SUPERMAN RETURNS

SUPERMAN RETURNS
By Ken Leicht

Bryan Singer broke a lot of hearts when he bailed from X-Men 3 but at least he did so for the best cause...the right to direct the new Superman film. After a long and tortured development history, the Superman film we ended up with is sort of a rebirth story as opposed to a re-imagining.

The story begins five years after Superman has disappeared. The evil Lex Luthor has married and dispensed with a millionaire widow in order to get her money. He uses this money to further his insane real estate schemes which this time involves stealing Superman’s crystal technology so he can build his own continent.

Meanwhile, Superman comes crashing back to earth at his mother’s farm. After a brief stay he’s back in Metropolis at the Daily Planet. When he gets there he finds out his old flame Lois Lane has married and has a kid to boot. Lois, for her part, has written off Superman both in her life and in print after authoring an article entitled “Who Needs Superman?”.

Lois soon discovers that she and the world really need Superman a lot when he steps in to stop an airline disaster that she is a part of. The whole airplane sequence is great and shows what Superman can do on screen with the new effects technologies.

As with its 1978 predecessor, you will believe a man can fly. The effects are all top notch of course. With over $200 million to play with in the budget they damn well better be. But ultimately what’s really winning about this film is what made the Christopher Reeve version work so well…the film has a lot of heart where it counts. I’d have to spoil some major plot points to really show how well this is done so let’s just say that if you are a father there’s a lot that hits home.

I guess my only gripe is that Kevin Spacey is sort of odd in the Luthor role. Caught somewhere between evil and lunacy, he just ends up being disturbing. Kate Bosworth is fine as Lois and Parker Posey is amusing in the Miss Tessmocker-esque role.

This new version of Superman succeeded so well that I am only more excited for the future. If the next film is like Superman 2 was back in 1980, then maybe we’ll get to see Superman in some huge battles with Super villains. As the Neo/Mr. Anderson battle at the end of Matrix 3 showed, the possibilities are limitless.