The Worst Film Ever

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

This isn't the worst live action Superhero movie (See my review for Suicide Squad and Batman Returns). It is not bad the movie but I do have some complaints. Like why was Lois Lane with another man and already had a son? Why at the end of the movie Superman was just flying away I was getting excited about the next scene but the movie ends on your face. But Kevin Spacey was good as Lex Luther but Brandon Routh was miscast as Superman but luckily he is in a better place as Ray Palmer in the CW shows. Speaking of at least Jimmy Olsen was a better choice in this movie than in the CW shows.

The Superman returns after a 5 year absence, but finds a world that has learned to live without him, and now has to accept that Lois Lane has followed her life with another man, as well as facing again the ever-persistent maniac Lex Luthor. Contrary to previous adaptations of Chris Reeve's Superman, this film excels by being more realistic and without excessive stupidity, focusing on the drama of the relationships and motivations of the characters, has an excellent camera work and the mythical soundtrack redesigned from the original, some spectacular action moments and finally a movie worthy of this super hero who treats him with due respect without making him or the film a stupid comedy or joke like the previous ones.But it also has negative aspects that I do not agree with and that greatly harm the film: it could have more moments of action (after all this is a Superman movie); Superman spying on Lois Lane is just weird; Lois Lane should have a personality with more vitality, jovial and restless (despite the circumstances) and the son is a character that is not needed. The final battle on the island could have been better crafted without editing the transition to the sequence in which Lois wakes up on the plane, as such cuts on a climax breaks the tension and attention on the viewer. That is wrong. And in this final battle, I was very angry and disillusioned that Superman did not even once offered resistance or a bit of a fight. After he sends the island into space, the end of the film unnecessarily extends for another 20 minutes with melodramatic scenes more appropriate to a romantic drama than a Superman movie. I'd end the movie with Superman at the hospital and Lex Luthor's scene on the desert island. The rest is unnecessary.I'd really like to have a Superman movie in my collection, but in the overall assessment, unfortunately and despite some positive aspects, this movie does not accumulate enough points for that honor. Although it has elements that indicate to be a sequel to the first two films (forgetting the others completely), it is better seen as a stand- alone, assuming that there was already a story before which is not to relevant for this movie, not at all. In short: this movie has some good moments but lacks more action because it focuses too much on the romance between Louis and Clark, and being so is just a melodrama with Superman.

The other Superman films are a lot of things, but they are not boring. Superman Returns is a flat out bore that has no intention of delivering anything new. Brandon Routh's performance is nothing more than an impression of Christopher Reeve's take on the character, no new significant characters are introduced, Lex Luthor once again provides a lame real-estate villain plot, and even the John Williams theme is reused. The entire film is absolutely baffling as the story it tells comes off as a follow up to a film we never saw. Dropping the audience into a story with barely any context or connection to the characters will always cause a severe lack of investment. This also isn't one of those superhero movies where you can just sit back and be entertained by the action. Not only is there barely any action in the film, but what action is there isn't exactly the most exciting or memorable despite an admittedly cool plane rescue sequence. Bryan Singer directed the first 2 X-Men films, both of which were fairly serious and void of much visual creativity. However, the X-Men involves characters that are much more grounded, and do not possess many powers that require zany visuals to pull off. When you apply this bleak style to a larger than life boy scout in colourful spandex, it simply won't work as well. The tone of the film just feels confused. As boring and sullen as this Superman is, this film goes out of its way to constantly reuse cheesy lines and music from the Christopher Reeve era and it just doesn't fit with the rest of the movie. Everything wrong with this film can be summed up with its final scene. While reusing the John Williams theme, the film closes with a near shot-for-shot remake of Christopher Reeves classic outro to the Superman films in which he would gracefully fly above a colourful backdrop of planet earth as he cracks a smile and winks to the audience to close out his latest adventure. Now imagine that sequence without any of the vibrant colours, and instead of the classic smile and wink you are treated to a near expressionless Superman flying by the camera. This movie failed to grasp that you need more than just decent visual effects to make people believe a man can fly.

With my track record of not being overly keen on superhero movies and superheroes in general, then I can't claim that I was particular thrilled when this movie was first screened in 2006. But of course, as I had grown up with the Christopher Reeve's "Superman" movies in my childhood, I would eventually get around to watch "Superman Returns". And hand on heart, then I have actually watched it twice by now.The story told in "Superman Returns" is by no means groundbreaking or overly innovative in terms of superhero movies, nor even for the "Superman" movies franchise. But still, don't get me wrong here, it is still an enjoyable movie for what it was.The acting in the movie was good, although I think that casting Kevin Spacey for Lex Luthor was perhaps a bit odd. He is a good actor, for sure, but he wasn't cut out for the Luthor role. Brandon Routh was good for Superman and Clark Kent, and bears a striking resemblance to Christopher Reeve. And he managed to hold his own well enough and did justice to Reeve's "Superman" legacy.The effects in "Superman Returns" were good, and they really helped the movie along quite nicely.However, I must say that this 2006 movie wasn't particularly outstanding or memorable. But still, it is worth watching if you enjoy the "Superman" franchise. It is a movie that you can watch more than once, albeit with some years in between each viewing.As such, then I am rating it six out of ten stars.