This movie entirely failed to knock my socks off. I found myself missing Christopher Reeve. He had a screen presence that Routh just couldn’t seem to find. Likewise Gene Hackman did a much better Lex Luthor and Ned Beatty was the only comic relief I’ve never rolled my eyes at.
2.5 stars.
A friend of mine, a lifetime Superman fan, said it best: Reeve was a friend. Routh was a savior. Reeve paid more attention to the people he was interacting with and saving, Routh acted like it was his duty to save people. Don’t misunderstand, they’re equally good actors, I just felt that the weak script and dialogue hampered Routh’s attempts at empathy. We never really got a feeling for the people he was trying to save.
On the other hand, we saw multi-tasking Superman for the first time ever.
I saw it today and found it uninspiring and downright dull for long stretches. It reminded me of the Hulk movie in how little action there actually was for a superhero movie.
Kate Bosworth was a terrible Lois Lane, a total piece of fluff. I think Parker Posie would have been a much better Lois. She’s great at projecting intelligence and ferocity and she was wasted as Luthor’s bimbo sidekick.
I agree with all of Skald’s observations of Superman’s dickery and thought some of the exact same things while I was watching. His total disregard for the privacy and boundaries of Lois and Richard’s family was especially annoying. Since when is it acceptable to break into people’s houses and stare creepily at their children while they sleep?
The scene with Lois and the kid (who looks WAY older than five) visiting Supes in the hospital was cringe-inducingly cheesey and trite. Bringing him back from the dead witha kiss? How lame can you get?
If they really want to do something interesting with the kid, they should make him a villain in the sequel.
Hey, it worked in The Matrix!
I agree there, except that I liked Hulk a lot more; there, the explorations of Bruce’s psyche served a genuine purpose, explaining where the Hulk’s enormous, empowering, destructive rage found its provenence. We got no sense sense of Clark/Superman’s interior life (and we got a lot more of it in the Reeve version 30 years ago).
Well, of course you agree. I’m right and you’re intelligent. 
I can’t think that Jor-El or Jonathan would approve. He’s forgotten the high-blown philosophy of the latter and the common sensical, human decency of the former. He’s been corrupted by his power. It’s just less obvious than it might be because Superman isn’t violent by inclination (he’s much better at being a fireman than being a cop).
I cringe at the thought of a sequel, because they’ve boxed themselves into a corner with Superman and Lois. The Richard-Lois-Superman triangle is a huge problem because, really, why would anyone root for Superman to get the girl? Richard is extremely likable–and HE, not Superman, is Jason’s father in every real way. He’s the one who’s raised him, he’s the one who’s paid his bills and cut his food and changed his diapers. It’s far, far worse than the situation they wre trying to parallel, with Jor-El, Jonathan, and Kal-El/Clark, because Jor-El did NOT abandon his child to go find himself; he gave up his chance to live to give his child the chance to live, and did everything in his power to provide for his child afterwards. Superman supplied a bit of DNA and left town. Unless they kill off Richard–and he’d damn well better die heroically–there’s no way Superman can get back in without seeming the world’s biggest ass.
Well at least you are living up to the cynic part of your name 
To be honest I rather enjoyed the film. There were a couple of “Super Moments” where I actually felt the rush of someone watching an extrodinary feat. The three that come to mind are the obvious ones the Plane chase, the Island Lifting and the boat lift
I went with my kids so I got to relive my 8th year of life when I got to see Superman: the Movie. So I was a little more lienent on it and let myself get swept away.
Agreed. I actually miss the quirkiness of Margot Kidder. Her “how many F’s in catastrophic” line didn’t work as well as it could have.
Well it wasn’t that creepy seeing as he knew it was his son… do I still have to spoiler any of this? but you are right about his super peeping.
Mind you he wasn’t a total Dick. He could have easily grabbed Lois and the boy but allowed the White to be the hero for his son. He did finally say goodbye.
And I think the film was all about how he learned to regret making a selfish choices… But hey, think about it he said himself he can hear everyone who is crying out for help. That’s gotta be exhasting perhaps a trip thousands of light years is a good vacation.
Actually I think it was her leaning in to tell him the secret she discovered… You know the whole people in Hollywood comas hear and remember all.
Also they wanted the big emotional buildup before finding the tomb empty save his shroud shtick. I’ll bet the nurse was named Marie or Maria.
Naw just kill him to bring on Super rage. To be honest I don’t think there is anywhere good you can go with that little bundle of joy, storywise. Superman can’t get domestic, and Smallville has covered the ground of growing up super so there is nothing really new to add.
Let’s face it the Kid represents the Cousin Oliver of the franchise. Send in Brainiac to kill the kid, but don’t let Supes spin the world backwards (Sheesh) this time.
You know with his hospital stay having some possibilities of the Doctors somehow managing to get some sort of sample and a Luthor DNA experiment gone awry they could introduce Bizzaro.
