If you’ve read the reviews you already know the basic premise of Superman Returns: this movie takes place in the same chronology as the previous films (ignoring things like advanced technologies and an obvious disconnect in the actual time line since the previous movies were all stuck in the United States of a few decades ago. Superman absented himself from our planet to visit the remains of his home world, hoping to find some connection to his birth world.

His return finds him an introverted, more complex character brooding over his place on our planet. Of course, this is still a Superman movie, so the brooding remains relatively light (even, ahem, sunny). It doesn’t help his disposition to come back to find that Lois Lane has become a mom and is living with another man.

Aside from that, the movie is filled with the normal Superman activities: rescuing damsels, stopping planes from falling to the ground, and posing very manfully while thwarting the evil plans of Lex Luthor. Good fun.

I’m not a Superman fan—from the comic books to the earlier movies, he’s always been too much of a good guy and far too powerful—so my knowledge of the mythology is incomplete and my care for propriety is even less impressive. I just showed up for the entertainment value and the knowledge that this is one of those summer films that absolutely requires viewing on the big screen; watching it on DVD just wouldn’t be the same.

Now, the review:

The Beginning Just isn’t so Super
The first twenty minutes or so are pretty slow. I was questioning whether I had made a good choice in dragging my girlfriend along. She was skeptical from the beginning and the pace and wooden acting of the opening scenes weren’t very encouraging.

Luckily, from the moment Superman performs his first super-deed, the pace picks up and the stilted early going was forgiven.

Superman is a Super Stalker
The love triangle that leaves Superman on the outside, wishing he could be with the reporter he loves, shows a gently jealous side of Superman that borders on the demented when it crosses over the line into stalkerdom. Which, in the service of giving us more depth and humanity in our alien superhero, works well in its context; which, considering his x-ray vision, super strength, and ability to be almost anywhere in the world in just a few moments time seems seriously unfair to the other masculine side of the triangle.

Lois isn’t Such a Super Mom
She’s late to pick up her kid, she leads him into danger, she apparently doesn’t ever take him to get haircuts…

But Kevin Spacey is a Super(b) Lex Luthor
Superb. While Gene Hackman was fun in a campy way, Spacey really brings the character to life. He is wonderfully evil.

Super(ior) Special Effects Make Superman Better
Watching the earlier movies now is a reminder of just how far special effects have come over the last thirty years. Everything looks more real and some of the shots border on the artistic. But the effects don’t get in the way of the characters or the story.

Of course, one of my favorite touches wasn’t much of a special effect at all: using the Marlon Brando archive footage for Jor-El was a nice touch. Brando—rightfully—has been roundly mocked for the money he demanded to take, essentially, an extended cameo role in Superman: The Move. Still, his voice and delivery were top notch and using his archive footage for this go ‘round brought some extra warmth and depth.

Still, Not Quite a Super Movie
Somehow, with all the pluses, it still isn’t quite a great movie for me—just a damned good one. Perhaps it hinges on the fact that it’s still a Superman movie. Or maybe it was that I couldn’t completely forgive the first twenty minutes. Or was it that the action didn’t flow in as compelling way as I expected or that Lex Luthor’s big, evil scheme didn’t really rope me in. It could just be that Superman—with the TV shows, the movies, and the comics—has been done so many times that I’m overly familiar with the pop icon even while not well-versed in the canonical mythology of the comic books.

And, let me say, the “Passion of the Superhero” parallel was just this side of disturbing. Salvation in blue tights isn’t the most comfortable fit.

I truly enjoyed the movie and would urge the rest of the class to take a few hours out of their summers to revel in this new look at a very old superhero. It was worth the eight bucks—but I doubt that I’ll ever watch the movie again. Contrast that with Batman Begins, the second Spider Man, and the first two X-Men movies and you’ll understand why I can’t quite go as far as to say that this was a super movie. Just a pretty damned good one.