Kate Bosworth has another Blue Crush
Five years ago, when astronomers discovered the remains of Superman’s home planet Krypton, the man of steel vanished from the face of the earth. Now, convinced that he is indeed the last son of Krypton, Superman (Brandon Routh) returns only to find out that the world has moved on without him. Fearless reporter Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), the love of his life, has become a mommy and is engaged to Daily Planet owner Perry White’s nephew (X-Men’s James Marsden). She also won the Pulitzer for her article entitled ‘Why the world doesn’t need Superman’. On top of that, super-villain Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) has found Supes’ Fortress of Solitude and learned everything there is to know about our man of steel, including his aversion towards the little green radioactive pieces from his home planet, called Kryptonite.
After an even longer screen absence Superman finally returns to our theaters. Coming with hot anticipation from the fans and Bryan Singer trying to fill the shoes of original Superman helmer Richard Donner, Returns nearly casts a shadow on every comic book adaptation we have seen so far, at least in terms of scale. Epic in its proportions (at 154. minutes, it’s not exactly faster than a speeding bullet) and with a budget of over 200$ million, Superman Returns definitely exists in a league of its own. But packing so much talent (Singer, Spacey and an incredibly uncanny performance by newcomer Brandon Routh reminiscent of the late Christopher Reeve), we feel rather disappointed by a storyline that could have used some rewriting. Plus, we are not entirely sure if the fans will like the twisty ending which doesn’t necessarily beg for another installment. What does work however (inexplicably), is the old-school look, the kitsch and the cheesy lines, underlined by John Williams’ nearly unaltered original score, great main titles and spectacular action scenes that should probably be experienced in an IMAX cinema. When all is said and done, however, Superman Returns is still light-years away from last year’s excellent Batman Begins. (3 out of 4 outer-space vacations)
