Holly
07-05-2006, 08:19 AM
Not everyone is happy to see him back, particularly ever-present nemesis Lex Luthor and a surprisingly detached Lois Lane.
Nevertheless, the Man of Steel pursues truth, justice and the American way again after a long absence in “Superman Returns,” director Bryan Singer's slightly overlong but immensely entertaining revival of the movie franchise. The saga of Krypton's most famous son has continued on television in the series “Smallville,” but Warner Bros. wanted to keep that separate from the big-screen renderings, so Singer has basically picked up where the Christopher Reeve films left off ... well, the first two, anyway.
To that end, he has cast a Reeve doppelganger in the pivotal role. Brandon Routh not only looks a lot like the Reeve of the 1978 “Superman” movie, he also sounds and even moves a lot like the late actor. If his comedic panache as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent isn't quite up to Reeve's level, it's close enough to get things off the ground (literally and figuratively) here.
After time spent back on the farm where he was raised -- in an introductory segment that goes on a tad longer than it really needs to, although it certainly evokes the desired feeling -- Kent re-enters Metropolis, where people greet to his sudden resurfacing with a variety of reactions. The one that counts most, of course, is Lois'; as played by a brunette-wigged Kate Bosworth, she doesn't exactly exude warmth. In fact, she's quite resentful of having been abandoned by the hero, and she has built a new life that includes her young son, a fiancé (James Marsden, re-employed by Singer from the “X-Men” movies) who happens to be the nephew of Daily Planet editor Perry White (Frank Langella), and her role as a crusader for a world that doesn't need Superman anymore.
Of course, it does, and the typically nefarious Lex Luthor is the main reason. Played with typical mastery by Kevin Spacey, he's hatched another of his conquer-the-world plots that incidentally happens to threaten untold numbers of people, and Routh acquits himself nicely in the saga's many action scenes. The show-stopper is Superman's rescue of a seemingly doomed airliner, and as expected, the picture's special-effects team knows just what it's doing. (Audiences near an IMAX theater have it even luckier, since in that format, some of the film's biggest scenes are in 3-D.)
Some may carp that “Superman Returns” plays it too safe by adhering to the style that director Richard Donner set down nearly 30 years ago with the first Reeve movie, but if you want to relaunch a success -- and the studio clearly does -- the best move is to go back to what made it successful in the first place. The image of the late Marlon Brando is even re-used as our hero's Kryptonian father, Jor-El, yet another big factor in asserting the link between the new film and the first Reeve vehicle.
Just as the movie's characters need someone to rely upon, viewers may (and should) be satisfied with the kind of Superman they've long known and loved. “Superman Returns” delivers him back to theaters, and it's a pretty safe bet it won't be long before he returns yet again.
(Rated PG-13)
Nevertheless, the Man of Steel pursues truth, justice and the American way again after a long absence in “Superman Returns,” director Bryan Singer's slightly overlong but immensely entertaining revival of the movie franchise. The saga of Krypton's most famous son has continued on television in the series “Smallville,” but Warner Bros. wanted to keep that separate from the big-screen renderings, so Singer has basically picked up where the Christopher Reeve films left off ... well, the first two, anyway.
To that end, he has cast a Reeve doppelganger in the pivotal role. Brandon Routh not only looks a lot like the Reeve of the 1978 “Superman” movie, he also sounds and even moves a lot like the late actor. If his comedic panache as mild-mannered reporter Clark Kent isn't quite up to Reeve's level, it's close enough to get things off the ground (literally and figuratively) here.
After time spent back on the farm where he was raised -- in an introductory segment that goes on a tad longer than it really needs to, although it certainly evokes the desired feeling -- Kent re-enters Metropolis, where people greet to his sudden resurfacing with a variety of reactions. The one that counts most, of course, is Lois'; as played by a brunette-wigged Kate Bosworth, she doesn't exactly exude warmth. In fact, she's quite resentful of having been abandoned by the hero, and she has built a new life that includes her young son, a fiancé (James Marsden, re-employed by Singer from the “X-Men” movies) who happens to be the nephew of Daily Planet editor Perry White (Frank Langella), and her role as a crusader for a world that doesn't need Superman anymore.
Of course, it does, and the typically nefarious Lex Luthor is the main reason. Played with typical mastery by Kevin Spacey, he's hatched another of his conquer-the-world plots that incidentally happens to threaten untold numbers of people, and Routh acquits himself nicely in the saga's many action scenes. The show-stopper is Superman's rescue of a seemingly doomed airliner, and as expected, the picture's special-effects team knows just what it's doing. (Audiences near an IMAX theater have it even luckier, since in that format, some of the film's biggest scenes are in 3-D.)
Some may carp that “Superman Returns” plays it too safe by adhering to the style that director Richard Donner set down nearly 30 years ago with the first Reeve movie, but if you want to relaunch a success -- and the studio clearly does -- the best move is to go back to what made it successful in the first place. The image of the late Marlon Brando is even re-used as our hero's Kryptonian father, Jor-El, yet another big factor in asserting the link between the new film and the first Reeve vehicle.
Just as the movie's characters need someone to rely upon, viewers may (and should) be satisfied with the kind of Superman they've long known and loved. “Superman Returns” delivers him back to theaters, and it's a pretty safe bet it won't be long before he returns yet again.
(Rated PG-13)