As a self-confessed comics nerd, I’ve never really been a fan of Superman - he’s always seemed too simplistic, too god-like and far-fetched to leave any room for empathy or dramatic tension. And, as a fan of Marvel rather than DC, I had all the more reason not to like Superman Returns because this is the project that director Bryan Singer abandoned the X-Men series for, leaving X-Men: The Last Stand in the non-too-capable hands of Brett Ratner.
But having seen it, the decision is understandable at least - whatever its failings, what shines through in every scene of Superman Returns is Singer’s absolute adulation of and fascination with his hero. As with the X-Men franchise, he brings the comic book world to life with a colossal understanding not only of what makes his characters work, but also of their failings.
After a five year sojourn to his decimated home planet of Krypton, Superman comes back to find a world that has been surviving without him, and old flame Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) with not only a new man but a young son to boot. To add to his problems, arch-nemesis Lex Luther (a superb, under-used Kevin Spacey) is out of jail, with a plan that will make his fortune–and also wipe out most of America.
Since this is a semi-sequel to Superman II, Brandon Routh is left with the not inconsiderable task of stepping into Christopher Reeve’s shoes. And he does a pretty good job of it. As Clark Kent he can’t hope to match Reeve’s bumbling charm but as Superman he’s actually an improvement. This is partly thanks to some stunning effects, (the flight scenes being particularly spectacular), but perhaps more due to Singer’s complex interpretation of the character - he’s less a super man, more an alien messiah with severe social integration issues.
His absence is never properly explained, though like many of the film’s potential plot holes (and there are a few), it just about makes sense if you’re prepared to put in some thought and imagination. But not everyone is going to see Superman Returns wanting an intellectual challenge, and this is were the movie will fall down for some people - especially in the final third, which largely fails to deliver the action-packed climax that some thrilling early sequences have promised.
Singer gets an awful lot right, creating a genuinely interesting and complex hero and surrounding him with a very real-feeling and elegantly designed world. But the pacing is frequently off towards the end. The involved script favours spectacle over action and character detail over either, so that while its themes of seclusion and innocence lost are wrapped up nicely, the actual plot - that is, Superman vs. Lex Luther - is left on a vaguely unsatisfying note.
Still, while a smart, character-driven Superman movie may not have been what everyone’s been waiting for, it’s maybe what was needed to make the character relevant again after so many years away from the screen. And where Superman Returns occasionally fails as a pop-corn summer movie, it more that succeeds as intelligent and spectacular entertainment.