eyeCandy: Superman Returns (2006) 4/5

Superman Returns is an attempt to revive the Superman franchise, much in the same way as Batman Begins, and, I'm happy to say, it's a very successful attempt. Unlike Batman Begins, Superman Returns doesn't scrap all the movies that came before it and start from scratch. Although there is a certain amount of re-envisioning, Superman Returns picks up after a five-year absence from Earth by the Man of Steel. During that time Superman was in deep space investigating the remains of his home planet, Krypton, and Lex Luther was sitting in jail (a convenient convergence of events :-) ). I've heard people refer to this as "Superman 3", essentially, on the basis that the original 1983 Superman III and 1987's Superman IV are movies best forgotten. Having recently re-watched the original 1978 Superman, I'm not sure I wouldn't say that about the first two as well. In fairness, though, at least Superman I and Superman II were fairly true in spirit to the legend of Superman, whereas nothing so generous can be said about III and IV (the addition of Richard Pryor to the cast for the third installment should have been a strong hint).

Superman Returns is superbly directed by the talented Brian Singer, of Usual Suspects and X-Men fame (Singer also has a hand in the story development here as well). Singer was brought on after Brett Ratner left Superman Returns to direct X-Men 3, which Singer was supposed to direct but wanted to put off until he had a chance to try his hand at Superman Returns (the result: a big step up for Superman and a step down for X-Men 3). Brandon Routh does a fantastic job as Superman - he intensely evokes the memory of Christopher Reeve's original performance as the Man of Steel, not only bearing a physical resemblance, but carrying himself similarly and even emulating Reeve's speech (not since Ewan McGregor's takeover of the role of Obi-Wan Kenobi from Alec Guinness have I seen such a pitch perfect interpretation of character). Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor, while generally (and correctly, I think) harsher and more ruthless than Gene Hackman's original, is also inspired. In fact, all the characters (including Kate Bosworth's Lois Lane, who is now a mother and living with another man) have been fleshed out nicely and given a grittier edge than in the originals (Clark Kent even drinks a beer! :-) ).

I saw the IMAX version of the movie not only because I love the big, big screen, but because it presents some parts of the film in 3D. The 3D scenes were pretty neat and I was happy to see a major live-action picture experimenting with this kind of technology. That said, your seating position does have some effect on how realistic the 3D parts are (try to get to the middle of the theatre for this one to avoid the minor "double vision" you can get from some angles) and the fact that you have to put your glasses on and off at several different points in the film (there are only a few segments that are 3D, so you don't need to wear those goofy glasses the whole time) takes you out of the story a bit. Given that this is basically a "popcorn" movie, I don't think that's a major problem, though.

A couple of other pieces of trivia worth noting. Singer makes multiple references to the original movie in this film (e.g. the closing lines in Superman Returns, see PS below; when Superman saves Lois from a plane crash he says: "I hope this doesn't put any of you off flying. Statistically, it's still the safest way to travel", the same words Reeve spoke when he saved Lois from the helicopter crash in the first movie), but the one that really stood out for me was when it is said that Superman stands for "truth, justice, and that kind of stuff" (I'm paraphrasing) instead of "truth, justice, and the American way" - quite a telling amendment reflecting upon the perception of the United States in today's world. In other trivia, Superman's father, Jor-El (cast as Anthony Hopkins by Ratner), is actually played once again by Marlon Brando. Singer used Brando's parts from the original Superman, and discarded scenes from Superman II, to assemble an effective performance from the now-deceased actor.

All in all this is a wonderful new beginning for one of the most iconic characters in our culture. The hokiness and comedic relief (e.g. Luthor's bumbling cohorts in the originals) are pretty much gone, as is, thank god, the completely unbearable Margot Kidder poem from the first movie (I can't recall cringing so intensely at any part of any movie in recent memory). Despite his humble small-town roots, this is a 21st century Superman and one who I hope to see again before too long.

PS: There is a pretty major twist in this movie that doesn't fully reveal itself until close to the end. I won't mention it here but it shouldn't be hard to find out about if you're curious.