Superman Returns

Spoilers ahoy!

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As I said, I liked it. It was by no means perfect, but it was very pretty, and it contained moments of awesomeness, and that will make me forgive quite a lot. Brandon Routh IS Superman, as far as I'm concerned. I'm a little less convinced about his Clark Kent, and I wish he'd been allowed to bring his own interpretation to the role instead of aping Christopher Reeve, but then Clark in these films isn't so much a character as he is a costume, which is a problem I have with the entire franchise. But more on that later. As for Kate Bosworth, her Lois impressed me with her ability to take a licking and keep on ticking, and she had some nice chemistry with Routh; but otherwise... eh. She didn't convince me. Same with Kevin Spacey's Lex.

As others have pointed out, the movie had some plot problems, but nothing that shook me out of the story. The important thing, to me, is that it made me care about Superman as a character again, beyond just the prettiness, which is something five seasons of Smallville hasn't been able to do.

That said, it didn't completely manage to keep from disappointing me. I had high hopes when I knew they were making the movie that it would begin the franchise with a clean slate the way Batman Begins did, and that it would focus more on Clark as a person and on his romance with Lois. I got the second part, at least, but not in the way I'd hoped. I got spoiled in a review about Lois being engaged and having a child, and I'd already guessed that the child was Superman's, so to get over my palpitations at the wrongness of her being with someone else and allow myself a chance to enjoy the movie I had already wanked it thusly: 1) that they were ignoring Supermans III and IV (as well they should) and picking up loosely after II; 2) that the boy was conceived during their weekend getaway to the Fortress of Solitude when Clark gave up his powers to be with Lois; and 3) that she really did think he was Richard's son because, thanks to the infamous memory-wiping kiss, she had no idea that she had ever been intimate with Superman, which was what allowed her to move on so quickly after his departure.

And so I spent the whole movie being cool with her fiance (and Yay for Marsden having something to do other than weep and die. Even though he pretty much already played that exact same character in The Notebook, at least he got to make himself useful in this movie), but knowing it wouldn't last and that she'd figure out she belonged with Superman, and waiting for the kiss that would give her back her memories of his secret identity and their time together. I gradually became less cool with it as it became clear that she knew perfectly well who fathered her son, she obviously had some off-screen affair with Superman after SII while still not being aware of his true identity, and we got through the entire movie without a single actual Clois kiss. That's just not cool.

I was also disappointed, as I mentioned earlier, by the depiction of Superman as the person and Clark as the costume instead of the other way around. I wanted more of Clark's struggle, trying to balance his personal life and career with his responsibility as a superhero. I know, we've already seen that story in Spider-man and Buffy and a dozen other superhero dramas, including Lois & Clark and even Smallville, but I just never tire of that story. The story we got--the story of a near-god refusing to place himself above the human beings that he cares for, and even those he doesn't so much care for--is poignant in its own right, but it would have been more poignant, to me, to see that this is because he considers himself one of us, because at the end of the day, when he hangs up his cape, he really just wants to settle down with the woman he loves and live his life. This is how both of the recent TV incarnations portray him, and it's how the comics portray him. Lois and Superman could never work out until she saw through Superman as the fantasy that he is and fell in love with Clark, because Clark is the person. As Dean Cain's Clark once told Teri Hatcher's Lois, "Clark is who I am. Superman is what I do." For me this has always been the heart of the character, and the heart of his romance with Lois--his desperate longing for someone--for Lois-- to love him for who he is, not simply for the amazing things he can do. That heart seemed to be missing from this film, because this Superman was only really himself when he was either wrapped in the safety of his home in Kansas or in that of his cape and costume. That, I suppose, is its own kind of tragedy, and I guess it speaks to what this Superman has been through in his life.

At any rate, I think we can safely assume that this is just the beginning, and I'm willing to wait and see what the sequels bring before casting final judgment. In the meantime, I can't wait to get to an Imax and see all the pretty in giant-sized 3D.

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[/Superman spoilers]