Superman Returns: Superman Comes Back After Almost 30 Years
In continuing the saga of Superman after the second film, made back in 1979, director Bryan Singer (X-Men, X2, Usual Suspects) has given us a completely new and visceral look of the Man of Steel. He still believes in truth, justice, and the American way. But, Singer gives us dynamics the somewhat campy ’70s films never could achieve.
Superman left the people of the world, abandoning the two people he loved most, his human mother, Martha Kent (played by Eva Marie Saint), and the love of his life, Lois Lane (Bosworth). Where Martha Kent has been waiting for him to return, Lois Lane has moved on with her life in the 5 years since he left. She’s had a child. She’s planning to marry Richard White (James Marsden), and Superman finds himself alienated even moreso than when he left.
On top of everything, Lex Luthor (Spacey) has been released from prison with a quest to destroy life and make a buck. Knowing Superman’s home on Earth, Lex ventures to the ice castle, and steals several of the crystals left to Superman by his Krypton father, previously played by Marlon Brando.
He tries to create a new continent of his own, thereby drowning billions of people on every other continent in the world, and sell land to the few desperate people left. As always, it seems a little ill-conceived for a man who is suppose to be so smart. And, like before, only one thing stands in his way – Superman.
Superman saves lives, foils the plans of bad guys, and flies longer and faster than ever in big epic scenes shot in CGI. When he’s lifting objects bigger and smaller than most buildings, flying as quickly as a speeding bullet to save people falling, and rescuing a huge 747 full of people from crashing, it’s hard to believe the human aspect of the film isn’t completely dwarfed. But, Bryan Singer proves his talents to keep both the epic and human scales within the right boundaries to make it all work.
Superman Returns may be the sequel to Superman 2 we’ve been waiting almost 30 years for. The story is just so big, it’s only after that long of time that they could have actually pulled it off. It will usher in a great deal of debate; who’s better Brandon or the late Christopher Reeve as Superman; who better as Lex Luthor, Kevin or Gene Hackman. But, no one can argue that this modern Superman truly keeps the spirit of the original two films alive.
