Critical Consensus: Look, Up In The Sky! It's A Certified Fresh "Superman Returns!"

by Tim Ryan | June 26, 2006 | Comments

The Man of Steel is back in "Superman Returns." Is Bryan Singer‘s big-budget adaptation able to leap tall buildings in a single bound, or is it critical Kryptonite?

Great Caesar’s ghost! "Superman Returns" is being heralded as excellent summer entertainment, with plenty of exciting action sequences and emotional complexity. The plot involves Superman’s return to earth after searching for his father (Marlon Brando!) on the planet Krypton; he finds that Lois Lane has moved on in a big way. The critics say "Superman Returns" is able to pull off the neat trick of sticking closely to the age-old particulars of the Superman myth, while making them fresh. Kevin Spacey is getting his share of props as Lex Luthor, but the scribes say Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth, as Superman and Lois Lane, respectively, are solid as well. And while it’s not faster than a speeding bullet (some scribes have grumbled about the 157-minute runtime), "Superman Returns," at 78 percent on the Tomatometer, is certainly no "Superman IV." It’s Certified Fresh, though still a cut below Richard Donner’s original (at 94 percent).

Bryan Singer tries desperately to broker a truce between Superman and Lex Luthor.