Superman Returns

I finally had the chance to see the movie. At long last. I was still in high school (which was a million years ago) when I first heard that a new Superman movie was in the works. At that time, producers were looking at Nicholas Cage to don the tights. I remember thinking: oh. Not that I have anything against Mr Cage but the thought of him wearing the S suit didn't do it for me. Fast forward to 1006 and the Man of Steel has finally made his comeback!

And what a comeback it was! Brandon Routh was--tsss!--hot. Most of the time, hot does not even do him justice. He's just too good to be true. *Sigh* But there he was--in tights, no less. Which was only right because an un-superhunk wouldn't have worked. And he did an amazing job filling in those tights, uhm, shoes. No, boots! Jeez. Even if he himself admitted that his similarity to good ole Christopher Reeve was what netted him the job, no self-respecting casting director would have given it to him if he weren't able to do some decent acting. It's hard to believe that he was a virtual unknown prior to this project. (By the way, can you spot him in Christina Aguilera's What a Girl Wants video?) He looked like on old pro on the screen, his presence palpable. I just hope that he doesn't get trapped in the Superman stereotype. Although it's possibly too late to hope for that.And then there's Kate Bosworth. In real life she gets to snog up with Orlando Bloom. Then she gets to play Lois Lane to Routh's Clark Kent. Can a girl get any luckier? She's not just pretty but also did one heck of an acting job. I loved her when she surfed the blue crush and when she won that date with Tad Hamilton. Here she got to play a more mature role and did it splendidly. The brunette 'do helped her pull off the job because with her blonde looks, it would've been impossible to pass her up as someone's mother, let alone a four-year old's (unless she had the kid at twelve). Now that I think about it, Orli is one lucky guy.

But was James Marsden's character, Richard White, really necessary? Of course, Superman would've died without him. But that's neither here nor there. Why didn't they make the character not to be in love with Lois? Why not create a character who's just an honest to goodness friend who happens to know how to fly a plane? I love James Marsden and his character both but Superman is one heck of a rival. This character is just a heartbreak waiting to happen. And Kevin Spacey did a creditable job as Lex Luthor. He had some big shoes to fill seeing as how effective Gene Hackman was in that role in the 1978 version. I can still remember how scared I was of him when I first saw that flick when I was around five or six.

All in all it was a great movie experience for me. It's not the bestest and it won't be my mostest favorite but in the scale where ten is the highest, it definitely is on the better side of seven. Director Bryan Singer did an X-tremely wonderful job in making it--and in piecing together a story after the comics 'killed' Superman off. Except for one shot where Superman looked too 3D, the FX in the movie were super as well. Nice. Can't wait for the next one. Yes, believe you me, this won't be the last time we see Mr Faster-Than-a-Bullet on the big screen.