SUPERMAN!!

Ah, the proud tradition of the birthday movie. Ever since my 11th birthday, I've gone to see a movie to celebrate. Just that simple. Of course, I was working on my birthday this year, and there are no movie theatres in Athabasca, so the birthday got pushed back to today. I slipped down to Edmonton and saw....

Superman Returns

I'm going to have a full review over on my main website once I've got Internet access again, but I'll give you a quick mini-review right here and now.

The plot: Superman's been gone for five years, journeying the cosmos seeking out the ruins of Krypton. He comes back to a world that's moved on without him. That's personified in Lois Lane...who is now engaged to Perry White's nephew and mother to a 5-year old son. Superman, naturally, goes back to doing what he does best and tries to find his place in the world again. Meanwhile, in that 5-year absence, Lex Luthor broke into the Fortress of Solitude and swiped a bunch of Kryptonian technology, which he plans to use in his latest scheme. This looks like a job for...yup.

The good: The acting. Brandon Routh does an amazing job as Superman, and Kevin Spacey is absolutely SPECTACULAR as Lex Luthor. I'm glad he made Luthor less goofy and more sinister. And the special effects are just amazing. We've come along way since 1978.

The bad: This film made TONS of references to the 1978 film. Once the film sank in a bit on the drive home, I started wondering: did I enjoy it because it truly is a good film, or did I just get off on all the referecnes? And plus, there's a big plot twist about 2/3 of the way through the film. I won't get into it here, and granted, it's been done in about a dozen "imaginary tales" in the comics. But those "imaginary tales" were always about the end of Superman...I have no idea how it'll affect a sequel or Superman continuity in general. From what I've read online, this plot twist has divided a lot of people...put me down on the side that thinks it was a bad idea.

Final verdict: Singer delivered the goods. Yes, there's lots I disagreed with, but there's enough Superman specatcle to make up for it.

3 Nibs