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Superman Returns

(2006) Action - Rated PG-13

Directed by: Bryan Singer

Starring: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth

Overview: While an old enemy plots against him, long-absent Superman tries to find a new place in society.

RATINGS:

  • Superman Returns

    While Lex Luthor plots against him, the Man of Steel (Brandon Routh) tries to reconnect with Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) and find his place in a world that learned to survive in his absence.

    Reviews

    REELZ REVIEW
    "Created by many members of the team responsible for the X-Men series, Superman Returns is a strong new chapter..."  [more]
    — Heather Huntington

    User Comments and Video Reviews

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    • JoeDaHoe

      08/03/08 02:41 AM
      Well die hard fans of the original Superman movies said "unoriginal" and "some ol same ol" i thought the movie was pretty o.k. for people who never saw the original films. but for Fans of the other ones this moie was terrible. For me i wanted to see something new, not Lex Luther (again) but we did and well we just gotaa hang with the best of them right? though not perfect the guy who plays superman in this one look alot like the guy from the first one and whos complainin about that? Nick Cage wanted to be super man. Imagine that before you give Brandon Routh a hard time.
      Review Rating: +2
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    • Heather Huntington

      ReelzChannel.com, November 29, 2006


      Created by many members of the team responsible for the X-Men series, Superman Returns is a strong new chapter in the story of the man of steel.


      After an unsuccessful five-year stint in space looking for the remains of his home planet Krypton, Superman returns to earth to discover life has gone one without him. Martha Kent is still on the farm in Iowa, Lex Luthor is once again cooking up criminal schemes, and Lois Lane has a fiancé, a son, and a Pulitzer Prize for writing an article entitled, “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman.”


      Quickly, though, he discovers that the world does need him. Luthor is plotting to create a new landmass made of Kryptonite-laced crystals stolen from the Fortress of Solitude, which will displace the entire United States and cause the death of billions of people. This seems like a job for Superman.


      Director Bryan Singer (X-Men, X2) creates an attractively stylized Metropolis that, while modern, offers an aesthetic homage to the 1930s Metropolis of the original comics. And Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris’s smart script is packed with well-crafted jokes that also give a nod to the movie's roots (e.g., working the well-worn phrase “It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s Superman,” into an argument about one of Jimmy Olsen’s photos).


      While relative newcomer Brandon Routh looks every bit the Superman/Clark Kent figure, his acting is a bit wooden. As Lois Lane, Kate Bosworth (Beyond the Sea, Blue Crush) simply comes off a little too young to be believable as an award-winning journalist, let alone mother to a school-aged boy. Kevin Spacey--a controversial choice according to comic aficionados—creates a Napoleonic, petulant Lex Luthor with a weird penchant for wigs, and Parker Posey is terrific as his gangster moll-like girlfriend, Kitty Kowalski. But it is Sam Huntington (Detroit Rock City, Not Another Teen Movie), who turns in one of the movie’s most natural performances as Jimmy Olsen.


      Superman Returns deftly works on two levels, including references to the Superman myth for hard-core fans, while still managing to appeal to kids and those less studied in the ways of comic book heroes. The movie also walks the line between fantasy and believability; the task of accepting a modern-day world in which a man wearing blue tights with his underpants on the outside and a red cape makes sense is an arduous one. However, the dazzling special effects—complete with calamitous plane crashes and natural disasters, as well as the bullets bouncing off Superman’s divinely human figure—are just too fun to deny.


      ReelzChannel Rating:  7


      What’s On the Disc


      Superman Returns packs a simple but powerful punch, with one disc of the two-disc set entirely devoted to extras.


      The extras include: a handful of deleted scenes, mostly dealing with the back story and set up (understandably left out, since the movie has a running time of nearly 2.5 hours), a short featurette entitled “Resurrecting Jor-El,” which shows how archive footage of the late Marlon Brando (from the original Superman) was revamped for use in this movie, and the piece de resistance, an extensive, nearly three-hour behind-the-scenes featurette on the making of the movie, entitled “Requiem for Krypton: Making Superman Returns.”

