Superman Returns (2006) review

Everyone hates the last two Superman films, there is not one person who views them as good films. However, prior to the release of Superman Returns, many would’ve been highly anticipated and hyped for this film, saying that how could Superman go wrong under the director of The Usual Suspects when he’s got a massive $250 million to work with. Well, to keep this review short…everything went wrong with this film. Very little good aspects can be picked off this ridiculously long and slow running film which has little to offer in terms of character development and moments, exciting action, amazing visuals or even in terms of acting and writing.

‘Superman Returns’ tells us the story of Superman following the events of Superman II, where has returned to his home planet of Krypton in hopes of finding any survivors after an astronaut discovery of Krypton. He returns to Earth only to learn that the evil Lex Luthor has been released, following Superman’s failure to show up in court. Now Lex Luthor is at it again, attempting to once more destroy the world as Superman must “return” to defeat him.

In terms of story, this is a straightforward premise and could easily be an engaging one. This was very similar in Superman: The Movie and the Lex Luthor storyline completely works there but here, it simply doesn’t. Bryan Singer definitely did not demonstrate his love for film and his passion to resurrect a franchise that died out 19 years earlier. The way that the entire story was told was in a dull manner, never providing the true character moments that even the atrocity, Superman IV remembered and provided. Lex’s plot to take over the world for a while seems interesting, especially a scene involving Jor-El. It was actually great to see them re-use Brando’s legendary performance back in 1978 into this film and surprisingly worked, I must say. However, the whole aspect of Kal-El leaving Earth to Krypton betrayed his character and his constant frustration and jealousy throughout the film resembles more of the Clark from Smallville than previous Superman films!

Something that was horrendous about Superman IV was the laughable visual effects which looked like they had been horribly Photoshop-ed thanks to an extremely low budget of under $20 million. Thankfully, the effects in Superman Returns are good but still, in terms of its age don’t look incredible. Much of the visuals do not seem engaging especially considering most other elements of the film are horrendous. Bland visuals generally don’t mean much but here it does, considering that everything is pretty terrible, especially the characters.

Something that was amazing about the first two instalments were the endearing characters and how they were played out. Kal-El was always charming and possessed all the traits that Superman should have whether it be witty humor, intensity, eagerness, boldness or even the clumsiness and awkwardness of Clark Kent which were all brilliantly portrayed by Christopher Reeve. The same cannot be said about Brandon Routh who simply doesn’t bring much charm and excitement to the film despite some good Superman moments. When he delivers the line, “flying is still statistically speaking, the safest means of transport!” which was a complete take from Superman IV, not much is felt. He wasn’t terrible but he definitely was miscast and definitely does not bring the memories of Reeves’ Superman. Whilst Kevin Spacey is great as Lex Luthor, yet still remains a boring character, there was a huge issue I had with this film and that was Lois Lane who was such a lovable character in the old films. Kate Bosworth was rather terrible in this film for many reasons. She looked and certainly did not act anything like Lois Lane from the previous films but she looks far too young which becomes extremely distracting. However, the core of this issue lies with her acting abilities which are extremely limited. Considering a large proportion of the story is devoted to her story, it becomes rather hard to watch and care for her portrayal of a beloved character. Her chemistry with Brandon Routh was terrible with the two never demonstrating their charming and bold personalities that their previous actors displayed. Eva Saint Marie is great as Martha and it is a surprise that she and Brando were in a film together, despite not playing a couple or anything, since On The Waterfront in 1954.  

There is one decent action sequence in the film and that is entirely it. To not spoil much of the ending, the film ends in the most anticlimactic and rushed way that it becomes utterly frustrating. To think that a new Superman film with the budget and even the time did not add as much action as even Superman III did is just shocking. It’s actually an insult and would make this film feel worse and worse when re-watching. One decent action sequence doesn’t give justice and respect to previous Superman films even if the source material was somewhat loyal to the original films. Since there is almost no action and no final confrontation between Kal-El and Lex, but ends abruptly, most of the emotion and conflict cannot truly be felt. Possibly one of the greatest scenes in the film is when Superman is hospitalized and people support him and wait eagerly, much like us the audience did. But…nothing really happens! 

Another frustrating aspect of Superman Returns was the vision of Metropolis by Singer. This certainly didn't seem to resemble that of the old films and especially sequences inside the Daily Planet seemed to show no recognition of what the old films were life. It now seems like a huge part of life on Metropolis with constant interviews and rooms full of people. Compare this with that of the old films and it certainly doesn't work well especially as a sequel to the first two Superman films.

 

Overall, Superman Returns is quite possibly the fourth worst film in the Superman film franchise and suffers much from poor character development and lack of emotion and conflict. Many performances aren’t that great and many characters and themes feel betrayed by this film. Even the effects do not look dazzling with such a big budget.

Grade- 3.5/10