SUPERMAN RETURNS: It's Superfluous!

SUPERMAN RETURNS (fantasy adventure)
Cast: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, James Marsden and Frank Langella
Director: Bryan Singer
Time: 157 mins
Rating: * * *

WHAT’S IT ABOUT? After a long visit to the remains of his home planet Krypton, Kar-El (or Superman) returns to Earth to find that Lois Lane (Bosworth) has a new man (Marsden) and a four-year-old son in her life. Also, Lex Luthor (Spacey) has been released from prison and is now using Superman’s crystals to change the map of North America. Yup, the Man of Steel has his work cut up, viz, to save the world and reclaim the heart of Lois!

WHAT’S THE BIG DEAL? When "Superman the Movie" opened in 1978, cinemagoers were thrilled with its out-of-the-world plot, heart-warming love story and mind-boggling special effects. People 'believed' that Man could actually fly! Women started looking for something more in their men... and some even wished that their man could read their minds.

A lot has happened during these 28 years, with the movie spurning three sequels (two of which were ‘unofficial’). Lots of other comic book characters had also come on to the big screen and these were accompanied by inspired scripting and state-of-the art special effects. Bryan Singer's Superman Returns is so respectful of the franchise’s traditions that it tries very hard to emulate and even rehash them. But it lacks the little touches like wit, fun and humour of the earlier movies. Relying only on incredible save-the-world scenes is not enough these days. There has to be more and more each time around to wow the audiences. This one entertains but does not impress us.

HIGHLIGHTS: Most of the ‘disaster’ sequences are fantastically done although a few look fake. However, it is Spacey who spices up the movie every time he appears. Given the charm-less, humour-less performance of Routh in this overdrawn two-and-a-half hour movie, I would have nodded off to sleep if not for Spacey’s maniacal portrayal of Luthor. Bosworth and young Tristan Leabu (as Lois’ son, Jason) are also memorable and I even like Parker Posey's air-head Kitty, a revised version of Luthor's blonde stooge Miss Teschmacher (played by Valerie Perrine).

LOWLIGHTS: Routh is sorely miscast as the title character. All he manages to achieve here is a bad impersonation of Christopher Reeve's Clark Kent and Superman. (Perhaps the tons of make-up on his face made him look more like a mannequin than a man of steel!)

THE LOWDOWN? It’s a bird! It’s a plane! Great Caesar’s ghost, look who's back again!