Well at least you are living up to the cynic part of your name
To be honest I rather enjoyed the film. There were a couple of “Super Moments” where I actually felt the rush of someone watching an extrodinary feat. The three that come to mind are the obvious ones the Plane chase, the Island Lifting and the boat lift
I went with my kids so I got to relive my 8th year of life when I got to see Superman: the Movie. So I was a little more lienent on it and let myself get swept away.
Agreed. I actually miss the quirkiness of Margot Kidder. Bosworth’s “how many F’s in catastrophic” line didn’t work as well as it could have.
And man her coconut must be made of reinforced titaniam to take all teh blows she did over the film, and not even her makeup got mussed.
Well it wasn’t that creepy seeing as he knew it was his son… do I still have to spoiler any of this? but you are right about his super peeping.
Mind you, he wasn’t a total Dick throughout the film. He could have easily grabbed Lois and the boy but allowed the White to be the hero for his son. He did finally say goodbye. He also let Lois go in the end.
And I think the film was all about how he learned to regret making a selfish choices… How he had to accept certain things. He tried to win Lois but in the end he knew he couldn’t take her back… That’s why he did the old amnesia kiss in part II. It would never work. He just had a petty moment when he returned and found she had moved on.
Inetersting note… she seemed like she couldn’t actually write the article “Why the world needs Superman”… just the title.
As far as his original motivations, think about it, he said himself he can hear everyone who is crying out for help. That’s gotta be exhausting perhaps a trip thousands of light years to teh burnt out rubble of your homeworld is a good vacation to a man of Steel.
Actually I think it was her leaning in to tell him the secret she discovered that did it. You know, the whole people in Hollywood comas hear and remember all bit.
Also they wanted the big emotional buildup before finding the tomb empty save his shroud shtick. I’ll bet the nurse was named Marie or Maria.
Naw just kill him to bring on Super rage. To be honest I don’t think there is anywhere good you can go with that little bundle of joy, storywise. Superman can’t get domestic, and Smallville has covered the ground of growing up super so there is nothing really new to add.
Let’s face it the Kid represents the Cousin Oliver of the franchise. Send in Brainiac to kill the kid, but don’t let Supes spin the world backwards (Sheesh) this time.
You know with his hospital stay having some possibilities of the Doctors somehow managing to get some sort of sample and a Luthor DNA experiment gone awry they could introduce Bizzaro.
A double post?!? How did that happen?
You must not have had the door to the crystal chamber all the way closed.
I miss the giant expanding cellophane “S” shield trap.
I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, but I really really enjoyed the 3D version of it. I loved the little 3D bits, there weren’t enough of them. Kept waiting for the glasses icon to come on screen.
If you have a chance to see it on IMAX 3D, do so. It’s really fun.
I wonder if the “The World Doesn’t Need Superman” article will be clear enough to make out on the DVD (maybe the Superbit or something). I’m curious to see how much of it was objective and rational and how much of it was externalizing her own feelings. After all, it did go to print on February 13th.
Apropos of nothing: assuming there’s a sequel, how will Clark POSSIBLY have a job at the Planet in it? He’s been back at work for less than a month when he disappears without explanation for half a week. No way Perry doesn’t can him the second he sees him–unless movie-Perry, as comic-Perry is sometimes hinted to, knows that Clark is Superman and gives him a job to cover for him.
IIRC it is possible too that, thanks to his superpowers, Clark (Superman) was and remains his star reporter; too many scoops for Perry not to look the other way when Clark disappears for a while.
Since this isn’t a Sony film, there won’t be a Superbit DVD. Warners is supporting both hi-def formats- Blu-Ray and HD-DVD- so I don’t know which one they’ll release Superman Returns on.
Re: the kiss of life
I actually found it humorous that the kiss from Lois didn’t wake Superman up, going against the lame movie cliche. She kissed him then looked up at his heart monitor which still read the same as it did before. She then rolled her eyes thinking how stupid that idea was.
Also, the piano-playing clownface-tattooed henchman…did anyone else suppose that he was the clown serial killer that Perry White mentioned toward the beginning of the film?
What’s the deal with that little animation of Lois wagging her finger when you get her password wrong? I almost expected Wayne Knight to say “Ah, ah, ah- you didn’t say the magic words!”
I was pretty sure that was a Batman reference–that the clown massacre was the Joker’s work.
I didn’t notice it, actually, but one of the folks with me at the theater tonight did, and we all agreed that it was the same person. And Lois knew it, too. When she saw that tattoo, she drew the kid a little closer to her.
One of the party commented that it was inconsistent that she was so protective of the child, yet continued to smoke even though he supposedly had asthma. Of course, she didn’t seem to do so when he was around.
People are inconsistent. And, as your friend observed, her smoking when alone does not put him at risk.