Review: Superman Returns

Five years ago, Superman (Brandon Routh) left Earth to venture to his birth home of Krypton. He found that it was in ruins though, so he comes back to an Earth that seems to have moved on from him. Even Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) has moved on, writing a dismissive article for the Daily Planet about Superman, and recently getting engaged to Richard (James Marsden), the nephew of editor Perry White (Frank Langella). She also has a five year-old son. Five years? Hmmmm. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor is up to old tricks with a new insane plan that involves the crystals from The Fortress of Solitude and creating his own mass of land with disastrous effects for everyone and everything else if allowed to happen. Sam Huntington plays Daily Planet employee Jimmy Olsen, Eva Marie Saint is Ma Kent, former Aussie rugby league star Ian Roberts plays one of Luthor’s henchmen (The film having been shot in Sydney), Parker Posey is Luthor’s companion Kitty Kowalski, and Kal Penn basically plays a less idiotic version of Richard Pryor from “Superman III” (But not really, I’m reaching there).

I don’t know why Bryan Singer (whose best film is still “The Usual Suspects”) has spent so much of his time making superhero movies (he helmed the first two “X-Men” films), because he’s not that great at it. This 2006 flick, although superior to “Superman III” and “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” just can’t compare to the 1978 “Superman”, which for me is the best of all superhero movies to date. The fact that it attempts to tie itself to that film (and the first of its sequels) through a kinda sorta Marlon Brando cameo and the fact that composer John Ottman (“Valkyrie”, “The Resident”) is able to use the familiar (and wonderful) John Williams theme probably doesn’t help shake the fact that you’re watching a film that just doesn’t quite measure up. In fact, Williams’ theme is by far the best thing in the entire film. The rest of Ottman’s thunderous score is terrific, but it and the film peak early. To be honest, compared to the 1978 original, this feels like a smaller, more intimate film that pretty much gets dwarfed by the earlier film. I think all of Singer’s superhero/comic book films thus far seem to lack awe and wonder that really ought to be pre-requisites for this kind of thing (Bear in mind I’m nowhere near a fan of Christopher Nolan’s superhero flicks, either). This feels a bit low-key and minor key. It’s watchable, but not epic or exciting. It’s a little mopey, and only some of that is germane to the story.

What also doesn’t help matters is the casting of Kate Bosworth as the iconic Lois Lane. She’s absolutely, positively all wrong for the role that Margot Kidder pretty much was for a lot of us. It’s interesting to see how Lois has moved on, had a kid, and gotten engaged to James Marsden. However, not even an actress as talented and lovely as Amy Adams was really able to put her own stamp on the role in “Man of Steel”, let alone eclipse Kidder. Bosworth (looking alarmingly like Heather Langenkamp) makes zero impression. She’s dull, uncharismatic, and just not Lois Lane in any way, shape or form. She brings no personality or charm at all. She also has zero chemistry with star Brandon Routh here, and not all of that can be explained away by Lois moving on. Bosworth just isn’t up to snuff.

As for Routh, he’s perfectly serviceable, but clearly got the job because he looks a bit like the late Christopher Reeve. He’s easy enough to take, I guess even if I did find myself wondering how co-star James Marsden might’ve fared in that role instead of the vanilla supporting part he gets. Kevin Spacey has the impossible task of living up to a showboating, wonderfully egotistical Gene Hackman as genius arch-villain Lex Luthor. Spacey’s a great actor who doesn’t bother camping it up nearly as much as you’d expect. However he’s pretty much the only actor of his generation truly suited to the part. If you want someone to play a malevolent bad guy who thinks they’re the smartest guy in the room, Spacey is just about your only living choice not named Malkovich or Woods. Yes, he’s playing glib, amused-with-his-own-genius Kevin Spacey here, but it works for the role. Unlike Hackman, he’s able to add a bit of menace to the part, so he may not be as much ‘fun’ as Hackman was, his own take on the part still works for me. His criminal scheme is perfectly ridiculous, uber-megalomaniacal, and just suicidal enough to come from a guy whose ego is just a tad greater than his criminal genius. Parker Posey is pitch-perfect in the Valerie Perrine-esque role of Luthor’s main squeeze Kitty, who is too dim to really be despised by the audience. Frank Langella, meanwhile may be cinema’s best-ever Perry White. He’s got the authority and presence that I always felt Jackie Cooper kinda lacked. It was also absolutely lovely to see Eva Marie Saint return to the screen here cast as Ma Kent. She’s terrific, if underused.

I wasn’t overly fussed with the cinematography by Newton Thomas Sigel (“The Usual Suspects”, “The Trigger Effect”, “Confessions of a Dangerous Mind”), which was far too muted and desaturated for my liking. Yes it matches the somewhat mopey tone, but I don’t consider that a good thing. The Fortress of Solitude looks good though, which isn’t something I could say about the otherwise superior “Man of Steel”.

Most of the basic pieces are assembled in place to create a solid superhero movie, but it never truly engages. This film seems a bit jaded about the ‘Man of Steel’, to be honest. The “Superman Returns” aspect is also not as well-used as it could’ve been, either. This one feels somewhat minor league, something that “Superman” should never, ever feel like. Based on the DC comics characters, the screenplay is by Michael Dougherty (“X2”, writer-director of the fun horror anthology “Trick ‘r Treat”) and Dan Harris (“X2”, the above-average Van Damme flick “Until Death”).

Rating: C+