'Superman Returns' is Okay
Superman Returns features some good performances from Brandon Routh as the Man of Steel, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, and James Marsden as Perry White's nephew, Richard, along with solid supporting turns from Eva Marie Saint as Martha Kent and Frank Langella as Perry White.
There are also fun cameo appearances by Noel Neill, who played Lois Lane in the 1950s-era TV series, and Jack Larsen, that series' Jimmy Olsen, as Bo the Bartender. They were fun to see!
The film also pays tribute to the 1978 to 1983-Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve. (In fact, the film is dedicated to Reeve and his wife, Dana, both of whom met early, tragic deaths.) At some moments, in fact, Routh bares a striking resemblance to Reeve.
There are a few spots of good humor in this film, such as when Langella's White, recites just once and in a wonderfully understated way, the line which generations of Superman fans have come to associate with the editor of The Daily Planet: "Great Caesar's ghost."
The special effects are stunning, something which those earlier incarnations of Superman could have used.
And, as always, it was great to hear some of the original scoring composed by John Williams for the three films that starred Reeve.
But Hollywood hopes that this film might revive moribund domestic movie theater revenues are ill-founded. For all its computer-generated noise, bells, and whistles, Superman Returns never really goes anywhere. The plot is thin and predictable.
Kevin Spacey's performance as Lex Luthor is flat and uninteresting. His scene with Bosworth is particularly atrocious: It required comic sensibility layering a barely-concealed madness. He achieves none of that, managing only an amateurish theatricality. This is disappointing because I think that Spacey is a fine actor.
The one scene in which Spacey manages to emote somewhat credibly is also the one scene that I wish had been done completely differently. In it, Luthor and his henchmen, employing Kryptonite to rob Superman of his powers, engage in a scene of such violence that I would advise parents whose children are fourteen or younger not to let the kids see the movie. There is no gore in it, simply vicious, disturbing violence.
The film ends with a lot of loose ends, displaying the producers' obvious intent to make a sequel. That will no doubt happen. But I give Superman Returns a C+.