DVD : Superman Returns [HD DVD]

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Rating:

- Superman Returns...sort of.
Its not that I didn't enjoy this movie. I liked it enough to buy it. Its just not the grand reboot of the franchise that I had hoped for. I understand things have to change and people have to change, but I just didn't see this as a movie to begin a whole new chapter of the man in blue. I now read online that the next movie will not even have Routh recast. So, now that you've restarted the thing you switch the central character casting already? I think the Batman reboot was handled much better. All that being said, the movie is really enjoyable in its own light. The HD audio and video are great as well, if you can take advantage of that.

Rating:

- Green bad
I didn't go into this film with any expectations, and ultimately I thought it carried the torch fairly well, in spirit. There was enough overlap from the original film to fill in the storyline without clinging unnecessarily to its coattails. Whether the story progression in this film would align with the comic universe itself... I have my doubts. If you are a stickler for the die hard comic characters, this film will not live up to your expectations.

I did not find Brandon Routh to be a particularly stand out talent. I've never seen him in anything else. He seemed to be moving along the plot without making any real contribution. Spacey and Parker were quite the caricatures of their roles, all but stealing the film for their villainous depictions. Even with them, though, I felt like they were doing the best they could with a weak script. Bosworth played a fairly subdued Lane, but in the end she came across more one-dimensional to me than just hyper focused on her work ethic while trying to hide a fiery passion for blue tights. In fact, she came off flat out cold in her interactions with her son, the enigma of which is deciphering who his real father is. With that interjection of doubt shadowing the little one you would think that with all this overwhelming love we are supposed to believe that she feels, that she would show a little more compassion to her son. The majority of the characters were so bland that in the end I found myself not really caring if some of the principals didn't make it. In fact, it would have been more in keeping with the canon storyline if... well. You just have to see it.

The plot moved somewhat slowly in the middle, with quite a few leaps in logic (or flat out misinterpretations of the original Superman mythos) conveying it through its shallow and open climax. There were no particularly dazzling special effects but the CGI maintained the comic vividness rather well. Honestly I spent most of this film working out contradictions in my mind regarding collective consciousness, archetypes and which came first--the broken planet or the displaced hero, but I wouldn't expect those to convey well in a film review. =)

Rating:

- A Super Blunder
Superman leaves Earth for 5 years? Lois Lane hooks up with another guy? Superman fathers a child? Three absurdities that would never happen in the Superman universe, yet Bryan Singer gave us all of them in the dark, depressing and ridiculous Superman Returns. Brandon Routh is adequate as the Man of Steel and the special effects are top-notch, but neither is enough to save this sagging and sorry addition to the Superman film legacy. Morose and miscast, a film to avoid.

Rating:

- Didn't do it for me
I purchased this as a gift for my Superman-crazed younger brother, but I couldn't get past about 45 minutes into it. I found it slow, unexciting, and didn't feel the acting was very strong. Definitely nowhere near the level Christpher Reeve played Superman/Clark Kent, though I'm not sure anyone could top him.

Rating: