Movie Maven

Superman Returns
Starring: Brandon Routh, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth
Written by: Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris
Directed by: Bryan Singer
Official Website

I've always been more of a Batman girl. Superman was a little too clean-cut for me, too All-American boy, too morally unambiguous. But when I heard that Bryan Singer, the genius behind X-Men 1 and 2 was directing the new Superman, and that divine scenery-chewer Kevin Spacey was playing nemesis Lex Luthor, I knew this was something I had to see.

Superman Returns seems to pick up where the second Superman left off, with Clark Kent (Brandon Routh) going off in search of his home world. He returns much as he originally arrived- crashing in a meteor on his parents' farm in Iowa. He re-connects with his aging mother (a wonderful and under-used Eva Marie-Saint) before heading back to Metropolis in search of his old job and unrequited love, Lois Lane. But alas, Lois now has a son and a juicy live-in boyfriend, is still oblivious to Clark's identity and consistently out of reach. Plus Lex Luthor's planning to take over most of the United States by growing krypton-infused ice, so Superman's got a lot on his plate.

So what to make of it? Well, first off, I have a theory that newcomer Brandon Routh is actually a CGI. This is not a statement on his performance (which was nuanced and indeed very human) but due to the fact that in two and a half hours of watching him I could not detect a single flaw on his entire body. He is so perfect he looks inhuman, he looks... well, alien. He's also a dead ringer for the dearly departed Christopher Reeve, a fact I'm sure was not lost on the casting director. His performance likewise is based on Reeve's, and he is never more charming than as Clark Kent, fooling the world with glasses and stooped shoulders, and pining after his love who in turn has eyes only for his alter-ego.

The pining actually takes up quite a bit of the film (Singer actually called it his first romance film) and yet somehow it didn't annoy me. Perhaps it was Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, thoroughly undetestable (unusual for Kate Bosworth,) balancing Lane's femininity and toughness with the skill of a tight-rope walker. Or perhaps it was James Marston as her live-in boyfriend, who they managed to not turn into a bad guy to make the love triangle easier. Or perhaps it's because that's what Superman is partly about, what has helped spur his legendary status and love by fan-boys everywhere. It's about a guy that desperately wants to fit in and can't. A being that has such love for humanity but can't find his own place within the spectrum. Besides the obvious Messiah reference, on a much simpler level it's just about plain old loneliness.
But enough of this deep philosophy- Kevin Spacey wants to take over vast amounts of real estate!! Real estate, you ask? Isn't that a little, well, lame? Yes, unfortunately it is a little lame, but Spacey does the best he can, which is pretty damn good, and infuses his performance as the Q-balled nemesis with a sly humor and grace. Add Parker Posey as his ditzy girlfriend Kitty Kowalski and suddenly the plot isn't nearly as important as watching these two glide over their scenes together.

Unlike Batman Begins, or even X-Men, Superman Returns is not a re-imagining or re-inventing of the Superman mythos, but a glorious act of homage to both the comic books and the first two films. Old footage of Marlon Brando as Superman's father Jor-El is used in one scene (Brando, still fantastic, even from the grave.) One gorgeous shot of Superman gently setting down a car that had spun out of control is a mimic of the original comic book's first cover. And John Williams' original score is played against a thoroughly retro opening credits scene. Done with less skilled hands than Singer's this would have come off as cheesy. As it was, it sent shivers down my spine.

I'm still more of a Batman girl, but Superman Returns helped me better understand the appeal of a home grown Iowa boy who found he could fly. He's the grand-daddy of iconic images, the 20th century version of the pantheon of Greek gods. Singer, his writers, and even Routh understood this concept, which above all is what made the movie successful. It's a tribute to a symbol. An ode to the man in red and blue.

*A few minor content changes since first posting- oh the magic of the edit button!