Superman Returns

I saw Superman Returns Saturday, and I've been struggling about how I was going to review it. You see, I liked this movie. I really did. The acting was decent, the direction solid, the effects serviceable. It was about 2 1/2 hours, and did not feel like it took that long. Hell, the little kid playing Lois's son didn't even annoy me. It was a good movie.

I did like Superman Returns. And yet, I can't help but be disappointed. Because, in spite of everything I liked about the movie, the long and short of it is that it wasn't the Superman movie I wanted to see. I didn't want to see Superman longing for Lois. I didn't want to see Superman all melancholy and shit. I wanted to see Superman kicking ass and taking names. And other than 2 (well, 2 1/2) solidly "super" scenes of the aforementioned ass-kicking, we mostly see Superman pining away for the life he left 5 years earlier.

The plot: Superman disappeared 5 years ago. In those 5 years, Lois Lane had a kid, got engaged, and won a Pulitzer for her article: "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." (My, aren't those grapes sour?!?) Also, Lex Luthor is now free, because Superman was called as a witness in Lex's criminal trial, and Superman didn't show. Now, Superman has returned (and Clark Kent's returned too! What a coincidence!).

The movie was good. But it's a solidly romantic Superman movie. As an action movie, it needed some more action. Yes, the movie showed Superman using all his powers - heat vision, super breath, flying, strength, etc. And, in one great slow-motion shot, you get to see what happens when the Man of Steel takes a bullet point-blank range directly into his eyeball. (Answer: He doesn't even blink.) But the film remains solidly a chick flick with some action thrown in to make the men happy. I hope it does well, because I want to see another Superman movie. Brandon Routh channels Christopher Reeve to perfection. Director Bryan Singer wisely uses the same music and opening credits as the original. It truly is a wonderful homage to Superman, and Superman II. (Let's just pretend III and IV were never made, shall we?)

I just wanted to see a ballsier Superman movie, that's all.