# Superman Returns - I Enjoyed It **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 19, 2011, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017 "2011-06-19T07:07:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/21 "2011-06-22T03:43:54Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I did not hate it, but it was more boring than any superhero movie should be. > > I’d forgive everything if it were more interesting. I mean, Superman 1 has a horrible plot filled with problems, but I forgive it because it was interesting and fun, especially for the time. That’s a good description of my problem with the movie - well, that and the mis-casting of Kate Bosworth. Bad, bad casting people! I think possibly the reason I didn’t enjoy the movie more was because it was so close to a really good movie, but just didn’t quite get there. So frustrating! ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/22 "2011-06-22T06:42:59Z")
You know, for the most part I enjoyed it. I particularly liked the “art deco” Metropolis, even when it involved things like molls. Given the premise, I think it was executed fantastically. I just hated the premise. I didn’t see why there was a need to make a direct sequel to the other Superman movies so many years afterward. I’d rather just see a fresh take. I also particularly didn’t like the “Krypton must look like the North Pole and have rotating hula hoops around prisoners” aesthetic. I much prefer the Byrne era futuristic “everyone wears a hijab” and is still reeling from clone wars and hedonism aka birth matrix Krypton. Finally, I _ **LOATHE** _ “Lex Luthor as comic relief” whether it’s in Gene Hackman or Kevin Spacey guise. As a minor aside, I thought the bit where he actually visits Krypton was interesting and should have been shown rather than cut. But, given that the movie would be a direct sequel to the Reeve films, both in plot and aesthetic, this is the best film that could have been made under those criteria. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/23 "2011-06-22T07:10:08Z")
Superman is a dead beat dad. That really killed the movie for me. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 7:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/24 "2011-06-22T07:30:45Z")
I liked the movie a lot; if I were to go through the thread and put my counter-opinion to all the complaints I disagree with here, it’d be pretty much all of them. I mean, them all looking too young? They looked in their thirties, quite a normal age to have a young kid and be known as a good reporter. > [@Odesio](#): > > Superman is a dead beat dad. That really killed the movie for me. 😕 He didn’t know he was a Dad at all. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/25 "2011-06-22T12:47:48Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > I mean, them all looking too young? They looked in their thirties, quite a normal age to have a young kid and be known as a good reporter. Wow. You really think Bosworth looked to be in her thirties? May I ask how old you are? If you’re very young I could imagine you maybe not having a good frame of reference. (No snark intended, genuinely curious) Bosworth was 22 when she made that movie. They give her a professional look which has her looking mature, but I’d say her Lois Lane looked about 26 tops- really 26 is on the high end of what I would guess if I hadn’t looked her up just now. In the story, Superman has been gone 5 years. Subtract _at least_ another 5 years for Lois to have built a reputation (because her professional reputation was already _well_ established before Superman left). They should have cast an Actress _at least_ 10 years older than Bosworth. I don’t mind Superman looking young because he’s the Man of Steel and steel don’t wrinkle or flab. I say this as someone who is on your side as having very much enjoyed the movie. I’m just very surprised to hear anyone suggest Bosworth looked to be in her thirties. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/26 "2011-06-22T13:33:44Z")
Not to mention that Lois Lane is a successful reporter, not some fresh-faced, straight out of college kid. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/27 "2011-06-22T13:37:26Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Wow. You really think Bosworth looked to be in her thirties? May I ask how old you are? If you’re very young I could imagine you maybe not having a good frame of reference. (No snark intended, genuinely curious) > > Bosworth was 22 when she made that movie. They give her a professional look which has her looking mature, but I’d say her Lois Lane looked about 26 tops- really 26 is on the high end of what I would guess if I hadn’t looked her up just now. > > In the story, Superman has been gone 5 years. Subtract _at least_ another 5 years for Lois to have built a reputation (because her professional reputation was already _well_ established before Superman left). They should have cast an Actress _at least_ 10 years older than Bosworth. > > I don’t mind Superman looking young because he’s the Man of Steel and steel don’t wrinkle or flab. > I say this as someone who is on your side as having very much enjoyed the movie. I’m just very surprised to hear anyone suggest Bosworth looked to be in her thirties. I’m 35. She did look in her 30s to me - I’m surprised to hear that she’s so much younger. There have been a few journalists who’ve come to prominence very young, and her fame was built entirely on knowing Superman, so the usual timeframes wouldn’t apply to her; still, 22 would be impossible for how long she’s supposed to have known Superman, so I guess if you knew her age beforehand then she would definitely seem too young. I didn’t mean to sound like I saying everyone else is wrong with their criticisms of the movie, just that giving my alternative takes on them would be far too much to write. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/28 "2011-06-22T13:40:42Z")
I liked the movie well enough, although seeing it in (pseudo) 3D was a waste of money and the plot was kind of a rehash of the original movie. It definitely captured the tone of the previous movie series, which I also enjoyed (well, up to Superman III, at any rate). ---
