. In fact, all of the technical aspects of the film were solid - the shots were staged beautifully, and some of the wipes/dissolves were nicely used. The music was an excellent adaptation of the original score, and the opening credits sequence - incorporating the classic theme - was a nice nod to the original. And Singer's direction was fantastic - it's obvious he really loves the character of Superman.

Overall, quite a good comic book adaptation - not as good as Batman Begins or Singer's own X-Men films, but certainly better than Spider-Man, Hulk, Fantastic Four, and the like. The plot could've used some work, the pacing was terrible at times, and the running time needed to be about 30 minutes shorter, but other than that, it was a solid film. Nothing that's going to win any awards, but very involving and entertaining, with well-staged action, comedy that felt natural, and a sufficient amount of romantic drama to balance it out. A well put together film.

In retrospect, I would have given a B if it weren't for the obnoxious Christian symbology.

Awesome action and effects, but the plot eas left hanging in the air. Obviously it was a problem for Singer having to establish Superman again without having the possibility to introduce him. B-

wasnt as good as any spidey films, but I'd be willing to watch it in theaters again


B

The film's negatives outweigh the positives by 100 miles., but the film isn't a complete throwaway. Personally, I never have been a fan of Superman, so my opinion may reflect on that. The film does very little to change my opinion of Superman, which is disappointing. I was hoping it would really leave me in awe.

I believe Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth were both good. There could have been a better Superman and better Lois Lane, but they're not horrible. The special effects were great (I should hope so). And, the best part of the movie is Kevin Spacey. I truly believe if someone else portrayed Lex Luthor in the movie, I would have hated Superman Returns. He really does an incredible job. Too bad that the next time we see Superman on the big screen (probably not in the near future), Kevin Spacey likely won't be in the role.

That being said, the story is really bland. The film itself is slow and predictable. I know next to nothing about Superman, but everything I saw, I knew. I have not seen the original movies (trust me, I'll watch them someday, despite my disliking of Superman), so I cannot compare. But, there just doesn't seem like anything new was accomplished. I'm almost certain that everyone involved expected this to explode into mega bucks, but it's not. I have no doubt in my mind that we'll see a sequel eventually, but I do doubt that we'll see it in 2008.

Grade: C

So let me get this straight. Lois gets pregnant by Superman, and lets this other guy believe it is his baby, and that guy quits his job and dutifully takes care of the baby he thinks is his, and plays househusband cheering on her career, all the while not knowing.

Lois in SR seems to be a contender for biggest b&$%* of the decade in movies. I mean really, wow.

no .. he does continue to work. he just spends more time with the kid as his hours aren't odd.

OK but the rest of it is as I described? That part about whether he works or not isn't the main thing, it's her utter deceit. I don't see how anyone can like her character if she's like that.

somewhat

he does take care of the child and is around with lois is not.

the entire kid character bothered me.

Wonder if the kid was added to have a bigger sell with the younger audience. Where will they go with the kid from here? Wil the next film be like Spy Kids? Supes teams up with his son? Or are they just gonna dump the kid because it didnt work out well in this film.

I saw it again today. It has a good rewatch value, I stand by now that the ending was about 10-15 minutes too long, and should have had a better oomph rather than stealing Donner's original closing shot. I think this will have a good life on DVD.

I'm not sure if she knew the entire time, but it did become obvious after the child threw the piano at that guy.

I thought it was pretty good, for the most part. The story wanes for a bit, and there isn't much chemistry between any of the characters, but I enjoyed the action and the modernization of the story. The cinematography was beautiful and epic as well (what a superhero movie should look like).

That's because the character is no longer the Lois Lane we used to know and love -- Singer replaced her with an evil clone...

C

Was just ok for me. It felt surprisingly stale, to tell the truth. Other than the fact that it was too long, too dragging, it also had no oomph that made me say wow. Also, for what's supposed to be one of the most emotional superhero movies, I surprisingly felt nothing for the characters. I didn't buy their love I guess, it just didn't seem legit.

