I’ve wanted to see this movie ever since I heard they were making it. If you just look at the commercials and previews, you might think that this new Superman was a remake, as there are a lot of similar-looking scenes to the 1978 original. Before too long though, you’ll realize that this isn’t your Superman of yesteryear! It occurs to me that a good percentage of the young people that could see this movie weren’t even alive when Christopher Reeve first donned his blue tights. How old does that THAT make me feel?!
I’m happy to say that like Alien vs. Predator (another film that was a long time coming and could have been really bad), this new iteration takes us back to the glory days of the Man of Steel. Everything is done right and with respect to the source material. From the opening credits (done in the same style and font as used in the original film) all the way to the all-american, nostalgia inducing theme music. The costume itself has been redone in a similar fashion to the Spider-Man uniform, updating it for the new millenium while staying subtle and serious (no nipples on this guy *cough*Batman*cough*). The story is relatively basic and doesn’t try to get too complicated, but it does manage to be a little original. Basically, when scientists believe they have found a rock from Superman’s home planet of Krypton, he feels he must seek out the source, which explains why he’s been gone so long. As the name implies, Superman has returned and found that Lois Lane has moved on with her life and Lex Luthor is again out of prison. Everybody plays their role surprisingly well and even manages to take on the look and feel of the original characters. He may not be Christopher Reeve, but Brandon Routh (who the hell is that???!!) plays a decent Superman and even a good Clark Kent. Kevin Spacey has appeared to really embrace his role as the evil genius w/ a superiority complex. Luthor discovers the Fortress of Solitude and decides to pilfer it’s crystals and flood the world, forcing the population to pay top dollar for his own private real estate. Not great, but hey, we’re in superhero world now.
The main draw of this movie is seeing Metropolis’s favorite do-gooder fight crime using state of the art movie special effects. We now see him save an airplane full of passengers and fly through building windows in ways we never would have dreamed in the ’80s. Even bullet-time makes an appearance, giving an all-new, quite literal meaning to the phrase “faster than a speeding bullet!” Between the new effects, the safe but comfortable story, and the heart swelling memories the actors and film-makers have brought to the screen, I recommend seeing Superman Returns in the theaters like it should be. This one’s worth full price. And to top it all off, they do the right thing. They dedicate the film to Christopher and Dana Reeve and family.
