Superman Returns (2006)

"Eye-popping epic...Superman returns with a bang.  Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"Pure exhilaration...It's beyond Super. It's Superb.  Richard Corliss, Time
"Mind blowing special effects!!  Stuart Lee,

Editor's Note For five years, Superman (Brandon Routh) has been away from Earth, coaxed into space by a belief that Krypton may still exist. Finding nothing, he comes back to a changed world--not only has terrorism become rampant, but Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) has married, started a family, and won the Pulitzer for her piece "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." After a stop in Smallville to see his adopted mother (Eva Marie Saint), Superman is back in Metropolis, and Clark Kent has his old job back at the Daily Planet, with everyone still incredibly oblivious to his alter ego. But where there's Superman, there's Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey), and he is likely to be planning something dastardly--in this case, using a piece of pilfered kryptonite to grow an entirely new continent that he will control. Bryan Singer (X-MEN 1 and 2), armed with a script by Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty, approaches the red cape with reverence for the lore of the character, and respect for Richard Donner's SUPERMAN (1980) and Richard Lester's 1980 sequel, films that ushered in the era of the modern superhero film. Singer's SUPERMAN is filled with melancholy, and not so subtly suggests the notion of Superman as a Christ figure, sacrificing himself to save mankind. But there are still laughs, mostly courtesy of Spacey (clearly having a blast) and Parker Posey as his moll, Kitty Kowalski, as well as plenty of gasp-inducing set pieces, including a spectacular and terrifying almost-plane crash and a sinking boat. While modern visual effects have allowed Superman to go to entirely new realms, Singer keeps them from becoming the film's raison d'être, thus keeping the Man of Steel's gigantic heart intact--heavy though it may be.

	Brandon Routh
	Frank Langella
	James Marsden
	Kal Penn
	Kate Bosworth
	Kevin Spacey
	Parker Posey
	Sam Huntington
	Bryan Singer - Director
	Dan Harris - Screenplay
	Elliot Graham - Editor
	Gilbert Adler - Producer
	Jerry Siegel - Based On Characters Created By
	Joe Shuster - Based On Characters Created By
	John Ottman - Original Music By
	John Ottman - Editor
	Michael Dougherty - Screenplay
	Newton Thomas Sigel - Cinematographer
	William Fay - Executive Producer

Rolling Stone
3 stars out of 5 -- "Spacey powers the movie with ripe, nasty fun....All the actors serve Singer's vision." 07/13/2006 p.124

Entertainment Weekly
"Routh and Bosworth have a puppyish connection that grows on you, and it's tapped by a shrewd romantic story." -- Grade: B 06/30/2006 p.135

Total Film
4 stars out of 5 -- "It's the deftness with which the director walks this line between classic and contemporary that makes SUPERMAN RETURNS a success." 08/01/2006 p.28

Ultimate DVD
5 stars out of 5 -- "The performances are all outstanding, especially Bosworth, who is fetching and interesting as Lois Lane, but the biggest key to the film is Routh's excellent performance in the title role." 08/01/2006 p.80

Box Office
4.5 stars out of 5 -- "[The] elements -- the casting, cinematography, design and score -- ultimately serve Singer's greatest achievement, which is the storytelling." 08/01/2006 p.40

Sight and Sound
"As in the X-MEN films, Singer keeps coming up with interesting ways to demonstrate superpowers....A satisfying installment which goes beyond soap to show a genuine development in the life of its heroes." 09/01/2006 p.76

Uncut
4 stars out of 4 -- "For all the digital dazzle, it harks back to a more innocent age....This is a good old-fashioned romantic fantasy." 09/01/2006 p.121

ReelViews 9 of 10
At the end of Superman II, the producers promised "Coming Soon: Superman III." It has taken 26 years for that promise to be fulfilled. To be sure, there were movies in the 1980s called Superman III and Superman IV, but those were bad jokes masquerading as motion pictures, unimaginative stories cashing in on a pay-day. These many years later, Bryan Singer has gotten it right. In fact, Superman Returns is not only a credit to the first two Superman movies; it may be the best of the series. Its combination of romance and fantasy adventure is unparalleled in superhero comic book-to-movie sagas. - James Berardinelli

Variety 10 of 10
"Why the World Doesn't Need Superman" reads the title of a piece that wins Lois Lane the Pulitzer Prize in "Superman Returns," the latest bigscreen revival of comicdom's strongest and fastest hero. Not only is she wrong in the context of the story (not to mention real life), but she'll be wrong in the court of public opinion once the world gets a look at this most grandly conceived and sensitively drawn "Superman" saga. Sure to rate with aficionados alongside "Spider-Man 2" and, for many, "Batman Begins" on the short list of best superhero spectaculars...Topping off these aspects is the evocative, darkly lyrical score by John Ottman... - Todd McCarthy