Superman Returns

Superman was created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in 1933. They were high school buddies who managed to publish superman in a fanzine called Science Fiction. After much rejection from general publishers they finally secured a deal with DC Comics publisher Harry Donenfeld who was looking for material for his new title Action Comics. The legend of Superman was born.

In the 1978 Superman film Christopher Reeve (Superman, Remains of the Day) plays mild mannered reporter Clark Kent and bold hearted Superman. The original Superman takes place at the end of the 70's and still retains that great colour of 70's film making. This classic colouring and style contrast so well with Superman's strong red, yellow and blue costume. The absurdity of which is tamed and dignified by Christopher Reeve's graceful performance as Superman.

The original Superman remains to this day an entertaining and emotional story of hope and loss, good versus evil. This modern take on the Superman story takes a mixed perspective on the superhero story, bringing together timelines and events into one jumbled framework. Bryan Singer (The Usual Suspects, X-Men) takes the directors helm for his seventh feature. His previous work set him up to be a good candidate for this big-budget blockbuster. He has demonstrated a combination of successful action film direction and clever intrigue/drama.Relative unknown Brandon Routh, takes the coveted role of Superman/Clarke Kent, Kate Bosworth plays Lois Lane and Kevin Spacey shaves his head to play Lex Luther.

This was always going to be a tough film to make with such a tragic riding fall paralyzing Christopher Reeve (who passed away in 2004), who really shone as the character, and later became a real hero in the valiant way he fought his crippling accident.

I was interested to see how a modern take would be done, or if in fact it should be done. Action thriller fans will be satisfied with a CG heavy display of outlandish feats and heroic deeds as Superman makes his re-appearance onto the world stage. I personally found some of these feats a little disappointing with the action a rip off of the 70's films. There were a couple of impressive moments, when Superman saves a plane load of people, and defends a crowd of city dwellers with a shield of heat rays from falling glass shards.

Without going into to much detail, I would have to say I was a little disappointed with this version of Superman. I will not say it was a remake although it really felt like one. There were many elements from earlier Superman films, although there were some new strands added to the story.

In conclusion the film was nicely done with some wicked special effects and solid acting from the entire cast. Brandon was very good as Superman as was Kevin Spacey as Lex Luther. All of the characters could have been given a bit more to chew on and the film really needed to decide whether it was a modern interpretation or a homage to the original.