One thing I realized while watching the movie, other than the fact that the Superman character is boring, is that Lois is bland as well. I mean, she's just a pretty face, there's nothing standing out or special about her. On top of just being a boring girl in this movie, what I realized is that the character is superficial. She only loves and pays any attention to the hunk Superman, the good looking guy, the model face, while completley ignoring Clark. It's the typical thing that all superficial girls have, they like the looks and not whats underneath. Lois isn't exactly a deep girl, thinking about this made me dislike her quite a bit in the movie. Maybe it was just the screenplay, as in the original Supermans she wasn't like this.

The acting in the movie is good, I'll say that. Routh is charasmatic, Bosworth does a good job despite miscasting, and Spacey does his charms though he's not as special as he could've been. Supporting cast is decent, though they have nothing to do.

The evil plan, well it was a lot been there done that, and it was predictable. It wasn't a terrible, but it just didn't excite me any. I just think there could've been more creative things for Spacey to work with than striving after economic lust and a technology grab. It almost made him seem disinteresting, especially at the moments where he talked in his business words.

Back to the character work, I was disappointed that despite the long running time, they don't do a good job of getting to know the Clark and real life side of Superman at all. That persona in the movie for what, 10 minutes total? They never show him just hanging out with his colleagues, getting Routh to say a bit of dialogue. We never get to see everyone shunning him, treating him as a loser, there's basically no interaction between that side and Lois. They never get into any depth with Superman himself, he's always flying around and saving people, doing the action scenes that are supposed to mystify us. Superman takes up all the screen time, but we never get to actually see him as a person.

One thing I felt in this movie that was forced, was the way Singer was trying to put in all these iconic and majestic shots, time after time. He just puts Superman in the air, and plays the heavy score, and we're supposed to be touched. But while a couple of them were good, doing them over and over didn't really work for me.

Anyways, it's definitley the one blotch on the blockbusters of this summer for me, and it's one of the most average superhero movies that I've seen in the recent boom. One of my least favorite of the genre that I've seen in theatres, easily.

F
Absolutely horrible. Worst movie I've seen I'll year. And the box office seems to agree with me. Repetitive, no action, no campy humor, no real story, nothing original.
Didn't feel like a Superman movie at all. And although Routh looks incredibly fcukable, he has practically nothing to do besides stand and look pretty. The only mildly entertaining part of this film was Parker Posey, even though her character was completely ridiculous.

Way better than i expected to be. I really like Superheroe movies that have more story than stupid mindless action, just like Batman Begins. The SFX werent all that great, it looked very cartoony at time. Kevin Spacey was great, Bosworth was good and Brandon Routh did a pretty nice job.

Honest to god, i had no idea this movie was 2 1/2 hours. That went incredibly fast!

A-

A big disapointment. It was soooo boring. I hated Lois Lanes character, what a bitch. The action was underwhelming too. The fx were not always the best. The kid was annoying but I liked Huntington as Jimmy Olsen. He was pretty funny. Loved Spaceys last scene on the island, that was great. D+

Exactly my thoughts. Great review!

Disappointing on the whole, mostly because of what could have been. Where was the 200+ million budget? It wasn't for the cast salaries. I didn't see any WOW effects. The story was kinda pedestrian. No serious physical threat for Supes.

Brandon Routh was perfectly cast, and I'm glad they decided to go with him and the Christopher Reeve model. Not sure how I felt about Kate Bosworth or the kid. Kevin Spacey was really good, though not quite Hackman good. The rest of the supporting cast performed fine. The problems were in the script and generally boring adventure, with no wow inducing special effects to speak of.

I think it's enough to continue. Batman vrs. Superman with Routh and Bale would be so awesome!

B-.

Don't you think the contrast between Routh and a real actor like Bale would be a bit jarring?

I'm no comic specialist but what the hell should Batman do against Superman?

Kryptonite, hehe.

superman very noble.

as in he wont hurt batman; hes too good. hell just try to ward of batmans attack. the script is actually very good.

Batman's really smart. He'd find a way to be competition.

I think the vrs. part of it wouldn't be in reference to them fighting so much as it representing their different approaches, if they even do decide to go with vrs. They may have a physical confrontation that's early in the film and short, but it wouldn't be the basis for the movie.