REVIEW ROUNDUP: 'SUPERMAN RETURNS' (VAR, THR, AICN, MCN, TIME, NW)

By Stephen Saito

With the exception of Movie City News' David Poland, early reviews of Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns" have been overwhelmingly positive. Here are some excerpts:

Newsweek's David Ansen writes:

Singer's real forte is lyricism. This "Superman," which infuses its action with poetry, soars as a love story filled with epic yearnings, thwarted desires and breathtaking imagery: Lois, spied on with her lover's X-ray vision, ascending in a skyscraper's elevator; Superman, zapped with kryptonite, descending silently and helplessly through space. (If Jean Cocteau had directed $200 million action movies, they might have looked a little like this.) Next to Singer's champagne, most recent superhero adventure movies are barely sparkling cider.

Time's Richard Corliss writes:

It turns out that Singer and writers Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris had excellent reason to re-create the Superman saga, dreamed up in the '30s by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and elaborated on in countless comics, movie serials, TV shows and feature films. Singer, Dougherty and Harris went back to the story's premise, reviving it by revising it. Beneath the artifacts of camp and cape, they located a rich lode of myth. Just as important, they resolved to take it seriously. The result is an action adventure that's as thrilling for what it means as for what it shows.

Variety's Todd McCarthy writes:

Despite its acute awareness of what's come before, "Superman Returns" is never self-consciously hip, ironic, post-modern or camp. To the contrary, it's quite sincere, with an artistic elegance and a genuine emotional investment in the material that creates renewed engagement in these long-familiar characters and a well-earned payoff after 21⁄2 hours spent with them.

The Hollywood Reporter's Kirk Honeycutt writes:

The hero's rescues are spectacular thanks to the marvels of digital effects. And its villain, Lex Luthor, and Luthor's female companion, Kitty Kowalski -- deliciously played by Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey -- spice the film with extravagant comedy. So old fans can rejoice even as this "Superman" wins new fans from among those who normally don't care about superheroes.

Aint it Cool News' Harry Knowles writes:

The lesson to be learned from the "SUPERMAN RETURNS" development is this. Waiting for talented people of passion and vision is worth every year of delays and restarts... of blown deals and costly explorations. At the end of it all, Warners did it right. Thank God. The Man of Steel is Back!

And already facing the wrath of online commenters, David Poland of Movie City News wrote Friday:

Where to start on Superman Returns? It's terribly cast, poorly conceived, extremely light on action, features a romance that is not remotely romantic, doesn't feature a single memorable, "gosh, that was great" repeat-to-your-friends moment in a positive way (the blunder bits start early and often), will be crushed by Pirates of The Caribbean II and played out completely before August 1...

It's not a hideous piece of crap. It really is about a step behind X-Men: The Last Stand, equally poorly directed, equally missing complexity, equally not up to the standards of the first two films, but with less interesting characters and absolutely zero sense of humor about itself.

Related Links

The Gospel of Superman (TIME)
The Big Guy's Back. We Missed Him. (NW)
REVIEW: 'Superman Returns' (VAR)
Harry Spent Father's Day watching Superman Returns!!! (AICN)
Men in Tights (MCN)