I liked it. It wasn't the greatest superhero movie I've ever seen, but it certainly wasn't the worst.

I loved the little bits thrown as a nod to longtime Superman fans. I thought the actors did a fine job, especially Routh, who at times, seemed to channel Reeves. And the sequence with the plane was impressive. I didn't even mind the spoiler. ;)

I think the main plot line failed miserably and I think it pulled what could've been a great movie apart. I think if you want to make an excellent, narrative driven movie with Superman, then you should. If you want to make a Superman does 'the greatest thing...ever' and saves the world movie, then you should. It takes a skilled hand to weave both those type of stories together. A skilled hand absent from Superman Returns.

By the way, my nephew, during the movie asked me where Superman put his cape when he's dressed up as Clark Kent. I was ashamed to admit that I didn't know. So, I made some half answer about folding it up and tucking it into his pants.

Good question. As I understand it, the cape is extreemly thin, and can be simply hid under Clark Kent's normal street clothes. Other times, he has his suit stashed away, a la Peter Parker, in some nearby place. I've heard the suit was constructed by Martha Kent from the blankets Kal El was in when he arrived on Earth. It has been cited numerous times as being indestructible, Spoiler: but it was easy enough to rip open after Superman came in to the hospital. Of course, it's been said that the suit derives it's powers from yellow sun, and thus would have been rendered powerless by the kryptonite in the evergrowing continent turned asteroid. I'm satisfied with that explaination, personally.

I got the following from wikipedia, which, as far as I know is consistent with Post-Crisis continuity and also remember reading in "Who's Who."

When pulled away from his skin, the suit should have been easy to cut off.

Well either way, I don't consider it a plot hole.

Well, saw the opening showing of this movie, and I have to say, I loved it. Spacey did a bang up job as Lex. And I loved that instead of trying to do a "Spacey Lex", he went old school and did it Hackman style. Just a touch more sinsiter. I also LOVED all the tribute shots in it. "Statisticaly speaking, it's still the safest way to travel", the Action Comics number 1 cover pose, (holding the car over his head), ect.
I do have to say though, that some people have seemd to have missed a huge plot point.Spoiler: Cyclops KNEW it was Supermans kid people! They are talking about his grades. "He's got an A in english and a D in phys ed" "well, we are doing somehing right then." He knows, and he loves Lois Lane, and is helping protect her secret. Also, everyone saying there is nothing giving a time line for how soon he left after Superman II, wrong. There is a time line. He didn't know she was pregnet, so within a couple of months, before she started showing any signs. It' no wonder Lois is a bitter bitch, he fucked her and left her, and she isn't even to sure just what the hell happened with the mind wipe and all.

I think that's hardly enough evidence to say that Cyclops definitely knew the truth. It's possible... but it's still ambiguous at best.

And yes, we know when he left relative to Spoiler: Lois' getting pregnant, but we don't know where that actually falls compared to the events of Superman II... or any other Superman movie. I don't think it's implied that he Spoiler: got her pregnant during Superman II, so who knows how long after Zod that that actually happened.

This movie does not reward those who would take it as a strict sequel to Superman II. To worry about "well if he left at this time then he couldn't have SPOILER, etc...how could she know...Richard White suspects...blahblahblah." I suspect there is plenty of nit-picking to do between the first two films as well.

Just sit back and enjoy the essence of Superman being extremely well done. The only confusing thing to me that felt out of place was Spoiler: the dog eating the other dog, but I dig crazy shit like that.

I'm not sure why anyone who liked the first 2 movies wouldn't like this one. The tone, pacing, and action were similar. I thought Routh did a great job, even better than I expected. Bosworth was passable as Lane, but not nearly as bad as it has been protrayed by some in this thread. Overall, I think it held true to the feel of the 2 previous good Superman movies, and was an excellent example of how to do a comic book movie correctly.

Routh's acting was superb. I would have actually prefered that they started from scratch, but since they seemed to be going the Superman 2.5 route, he was the best choice for the role. Overall, though, I thought the movie was a bit bloated for what it was. It seems every comic movie now is attempting to play the super heavy drama card. For a summer movie, I would have actually prefered a more fun action based flick. And the recycling of plot from the first movie kind of got to me, too. Luthor's a smart guy. He can think of greater schemes than that. Great eye candy, though.

Before the movie I tried to catch up on what's happened to Superman throught the years (DC mixed things up quite a bit with the Crisis on Infinite Earths, which is the point I stopped reading comics) and it was quite confusing. His origin and the extent of his powers have changed a few times. I think it's best I just keep my eyes closed and remember Supes for who he was :-)

Well, as someone who has steered clear of Superman up till this point (I'm not really impressed, storytelling-wise, by an invincible all-powerful man) I was totally digging this movie. Traditionalists may nitpick about how it does or doesn't stand up to the old movies, but none of that means shit to me. I came in with no expectations and I walked out very satisfied.

Routh was so solid and never cheesey - even when delivering that statistic line. Bosworth was great, too. Cyclops was... well... ya, Cyclops. Kevin Spacey was magnetic! I want more more more! The humor in this movie was great. "Weren't there two of those things?" I couldn't stop laughing. Best line in the movie.

