By David Server

The Man of Steel. The Last Son of Krypton. The Defender of Truth, Justice, and the American Way. Faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Most of you could read any one of the preceding descriptions and know just who I'm talking about, which speaks to just how iconic and culturally significant Superman is. While we've all been watching and enjoying Hollywood's newfound interest in bringing comic books to life, thrilling to see Spider-Man webslinging through NYC, Batman cleaning up the streets of Gotham, and the X-Men saving the world from evil mutants, the question has always lingered in the back of our minds: when will Superman return? Well, thanks to X-Men director Bryan Singer, Superman is finally back on the silver screen, and all the pressure of being the the Granddaddy Of All Superheroes has returned with him. So does Superman soar, or crumple under the pressure? Providing an entertaining but flawed reintroduction to the world's most famous superhero, Superman Returns certainly entertains, without ever reaching quite the heights it's capable of.

The film assumes that you have some rudimentary knowledge of Richard Donner's original Superman films from the 1970s, as it's more a sequel to those films than an adaptation of the comic books. However, it gives you all the need-to-know basics in an opening text prologue: baby in a spaceship, rockets to Earth, grows up to be Superman, falls in love with Lois Lane, puts Lex Luthor in jail. As we rejoin the story, we learn that Superman has been gone for five years, searching space for the remains of his home planet Krypton. Meanwhile, during his absence, Lex Luthor has found a crafty way out of prison, and Lois Lane has moved on with her life, which means a new boyfriend, and a Pulitzer-prize winning article entitled, 'Why The World Doesn't Need Superman.' As the movie begins, Superman returns to Earth, re-dons his glasses to become Clark Kent, and goes back to business-as-usual. However, he finds that Metropolis is a bit different than he remembers it, and he must find a way to find his place in the world once more.

There's really a lot of good things to be said about this movie, first and foremost being the cast. Brandon Routh is a wonderful fit in the dual role of Superman and Clark Kent. His Superman is confident, heartfelt, and warm, while his Clark is goofy, clumsy, and perhaps even slightly more relatable than we may remember him. Routh has that natural ease and earnest quality that made Christopher Reeves' portrayal so iconic, and that's no small praise. He's not better than Reeves, but he's different. He makes the role his own, despite an obvious awareness and love of Reeves' take on the character. Routh looks a little young to be a seasoned vet at the superhero and reporting biz, but his confidence in his roles ably compensates for this. Meanwhile, Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor is, to the shock of no one, divine. He's a blast to watch on screen, and you can feel him having fun with the material. His sadistic and dark twist on a character portrayed in previous films as light and buffoonish is utterly satisfying.

The supporting cast shines as well. Parker Posey (as Kitty) creates a memorable character with real heart out of what could have been a forgettable henchwoman role. Sam Huntington's jumpy Jimmy Olsen is a spastic treat. And James Marsden, as Richard White, the new man in Lois' life, is superbly likable and deeply human, instead of just being 'the other man' (roles like this remind us of how wasted Marsden was in the third X-Men film, despite being such a great choice for the part of Cyclops...Sorry, jilted X-Fan on a rant, and we're here to talk Superman; I'll get off my soapbox now...). The depth and dimension Marsden brings to the character gives the Superman-Lois-Richard love triangle much greater conflict.

Additionally, the film is a technical thing of beauty. Newton Thomas Siegel's cinematography is gorgeous, as he captures the retro-chic of Metropolis to the sunbathed fields of Kansas (and everything in between) with breathtaking grace. The production design by Guy Dyas is a wonder. The beautiful score by John Ottman, fusing the best of John Williams' musical cues with his own seamlessly integrated and moving motifs, shines. And the special effects are really a sight to behold. The tagline to the original Superman movie was 'you will believe a man can fly.' Well, you can feel free to take that literally now, as Superman's flight is a near seamless visual effect. And it's not just his flight - his heat vision, his strength, his super-breath; it's all rendered stunningly by the film's effects team. The much talked about 'plane catching' set piece absolutely lives up to every ounce of its hype. With some of the best visual effects this side of Krypton, combined with the rousing use of the classic Supeman theme music, and smart, snappy dialogue, it's hard not to get swept up in the pure comic book euphoria of the moment.

