Superman Returns
Bryan Singer brings Superman back to the big screen with a shiny new movie that tips its hat to the Christopher Reeve Superman of the seventies. Brandon Routh’s Clark Kent is uncannily reminiscent of Reeve. “Truth, Justice, and the American Way” has been replaced by “Truth, Justice, all that stuff” - a recognition, perhaps, that these days the “American Way” would be regarded by the rest of the world as starting wars and torturing prisoners. The movie has a number of nice set pieces. The opening airplane disaster is gripping in spite of its absurdity. (But what’s the meaning of the remark that only one network is covering the launch of a new sub-orbital commercial space plane? The comment has no function in the movie, so it must be a commentary on something, but I can’t figure out what.) Kevin Spacey brings a nice mix of humor, evil, and egomania to Lex Luthor. Sadly, the script does not give Lex much intelligence. His evil plan is stupid. Destructive, yes, but it’s hard to imagine how it would do him much good, even if it worked out. This lessens the impact of the final third of the movie.