Fat Ninja

Back in May I walked out of a Regal Cinemas theater cursing the name of Director Bryan Singer. I hated him for abandoning the X-Men movie franchise in its most dire time of need. I shook my fist in indigation at his decision to jump ship to work on DC Comics’ and Warner Brothers’ reimagining of the Superman film franchise. But here I am in the wake of seeing Superman Returns, and I am recanting. I have since come to forgive Singer’s transgressions against the X-Men series. The reason for this change of heart, you ask? Simply put, Singer has done an utterly amazing job of bringing Superman back to the big screen . Oh, and when I say big screen, I mean monumental. Thanks to a friend, I was able to catch Superman Returns at the Imax theater at the OMSI.

Man-of-Steel Indeed 

Now, as much as I want to launch into some elaborate review of Singer’s take on the Superman universe, I’m going to do my best to keep things simple. I’ll start with casting. I had reservations about an unknown filling Superman’s red boots. These concerns were somewhat bolstered early on in the film as Brandon Routh came off a little bit monotone. However, despite myinitial doubts, Routh’s performance quickly snowballs into an incredibly convincing portrayal of the Man of Steel. Replete with cleft chin, chiselled jawline, and piercing blue eyes, Routh fits the bill to a “T”, and fortunately has some relative flexibility as an actor to give the role depth.

Spacey’s Lex Luthor is perfection

Playing opposite Routh is a noteworthy Kate Bosworth, whose talented protrayal of Lois Lane provides a third dimension to what has really been a fairly two dimensional character until now. Her Lois Lane is a capable, confident woman rather than the constant damsel in distress. Other roles are equally well cast, however none so well as Kevin Spacey’s menacing Lex Luthor. Oh, sure, Gene Hackman was good in the original Superman films, but he struck me as comical most of the time. But Spacey’s Luthor is a different kind of animal; unquestionably insane, completely diabolical, and unflinchingly unconscionable. The result is a Lex Luthor worthy of archnemesis status.

As you might expect, great acting breeds a great film, and Superman Returns delivers entertainment and jaw-dropping effects in spades. As another entry in DC Comics re-entry into Hollywood, Superman Returns, like Batman Begins, marks a very mature handling of the subject matter. It never feels cheesy, or rehearsed, but rather very serious and believable. The storyline is well-written, fitting the film nicely in with Supermans I and II (We’ll have no talk of a III). But the plot brings a lot more dynamics to the main characters, generating a lot of emotional action to accompany the high paced energy of the film. While it does take breaks from time to time, there’s no real sense of it losing momentum. Instead, the film hurtles through its two-plus hour run time, slowing long enough to orbit around character development before sling-shotting into the next round of super-powered action.

I want to believe.

FINAL THOUGHTS
The end result of all of this is perhaps one of the most entertaining movies I’ve seen in a long time. It was whimsical, but also very grounded; so much so that I honestly remember walking out of the theater last night and looking up at the Portland skyline expecting (no, hoping) to see Superman darting across the horizon to thwart some evil. You laugh, but I’m not kidding. And that’s what I loved about Superman Returns. It made me believe.

OVERALL RATING: Mind-blowing entertainment

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