**Author:** ![borschevsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@borschevsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/borschevsky)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/29 "2011-06-22T16:45:38Z")
I quite liked it, although I can’t really argue against most of the complaints people have about it. The original movies are my “little kid” movies, the same way the original Star Wars trilogy is for lots of people. I’m sure lots of my enjoyment came from nostalgia, as it did for some people with the new SW movies. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/30 "2011-06-22T17:13:35Z")
> [@Jonathan\_Chance](#): > > Go ahead. Link to it. > > You know you want to. I am DISAPPOINTED, Veidt! [Man of Steel, Woman of Kleenex by Larry Niven](http://www.wattpad.com/115285-man-of-steel-woman-of-kleenex-by-larry-niven) ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/31 "2011-06-22T17:19:06Z")
I’m old school. The movie was OK but it really needed more giant robots, rampaging dinosaurs and invading aliens. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/32 "2011-06-22T18:12:12Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > Superman is a dead beat dad. That really killed the movie for me. A dead beat dad and a creepy voyeur. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/33 "2011-06-22T20:27:12Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > A dead beat dad and a creepy voyeur. And a homewrecker: basically it was Superdickery: The Movie ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/34 "2011-06-22T20:36:52Z")
> [@Scissorjack](#): > > And a homewrecker: basically it was Superdickery: The Movie I’ll agree with the creepy voyeur bit; it was one of my major complaints when the movie came out. But both the homewrecker and deadbeat dad accusations are off the mock. In the latter case, he didn’t know that the little boy was his son, or even that Lois was pregnant when he left; and since Cyclops evidently accepted the kid as his own, he didn’t have reason to think that he owed the kid anything. (And, honestly, the kid is demonstrably better off with the father he had; Supes was nothing but a sperm-donor.) As for the homewrecker, it’s more of an attempt at becoming one. He makes the pass and Lois turns him down, as she knows (despite being only 14 years old ;)) which of these men actually loves her. (Hint: it’s the human.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/35 "2011-06-22T21:55:31Z")
> [@](#): > > There have been a few journalists who’ve come to prominence very young, and her fame was built entirely on knowing Superman, so the usual timeframes wouldn’t apply to her; I always had the impression that, as of the time when Supes first showed up, Lane was already the Planet’s top reporter. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/36 "2011-06-22T22:01:13Z")
> [@BMalion](#): > > I’m old school. The movie was OK but it really needed more giant robots, rampaging dinosaurs and invading aliens. I agree. There’s a reason the second film is often considered the best - Superman needs to be punching someone or something - someone or something that can punch back. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/37 "2011-06-22T22:03:54Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > I agree. There’s a reason the second film is often considered the best - Superman needs to be punching someone or something - someone or something that can punch back. If there’s one thing Zack Snyder can do, it’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/38 "2011-06-22T22:05:46Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > A dead beat dad and a creepy voyeur. Finding out many years later that you have a child does not make one a dead-beat dad. Are you under the impression that, given that knowledge and Lois’ permission, he would not move the world for that kid (in his case, quite literally)? It wasn’t presented well, I’ll grant. But he had _no idea_. He’s not morally deficient. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/39 "2011-06-22T22:07:43Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I always had the impression that, as of the time when Supes first showed up, Lane was already the Planet’s top reporter. Something like that holds in every continuity I’ve ever seen. She always works at the Planet before Kent does, and she’s already well-established (even if not explicitly the star reporter) that there’s no question that White will send her after the demigod-in-tights story ahead of anyone else. It’s off topic, but I’ve also always had the impression that Lois was a few years older than Clark as well. In Byrne’s revamp from a quarter century back, Kent was 25 when he started his job at the Planet and career as Superman; I always thought Lois was about 30. And I glanced over a recent issue in which Lois (drawn as ridiculously hot, as is typical of every comic books female nowadays) was bemoaning the fact that she was getting visibly older, while Clark – younger than her to begin with – looked exactly as he had when they met. One thing I did like about _Superman Returns_ was the clear implication that Lois is the _only_ reporter at the Planet whom Superman dealt with, and probably the only reporter he ever talked to at all. (She says she was basically his press agent, and sounds faintly resently of the fact.) The idea that Superman was regularly writing stories about himself always bothered me. Not only is it incredibly unethical, but it doesn’t sound like something that would be done by a competitive guy who took up writing because he didn’t like the unfair advantage his powers gave him in sports. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2011, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017/40 "2011-06-22T23:00:02Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > If there’s one thing Zack Snyder can do, it’s that. Yeah, there’s that. Snyder’s film may or may not be good, but it certainly will be violent. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/superman-returns-i-enjoyed-it/586017.md?page=3)