Review of Superman Returns (2006) by Dan H — 15 Jul 2017

The Good: The opening credits sequence, parts of the score are nice throwbacks to the original, Kevin Spacey is easily the best thing about this film. He makes for a great, and fun Luthor. The initial premise of the film is interesting and hold potential (Supes returns after a 5 year absence to find a world that has moved on without him, making him even more of an outcast than he was before.) but nothing is done with it. I do like James Marsden and Kate Bosworth (she makes for a sexy but uninteresting Lois) but they don't really do anything here.

The Ok: Brandon Routh makes for a passable Superman, resembling something out of the 40's or earlier. Ultimately he's too vanilla and bland for my tastes though.

The Bad: Too many Marlon Brando Voice-overs (we got it the first time you did it, no need to keep beating us over the head with it), Zero action, zero fights, zero conflict, Supes is a super-creeper in this one (the amount of scenes dedicated to him stalking on Lois is just disturbing), The film tries to be a little too cute at times, NOTHING FUCKING HAPPENS, the more I think about this film the less I like it.

Final Thoughts: Superman Returns is just an ok film. Nothing happens for the duration of it's 2 hour run time. The film is even more bland and vanilla than it's main hero. It's unexciting, and suffers from a lack of action or conflict. How was this film supposed to reignite interest in Superman? It's not a bad film, but it's certainly not good. I left feeling like I had wasted a good 2 hours plus of my life. I'd say Skip it.