There was a real emotional touch to this movie that I appreciated. It wasn't really the character-character dynamic that everyone focuses on. It was the appreciation and love that the people felt for Superman that really came through.

My only disappointment is that the action wasn't too great. I guess that's the rub (and subsequently the reason why Superman hasn't been very interesting to me in the past) when the hero can do just about anything he wants, any time he wants. Spoiler: Nevermind the fact that Lois Lane should have had about 200 broken bones in her body after the plane scene, then later a crushed skull when the hatch swung shut on her. Not even a drop of blood.

I enjoyed it a lot and I am left wishing Singer had done X3 instead.

I haven't seen it, but this comic made me laugh:

http://www.biggercheese.com/comics/0641.png

Spoiler: Maybe Superman has super sperm, which makes it possible not to give lois super rugburn and gives her super strength for about 5 years or so. Think of it this way, how hot was Kate Bosworth without all the broken bones and blood?

Ok, I guess that explains all the Cyclops references. That was confusing the hell out of me.

I found the tone to be quite a bit different. 1 and 2 were a lot lighter, closer to the Silver Age comics, while Superman Returns was a bit darker throughout, which does reflect the post-Crisis era a bit better.

Gilda

Well shouldn't that be the case given the times in which they were made?

I'd would say though, that post-crisis Krypton wasn't used and I think in the long run for the new franchise, that'd be the most interesting. It'd be hard to work that in now that Brando's done his Jor-el thing.

The question that's been on my mind, especially after I saw Returns for the second time last night, is what the heck could possibly happen in a sequel. Here's what I quickly put together in my head as three things that need to happen:

1. The villain needs to be Brainiac.
2. Don't read if you haven't seen the movie Spoiler: Jason's presence needs to be minimal.
3. Richard White should be killed off - I felt really attached to him and this would make for huge drama by the end of the second movie.

These are just some rough ideas. I've been chewing over which villain he should face and it's a really tough one for Superman. Any thoughts?

Is the death/return storyline out of the question?

I'm not quite sure if the 4 Supermen storyline would really work as a movie, so maybe they could instead use the spoiler in its place...

Like Halx I went into this movie with limited expectations, although I will admit I did read about 4 critics reviews of this movie and none of them were favourable. I didn't really like Superman Returns. I was too young to remember all the stuff that happened in the original Supes movies and so I could only partially acknowledge the homage that Singer was paying to them. I thought Routh did a good enough job as Supes, although I found his character changed thoughout the movie. Bosworth was not great, which is fitting because she's not a great actor, which everyone seems to have forgotten, or is not paying attention to. The action scenes looked stagey and
contrived and as such I couldn't be persuaded by them. Kevin Spacey is my alltime favourite actor and part of me admits that the only reason I went to see this movie is because almost everything he touches turns to gold. (For exceptions see Hurlyburly, Beyond The Sea, Pay It Forward, The Negotiator) Spacey had crap to work with and didn't really do anything to it. His character was laughable but not in a comedic way. When the writers came up with Spacey's character, I'm convinced they were watching Mike Myers play Dr. Evil. Only instead of mini me they had Posey, in an equally pathetic role.

I didn't come out of this movie satisfied. I enjoyed all the Superman as Christ analogies, but they were too forced and to plentiful. I give this movie 4 out of 10 stars.

I think Brainiac would be a good choice though I think they should consider doing Bizzaro.

After all, it seems to me that in Superman III and IV (with all the splitting and cloning) they had the opportunity to have Bizzaro... it would be nice to see it done right.

But you are right, Brainiac is probably better...

I'm still rooting for a Superman/Batman movie. Anyone who isn't rooting for this movie doesn't have an inner child. This, of course, would come after a few more Superman and Batman movies, allowing them to become established.

I heard mentioned, and I agree, that we finally have a Superman and Batman worth putting together for a World's Finest film. The problem that remains, and I think is a bigger one, is how do you put an antagonist(s) together that don't look ridiculous. I think I could take the heroes working together seriously, but Luthor and Joker teaming up? That might get too silly for the great modern ambience that has been created in Superman Returns and Batman Begins.

Bizarro could be done well in the sequel to Returns, but I think he's always been more of a comedy villain. These films demand huge threats and Bizarro can't really scare us. On the other hand, done right, I'd kill for Mr. Mxyzptlk (I spelled it right my first try...maybe I shouldn't announce that) as villain.

I think it'll be extremely difficult because apart from Luthor, Superman's foes are more like entire concepts rather than individuals. It's hard to get an audience to relate to an imp who is a manifestation of an alternate dimension, an evil computer android, or a zombie who is an embodiment of the idea of opposite.

That is so awesome. :lol:

That movie's frickin' awesome. Best movie of the year thus far.

Kevin Spacey? Hilarious. Oh lord every scene he was in cracked me up.

The last half hour? Kinda lame, but everythign else made up for it.

The first half hour made me giddy everytime something Superman-esque would happen - Like the first time he pulls off his suit and flies off into the air during the space shuttle scene.

I loved it.