Review of Superman Returns (2006) by Step E — 05 Nov 2016

A beautiful, loving and epic rebrth of the son of krypton, this is an exciting warm and romantic epic. It's now ten years since it's strange reception where it made 400 million worldwide but was after a while labelled as not just a disappointment but an out and out flop, and it also saw extremely strong reviews but was somehow mass labelled by the smaller percentage of bad reviews and on top of that saw a pretty muted audience response, and in those ten years it's reputation seems to have just continued to slide, indeed it seems the only following it really has is of people who fucking hate it (save that hatred for Zack Snyder's ultra pessimistic, gloomy misunderstanding of the character please people) Im not sure, even now where the hate is directed exactly, I mean sure some of the criticisms hold water, he does seem to mostly just lift increasingly heavy and massive things up, Kate Bosworth is too young to be Lois Lane, Lex Luthors plot is nonsensical and it is sometimes a little too reverent of the Richard Donner/Lester movie (whole lines are repeated, and sometimes there are element's of an outright remake here) but Returns is just a damn beautiful piece of work, it has a love for the man of steel that is warm and infectious, there is a sense of awe and wonder that usually only Spielberg can inject into his films.

It's also really romantic, magical, sweet, often very funny, and the action sequences are huge and incredibly realized (the plane scene is one of the best set pieces of the noughties, and the bullet in Supermans eye is the single best visual representation of the characters indestructibility ever, also it's fucking badass!) there's also this sad, melenchnoic feel to the film that makes it unique among Superman films and superhero films overall, this films portrayal of Superman as a lost and lonely soul whose adopted world has moved on without him is fascinating, bold and affecting.

Also Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor is a wicked delight, a far more malicious, nasty version of the character than we've seen before or since that the actor makes his own, he eats up scenes with infectious gusto, and may well be the best iteration of Supes main antagonist ever seen.

Speaking of casting the performance of Brandon Routh as Superman deserves the uttermost respect and reverence, he is the best version of the character outside of Chris Reeve's definitive screen portrayal, he brings a gravitas and powerful presence, plus sense of warmth, likability and fine comic timing in his scenes as Clark Kent.

Superman Returns deserves a reappraisal now, especially in the light of so many plain, samey, workmanlike modern superhero films lacking any sense of wonder, it grows ever more special. One of the greatest superhero films ever made.

Magnificent.