Bryan Singer, who
brought deep and enriching allegorical underpinnings to the X-Men franchise, abandoned that series
to rescue Warner Bros.’ foundering attempts to rejuvenate the character of
Superman. His long-awaited efforts finally take to the screen in the form of Superman Returns, a movie that swings
heartily for the epochal fences.

Set after a five-year absence from Earth during which he’s
traveled to the destroyed remains of his home planet, the film finds Superman
(newcomer Brandon Routh) returning to Metropolis and comfortable margins of his
meek alter ego, newspaperman Clark Kent, where it seems only cub photographer
Jimmy Olsen (Sam Huntington) has really noticed Clark’s absence. Superman’s
one-time love, hard-charging reporter Lois Lane
(Kate Bosworth), has taken up with Richard White (James Marsden), the nephew of
Daily Planet editor Perry White
(Frank Langella). She’s also won a Pulitzer Prize for an editorial entitled
“Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman,” but the biggest rub for Superman is that
she has a son, Jason (Tristan Lake Leabu).

After Superman boldly announces his return with the
theatrical rescue of a compromised shuttle launch, he sets about zipping to and
fro and taking care of some of the little stuff — pettier crimes like bank
heists, and averted natural disasters and the like. Unfortunately, former
nemesis Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey, playing the less-is-more card until he’s
truly required to chew scenery) was paroled since Superman failed to show up to
testify at his trial (!), and his discovery of Superman’s “Fortress of
Solitude” and its intergalactic crystals has given him the idea of drowning
existent coastlines and creating a super-continent, all to drive up property
value. Naturally Superman, unlike The Big
Lebowski’s Dude, will not abide.

Routh acquits himself nicely in the title role, even if his
characterization is for the most part an earnestly square, more finely groomed
imitation of Christopher Reeve’s work. As Lex Luthor, Spacey is granted one
deliciously maniacal scene, but otherwise works in tones of (relatively) muted
archness, leaving most of the best lines to cohort Kitty Kowalski (Parker
Posey), who begins to entertain doubts about her complicity in the plot after
meeting Superman in a contrived rescue. The work of Bosworth, however, is much
more problematic. A serviceable actress in the right parts, she comes across
here as too far young and over her head, and has none of the edge or convincing
aplomb of Margot Kidder’s iteration of the character.

One of the things that made last summer’s Batman Begins so interesting — even if
its action-fueled finale was a case of sludgy backsliding — was the manner in
which it answered origin questions big and small, but also used these details
to drive the story forward in a fresh and organic way. Superman Returns, by contrast, has little of this type of
innovation going for it. Even for audiences who haven’t fetishistically
revisited Richard Donner’s 1978 original, significant portions of this movie
may feel like a fevered reset of the character’s mythology, and not just
because swatches of the late Marlon Brando’s narration as Superman’s father
Jor-El are used herein.

X-Men 2 — have at the center of their movie a suitably thorny
interpersonal hurdle in the form of Lois’ romantic entanglement and son, but
the eventuality of this strand is fairly obvious from its introduction, and not
just because Richard, apropos of nothing, awkwardly intones to Clark upon first
meeting him, “No matter how close I get to her, that woman is always a mystery to me.” Trading in the
same sort of elegance and high-stakes emotionalism that made his work on the X-Men franchise so enthralling,
everything here seems stretched like taffy. When a big interpersonal reveal
comes, we’re still more than an hour away from the finish line; when disaster
for Metropolis is averted, 50 minutes; when Superman plummets to the ground in
a moment of sacrificial grace and glory, 20 minutes.

The film, too, is hamstrung by a few nagging incongruities,
whether it’s Clark seeing Lois off in a cab, immediately donning his Superman
get-up and arriving at her home after
her commute, or Lois taking Jason with her when she decides to snoop around
Lex’s hideout, a massive boat. Brass tacks: the film feels less essential than
either of the first two Spider-Man
and X-Men films, and even Batman Begins. For all its flash, Superman Returns is a great deal too
long — particularly its first hour, which could stand to be thoroughly
collapsed — and it feels all the more so because it comes off “merely” as a
state-of-the-art re-up for a new generation rather than a vital
contextualization or rebirth of the character.

What somewhat saves Superman
Returns, of course, is its often dazzling technical proficiency. When you
see a movie of this ilk you want to see some great action scenes and feats of
derring-do, and those promises are for the most part delivered upon. From Guy
Hendrix Dyas’ superlative production design and the smoothly integrated
airborne sequences to John Williams’ stirringly iconic theme and composer John
Ottman’s fine work as well, the film never for a moment comes across as less
than a top-notch affair. Singer, meanwhile, can craft quiet scenes as well as
energetic action bits, but it’s only the movie’s highly touted
bullet-to-the-eye sequence — probably the finest and most instantly classic
single CGI shot since the original bullet-time work of The Matrix — that really sticks with you.

In the end, Superman
Returns’ success relates somewhat to one’s level of expectation. Measured
against the relatively high bars of other recent superhero fare, it feels
uncomfortably familiar. For those looking for a slice of high-flying
entertainment, however, it certainly suffices. (Warner
Bros., PG-13, 156 mins.)