In the world of sports, coaches and players come and go, but the team usually continues on (even if they occasionally pull up roots and head off to another city). Fans and sportswriters might not be happy with the changes, but they're inevitable with each passing generation that's likely to have forgotten those that came before them. Brett Favre might be "the" Green Bay Packers now (although seemingly not for long), but there were quarterbacks before him and there will surely be ones after him, instructed by new coaches and surrounded by new players.
The same holds true in the entertainment industry where bands get new singers, TV shows new stars ("Bewitched" anyone?) and movies beget sequels or complete overhauls decades after they were originally released. And if there's any one entertainment figure that best epitomizes that, it's Superman. From the pages of those early comic books to radio, TV, the movies, video games and more, the Man of Steel has been reinvented, reincarnated, and generally reimagined just about every way possible.
Accordingly, while I personally think the 1978 movie version -- directed by Richard Donner and starring Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder and Gene Hackman -- was the best of any of the offerings regardless of genre (and is probably the best film ever made based on a comic book character) -- I, like everyone else, have to accept the inevitability of future incarnations.
All of which brings us to "Superman Returns," the big guy's first journey back to the silver screen since 1987's mostly forgotten (and rightly so) "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace." Sporting an all-new cast in front of and behind the camera, the work is obviously a labor of love for director Bryan Singer who previously cut his comic book teeth on the first two "X-Men" films.
Working from a script by Michael Dougherty & Dan Harris, the filmmaker has set the movie after "Superman II" (from 1980, thus thankfully if forcibly jettisoning the third and fourth films from the series), with Superman having been off for five years flying around the universe looking for remnants of his former home planet.
Why it's taken him so long is never explained (the orb that transported him only took three years), but then again logic (of which this film is faulty various times -- to be explored later) isn't this particular series' strong point (considering that a singular pair of glasses manage to prevent anyone from realizing the superhero and his mild-mannered alter-ego are one and the same).
Anyway, the half-decade absence is used to set up the two main storylines that fuel the film. One concerns Sup's arch nemesis, Lex Luthor, up to no good again after being paroled from prison (oddly attributed to Superman not being around for the parole hearing as if that would have been the only thing that would keep the villain locked up). Still hooked on real estate (apparently he didn't get word that the market bubble has recently burst), he's hatched a plan to give him more options in the field. It's never explained exactly why this would work based on his results (if his new land's uninhabitable geography is a surprise to him, he never lets on), but that doesn't deter him or the film from heading down that route.
At the same time, Superman learns that Lois Lane has gotten on with her life. Not only does she have a 5-year-old rug-rat and is engaged to her boss' nephew, but she's also put into public word her cathartic release of being enamored with the guy in blue tights and small red briefs through a Pulitzer-winning article titled "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." Of course, once he returns she's torn, not only because she isn't sure of who fathered her kid, but also because her hubby-to-be now seems downright boring compared to the Man of Steel.
While nothing groundbreaking (villains and angst have long been part of most any superhero's construction), there's obviously plenty here to fuel the film. And at times, it's quite a thrilling ride, especially early on. That's when Singer, obviously paying homage to the original film and wanting to establish the connective thread between the first two films and this one, recycles and reimagines elements from the first.
There are the opening, stretchy credits (which still get the goose-pimples going in yours truly both here and upon going back to the 1978 pic), footage of and audio by the late Marlon Brando (who played Superman's late if omnipresent father the first time around), a plane rescue (this film's best action sequence, even if it concludes with the same "flying is safe" line used last time), entire passages of John Williams' fabulous score, and much more (including another nighttime flight around the city, also following another rooftop interview).
Although all of that does provide that desired linkage, it also serves to remind the viewer that the original pic was the better film. While those who've never seen the Donner version (or don't remember the details) might not notice or care, it will also likely get those who do to start thinking that Singer and company should have come up with some of their own material rather than raiding the earlier work.
Instead, they seem more intent on exploring and expanding on the purposeful or coincidental subtext from the first film. And that's mainly regarding turning Superman into a Christ-like figure. Using Brando's earlier dialogue (about humans being good and just needing to be shown "the light" and that's why he - the Father -- is sending his Son to Earth), some new material involving talk of the need for a Savior, and lots of non too subtle visual symbolism (including Superman, after sacrificing himself to save the world -- stretched out as if on the cross [albeit in space] before falling to Earth to later be resurrected from death [I'm not kidding]), the film gets a little too thick with such thematic material.
The result is that all of the attention in that particular area shortchanges the film in terms of plot. Yes, there's suitable action and even the dramatic love story to appease viewers of the fairer sex who grooved on the same sort of stuff in "Spider-Man." Yet, the film's most powerful moments are those using Williams' familiar score (helmed this time by composer John Ottman) to boost their impact, while the second half pales in comparison to the first (especially since the film may contain the longest and most weakly paced denouement since the last "Lord of the Rings" picture).
I shouldn't be squirming in my seat toward the end of a big-budget blockbuster film, but that's exactly what was happening approaching the conclusion of this 150-some minute offering. And that's all the more disappointing since the opening credit and subsequent plane rescue sequence really engaged and had me rooting for the film to maintain that infectious spirit and energy.
As viewed by this former aspiring screenwriter, the lapses in logic and/or convenient developments certainly don't help matters. Whether it was Lois taking her 5-year-son on a trespassing excursion onboard a stranger's yacht (the plot needs her to be kidnapped) to Superman's inconsistent reaction regarding his exposure to Kryptonite, I was distracted away from the story too many times by such material that a few simple script tweaks easily could have remedied.
Then there's the fact that viewers -- myself included -- will obviously being comparing this cast to that of the original film, especially when two of the three leads seem to be actively channeling their predecessors. In his likely star-making turn, Brandon Routh has the look down pat (eerily similar to Reeve way back when at the same age as his successor is now), but isn't as much fun (and doesn't seem to be having as much fun) as Reeve. Kevin Spacey is clearly doing an imitation of Gene Hackman's villain, and while he has one or two enjoyable line deliveries, his character is shortchanged in terms of plot compared to the first time around.
Probably most disappointing, however, is Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane. Beyond the fact that she appears a bit too young to have a 5-year-old child, a long-running career at the paper and a Pulitzer), I just didn't buy the performance. It's not bad (and she isn't purposefully overacting the way Margot Kidder did back in '78), but it simply didn't engage me, and thus that whole section of the film involving her being torn between the two men came off as blasé. Supporting performances from others are okay, although Frank Langella and Sam Huntington pale in comparison to their predecessors as the newspaper chief and young photographer respectively.
Good enough to earn a recommendation but clearly not as fun, engaging or entertaining as the "original" film, "Superman Returns" feels torn between trying to connect with and honor its predecessors while also exploring some new and -- in my opinion -- unnecessary and distracting thematic material. I'm guessing this entire "team" will be back for another season, but maybe next time they'll have more of their own plays and score a bit more often. The film rates as a 5.5 out of 10.
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