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  • Cast

    Clark Kent/Superman Brandon Routh
    Lois Lane Kate Bosworth
    Richard White James Marsden
    Perry White Frank Langella
    Actor Eva Marie Saint
    Kitty Koslowski Parker Posey
    Stanford Kal Penn
    Jimmy Olsen Sam Huntington
    Lex Luthor Kevin Spacey
    Actor Tristan Lake Leabu
    Ben Hubbard James Karen
    Brutus David Fabrizio
    Gertrude Vanderworth Noel Neill
    Jor-El Marlon Brando
    Bobbie Faye Peta Wilson
    Young Clark Kent Stephan Bender
    Bibbo Jack Larson
    Riley Ian Roberts

    Crew

    Director Bryan Singer
    Producer Gilbert Adler
    Producer Jon Peters
    Producer Bryan Singer
    Executive Producer Chris Lee
    Executive Producer Scott Mednick
    Executive Producer Thomas Tull
    Writer Michael Dougherty
    Writer Dan Harris

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MOVIE NEWS

Friday, August 22

  • Inspired by The Dark Knight, Warners Ditches Singer's Superman, Plans Darker D.C. Flicks

    D.C. ComicsGet ready to learn more than you ever wanted to know about the Flash's traumatic childhood, Green Lantern's intimacy troubles, Wonder Woman's body image issues and Green Arrow's fears of abandonment. According to a new article in the Wall Street Journal, Warner Bros. is planning on plowing hundreds of millions of dollars into several upcoming D.C. Comics-inspired superhero projects, all of which will feature darker, more complex versions of the characters "bathed in the same brooding tone" as the titular hero of this summer's record-breaking The Dark Knight.

    In the same article, Warner Bros. exec Jeffrey Robinov sounded the final death knell for director Bryan Singer's version of Superman. Citing Warners execs' collective displeasure with the subpar performance of 2006's Superman Returns, Robinov declared his intention to "reintroduce" the Man of Steel franchise.

    Hawkman, greatest D.C. hero of them all?In addition to previously announced Flash, Wonder Woman, Green Arrow and Green Lantern flicks, Warners has four other comic-book projects planned, including "a third Batman film, a new film reintroducing Superman, and two movies focusing on other DC Comics characters."

    As for the "two movies focusing on other DC Comics characters," one can only hope this means the long-rumored Hawkman and Wonder Twins projects will finally get the go-ahead.


    Posted 08/22/2008 by Thomas

    Related: The Dark Knight | Superman Returns

Wednesday, July 2

  • Wanted's Millar Wants to Revive Superman Next

    Brandon Routh might want to start looking for a new job.Flush with confidence after the boffo opening of his Wanted, comic book scribe Mark Millar wants to take on none other than perhaps the greatest superhero of them all. Last week he revealed to London's Daily Record that he plans to "reinvent Superman for the 21st century," which I can only assume to mean that he wishes to make the Man of Steel dark, brooding and ultra-violent. That might be just what the doctor ordered after 2006's shrug-inducing Superman Returns, but is it realistic?

    Indeed, it appears that Millar's musings may not simply be the delusions of some crazy comic book nerd. "I've been planning this my entire life," he told the Record. "I've got my director and producer set up, and it'll be 2011. This is how far ahead you have to think."

    If that's indeed the case, someone might want to give Bryan Singer (director of Superman Returns and the franchise's go-to guy) a heads-up.


    Posted 07/02/2008 by Thomas

    Related: Bryan Singer | Wanted | Superman Returns

Thursday, March 13

  • Spacey still game for Superman sequel

    Lex Luthor, eyeing some KryptoniteHopes for a sequel to Superman Returns, Bryan Singer's 2006 reboot of the fabled comic book franchise, received a welcome shot in the arm recently when Singer announced that he's moving forward with a follow-up, ending speculation that he might be finished with the Man of Steel. The project's still in its infancy, but if it does indeed take flight, star Kevin Spacey is down to reprise his role as the follicular-challenged archvillain Lex Luthor:

    "I'm scheduled to come back, meaning that I made a deal to do a second film, and I think Kate (Bosworth) did as well," said Spacey today during press conference to promote his new gambling flick 21. "Bryan and I spoke last spring and I knew he was gonna do this film in Germany and then he was talking about doing another film after that. My suspicion is that if they are moving forward, it probably wouldn't start shooting until sometime in the spring of 2009 to be released in 2010."

    Spring of 2009 -- that'll give producers more than enought time to find a replacement for Brandon Routh.


    Posted 03/13/2008 by Thomas

    Related: Bryan Singer | Kevin Spacey | 21 | Superman Returns

Wednesday, July 11

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