For all the good on display here, there are some things that simply prevent the film from being all it could have been. First and foremost, the storyline has more than its fair share of problems. That's not to say that the script is bad; in fact, screenwriters Dan Harris and Mike Dougherty provide the citizens of Metropolis with some great dialogue, and the film consistently shows a smart, sharply honed sense of humor. However, at the halfway point, the structure of the film begins to fall apart. While it enjoys a high-energy lift-off and cruises enjoyably for the first hour or so, it has some trouble sticking the landing. It's difficult to get into too many specifics without ruining plot points, but the third act definitely leaves you cold. It drags for far too long (you'll find yourself checking your watch around the two hour mark, with a half hour left to go), and frankly, lacks the key emotional beats you may have been expecting and looking forward to. Hoping for a great final confrontation between Superman and Lex Luthor? You won't find it here. How about one final massive set-piece with action rivaling that of the show-stopping airplane save? Don't hold your breath. What about something as simple as the world's reaction to the ultimate fate of the Man of Steel? Weirdly absent. Superman's alter ego Clark Kent all but disappears from the film towards the end, and being arguably as important as his Superman persona, his absence is sorely missed. Additionally, one massive plot point revealed towards the beginning of the film's finale (which I won't spoil here) sees none of the ramifications dealt with in this film. I suppose that could be sequel fodder, but this entry certainly could have used it. All these payoff moments that you're anticipating are left oddly out of the climax, and the film suffers from it.

Another frustrating thing about the film is that it is founded on such a great concept, but doesn't seem interested in playing with the ramifications of it. Superman has been gone for five years. A world that comes to rely on a constant savior may be resentful of his absence when he returns. This isn't played up at all, however, as the only one who seems mad at Superman is Lois. This prevents Superman from questioning himself, which could have provided interesting growth for the Man of Steel. Was he right to leave? Was it a mistake? What has he missed in his absence? These questions are left unanswered. As a result, Superman learns or changes very little as a character during the film. Additionally, when a movie is entitled Superman Returns, it prompts the obvious question: where did he go? The answer is as simple as the one provided in my plot summary above. And what did he find? Nothing. Moving on. It leaves something to be desired. The film's plot is one filled with promise, but it doesn't seem to follow up on a lot of the questions that made the premise so genius in concept. Oddly, the problem isn't wiith what is in the film, but rather that certain key things are absent, but shouldn't be.

However, my biggest problem with the film is this: it's a love story, but it reads very cold. While Routh is clearly capable of bringing the necessary heart and longing to the table, there is practically no chemistry between him and Kate Bosworth's Lois Lane. You may have noticed my exclusion of Bosworth in my praising of the cast, and it's not due to lack of talent on her part. To the contrary, as someone who was surprised by the casting choice, I was impressed by her ability to portray Lois as a strong, intelligent reporter. However, her affections for Superman felt sorely lacking in the film, a gripe which she is really only partly responsible for. The script seems more interested in playing Lois as the jilted girlfriend than the conflicted onetime past love, so when Lois does supposedly regain some sense of her feelings for Superman, it rings false. A love story with no heart can do more damage than Kryptonite, which is sadly the case here.

So, Superman has returned, and the result is more successful than not. What is fortunately the case is that Singer's film has laid the groundwork for a solid Superman franchise. Routh, along with the rest of the cast, are a rousing success, and the world they inhabit has been firmly established, both visually and tonally. It's a comic book universe that I look forward to returning to, with the hopes that some of the more plot-specific problems will be eliminated in a second outing (fighting, let's say, Brainiac? I'm voting for Brainiac). Superman Returns is worth seeing for casual moviegoers and geeks alike, despite its flaws. Ultimately, the film is not unlike its title character: it sometimes stumbles like Clark Kent, but can also soar like Superman.