Superman Returns

Tons of Fun

The Man of Steel returns, and on excellent form. Starting with a brief explanation as to why he's been away so long, and a short recap of his origins to get the youngsters up to speed, Superman Returns is a whizz-bang comic book action flick that is very hard not to like.

Directed with flair, and shot in a wonderfully comic-book style, everyone on screen seems to be having a tremendous time. There is clever use of footage of Marlon Brando as Jor-El, shot at the time of the original Superman, as well as a great update of the familiar credit sequence and a rejeuvenated score by John Williams.

There are plenty of plot surprises and a great script, including one very slick use of the Bird/Plane/Superman cliche, and the notable change from, 'Truth, Justice and the American Way,' to 'Truth, Justice and... All That Stuff' (Apparently 'The American Way' doesn't hold the same connotations that it used to. Can't think why.) A few flashes of dark humour are also welcome additions.

The downside? Well, the film is awash with corporate logos, branding and product mentions, and it would have been nice if it had been just a wee bit shorter. There are also some rather unsubtle parallels drawn between Superman and Christ which had me puzzled. (Is it really necessary to throw the political hot-potato of religion into a comic-book fantasy?)

But they're minor detractors and easily ignored. On the whole, Superman Returns fully deserves to be the summer blockbuster it looks set to become. See it on a very, very big screen.

[Highly rated reviewer]

Please don't read this if you're not up for spoilers!!!

The special effects in this film and the general acting and structure are really great if not a little protracted in places. What would've been a 4 star film is ruined in the final ten minutes of the film. THIS IS THE SPOILER BIT. The final confirmation that Lois Lane's son is actually Supermans is a real kick in the teeth to the franchise and completely left me cold - it takes away the magic of the hero and is on a par with saying something as ridiculous as Mary Magdalene was married to Jesus. The other scenes where Superman is taken to hospital and stripped of his costume does the further damage of crippling the illusion that Superman really is super and unique. It's by no means a bad film but it could have been so much better without selling it's soul.