Many Happy Returns
It's a risky business, getting involved in comic book movies. So often, the people you are directly marketing the movie to will begin to trash your decisions eight months before you even begin filming. There are decades of comic canon to be followed, or at least faithfully reimagined. And there's nothing worse than a geek scorned; he will, without a doubt, spend all of his free time (and there's plenty of it) scouring message boards armed with the latest venom about your film. At the same time, if you too closely follow the mythology that's been set up by hundreds of comic writers, you risk turning off an entire possible fan base that hasn't been exposed to the source material. Equally, it's a risky business being a viewer who has his feet in both camps, as I often do.

It's been years since I've seen any of the Superman movies, and, if you really think about it, Christopher Reeve wasn't my Superman. If anybody would have been considered my Superman, my Clark Kent, it would have to be Dean Cain in "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman." It would even be less of a stretch to say that "Smallville's" Tom Welling is a more influential Kal-El to me than Reeve was. And let's face it, if anybody is going to be a convincing Lex Luthor to me, it's got to be Michael Rosenbaum. Even so, I couldn't help but get wrapped up in the excitement surrounding Superman Returns, which follows the canon set up by Richard Donner's Superman I and II.

Five years after he left Earth (at the end of Superman II) to find out what was left of his home planet (nothing), Superman (Brandon Routh) comes back to a world that's continued to turn without him. His true love Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) has moved on with her life and has a son, fiancé (James Marsden), and a Pulitzer Prize for her article "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." His biggest adversary, Luthor (Kevin Spacey), has been released from prison on legal technicalities. Luthor finds Superman's Fortress of Solitude and plans to build himself a new world based on Kryptonian technology, with a special failsafe in case Superman should try to stop him. As both Superman and Clark Kent, Kal-El has to find his place in a world that clearly needs him but insists it doesn't.

The conflict that Superman has to deal with calls for some serious acting chops, and newcomer Routh certainly has them. Whether you think he's channeling Reeve or respecting the way the character is written, there's no denying that he embodies both Superman and Clark Kent with ease. Spacey is brilliant as Luthor, playing him as a power-hungry businessman who's frustrated beyond belief when his release from prison considers with Superman's return, not merely a cartoony psychopath. As Lois, Bosworth brings a real grown-up air and some serious emotional gravitas, showing that she's still got that bit of feeling for Superman but remaining strong enough to continue without him. But these performances are those of main characters, and they should be expected. What is really pleasing is the acting in the secondary roles, particularly in Marsden's Richard White, Parker Posey's Kitty Kowalski, and Sam Huntington's Jimmy Olsen. The latter two bring some big-time laughs without working too hard for them. Marsden, who never really got to shine as Cyclops in the X-Men films, delivers a subtle good-guy performance; Richard is not a blockade for Superman to overcome if he wants Lois, he's a caring man who is a reasonable replacement for Superman - if Lois can't have the Man of Tomorrow, Richard is certainly worthy to be her man of today.

With director Bryan Singer at the helm, you know you're going to get a well-crafted recreation of the Superman myth, as evidenced by his work on the X-Men franchise. Singer and his screenwriters have put together a remarkable film that continues the legacy left by Reeve and Donner but still brings new life to the characters. The world that they create, especially visually, is remarkably realistic: in the 1978 promos for Superman, they claimed "You'll believe a man can fly;" Singer and his team not only do that but make Metropolis so familiar that it could be your city he's flying in.

Superman Returns is at once a meaningful, emotional story about abandonment and acceptance and a gosh-wow superhero adventure. Every bit of the film, from props to John Ottman's score, suck you into the story. The film is two and a half hours long, and feels every bit of it, but still leave you wanting more. As with any first chapter of a series, there are parts of that story that are left out or yet to be told, and it can be frustrating at times, but that's part of what makes the experience great.

Rating: * * * * 1/2 of 5