Title: Superman Returns.
Rated: PG-13.
Director: Bryan Singer.
Screenplay: Michael Dougherty & Dan Harris.
story: Bryan Singer, Michael Dougherty & Dan Harris.
Release Date: 2006.
Runtime: 154 min.
Genre(s): Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi.
Cast: Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey, James Marsden, Parker Posey, Frank Langella, and many more!
Budget: $270,000,000 (estimated).
My Overall Rating:
Previously in the Superman film series:
Superman (1978).
Superman II (1980).
Following the catastrophic failure that was Superman IV: The Quest for Peace back in 1987, it was only 19 years later that director Bryan Singer, known for unveiling to the world the X-Men on the silver screen, identifies actor Brandon Routh as his best candidate to take on the mantle of the Man of Steel. While a modernized take on the Big Blue Boy Scout was critically needed to revitalize the legendary character, the task remained colossal to deliver a memorable story that would do justice to the iconic superhero. Serving as an homage sequel to the first two Superman movies starring Christopher Reeve, the final chapter in the original Superman film series is brought to a conclusion, despite canceled projects of sequels, only to be later rebooted with Man of Steel in 2013 under the direction of Zack Snyder.
What is Superman Returns (2006) about? Upon news from astronomers of the potential survival of Superman’s home planet, he embarks on a journey that has him missing for five years before returning to Earth. On top of discovering that the world has moved on, surviving without him acting as their saviour, he also finds out that Lois Lane has given up on his return and filled the hole in her life differently. Meanwhile, Lex Luthor plots his own machiavellian revenge plot against Superman and his fellow Americans as he sets in motion a disastrous evil plan that will see millions killed through a planetary transformation, unlike anything he’s ever planned before.
Unlike previous narratives focused on Superman, director Bryan Singer seeks to push the character into a much more emotionally complex state by focusing on his ideals, his values, his morals, and his heart. Short of action sequences, the movie delves into the superhero’s struggle to grasp humanity after his half-of-a-decade hiatus that puts his whole life in perspective. Homeless in a strictly figurative sense, he must now try harder than ever to win back the trust of the people of this planet but also of those he loves, especially when he needs the people of Earth to give him a reason to exist. Rooted in the ideals of his father, he also continuously juggles the eternal dilemma of the greater good and proves once more that his existence is significant enough to impact countless lives into contemplating moral betterment.
Despite his alter ego Clark Kent simply being an insignificant entity in the grand scheme of things, the movie’s emphasis lies in the character of Superman and what he can bring to the people around him. Oddly yet satisfyingly interlacing romance into the equation, the movie also explores the superhero’s personal journey towards acceptance. Unfortunately, the actors in question do struggle at times to convey depth with their characters but succeed nevertheless regardless of some stiff sequences to capture the tone and emotion of key scenes. Although the parallel storyline regarding Lex Luthor is roughly knitted into Superman’s story, giving viewers very few interactions between the two to fully grasp their eternal clash, Kevin Spacey still ultimately offers an entertaining take on the legendary evil mastermind.
While this iteration of Superman doesn’t do much (or any) punching, the movie still utilized extensive CGI effects for numerous scenes that allowed to breathe some fresh air into the character’s powers (from flight to x-ray vision) and the landscapes (from Metropolis to low orbit scenes). John Ottoman also preserved the original John William’s theme music in an effort to further accentuate the homage nature of this movie and to capture the epic qualities of Superman’s victories. If anything, director Bryan Singer succeeded in giving actor Brandon Routh the proper material to deliver a memorable take on the Man of Steel even if Warner Bros. concluded that it wasn’t enough of a success to merit a sequel. Luckily for fans, Brandon Routh does reprise his role in a special 2019 Arrowverse crossover episode in the “Crisis on Infinite Earths” with a Kingdom Come version of Superman is worth looking into.
Superman Returns (2006) is an oddly-paced, overlong yet commendable hommage sequel to the original Superman movies as it explores themes of belonging, acceptance, and morality.
Superman Returns (2006) is available for purchase and on select streaming services.
Have you read any Superman comics?
Have you seen Superman Returns (2006)? Will you? What did you think about it?
Share your thoughts with me!
Roars and Echoes 
Not a bad idea. The world is in need of hero role models. A nice share!
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Thanks for reading, AOC! 😀
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I did not like this movie when it came out. I was pretty excited for it, as Singer was hot stuff due to the Xmen franchise. But Superman being so unsure of himself was not what I was looking for in a superman movie. I’m ok that any sequels were cancelled.
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I feel like they also applied so much makeup and whatnot on the guy. Somehow, it worked in these sense that it made him look a bit more alien but then it also distracted me hahah
I don’t know if a sequel would’ve worked too… As much as a “Jonathan Kent” story would’ve been nice to have, I don’t think this movie was on the right path for one.
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This one doesn’t look too bad compared to the others. Did you notice the the Jeff Bezos lookalike in Kevin Spacey’s Lex Luther? Who’s copying who I wonder? 😂
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Hahahah bald Spacey does look soooo much like Bezos! And they both have similar thinking in some ways. 😛
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I don’t think I watched this one. Glad to see you found a reasonably decent Superman film after all the time you spent watching inferior ones. 🙂
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Oh yes. And I think this completes all the Superman movies that I wanted to rewatch and review! 😀 There might some non-DC licensed ones out there but I won’t go to those lengths for my kind of torture hahahah
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Villian looks interesting in the trailer. Great review, Lashaan!
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He indeed is! 😀 Thanks for reading, Yesha! 😀
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I think the best thing about this movie is the casting; Brandon as superman was perfect, say what you will about Kevin but I think he was a good Lex Luthor and the rest of the supporting cast.
Fun fact: Henry Cavill was in the running to play Superman in this. Glad they waited for 6 yrs to give him the part. The outtake at the end with your cat interrupting was so cute.
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The casting was pretty decent indeed! I might question Lois Lane’s casting though but aside from her, the rest were sound picks. And yes, really glad that Cavill got the chance to do it too now. The future of the character is still bright but I’m not too sure what plans they got for Cavill now.
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I’ll say it but I think Henry is the best of Superman 😉
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Hahahah he is a tough one to beat. 😉
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I enjoyed this movie when i first watched it a couple of years when it came out, but my opinion’s changed quite a bit. It’s got several great action scenes – the scene where he’s flying around, saving everyone in Metropolis probably the best Superman action scene ever put on film. But the movie’s got inconsistent rules about Superman’s weakness to kryptonite, the actress for Lois Lane feels like a serious miscast (she looks way too young), and the pacing is often way too slow. Still a decent movie, but it could have been so much better.
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Agreed! It was pretty cool to see him save the day around the world. If the crashing plane or “titanic” sequence was pretty awesome. And yes, you’ve pointed out some good flaws here. It made no sense how he was able to use his powers in the final sequence to get rid of that huge chunk of land filled with kryptonite… Oh well. Willpower > kryptonite, or something. Lois Lane definitely felt like a miscast. And yep. The pacing was rough here. Singer must’ve got lost in his whole “reverence” narrative as he put it all together. But, compared to Superman III and IV, this is definitely far superior no matter what hahah!
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You almost have to try in order to make a Superman movie worse than Superman IV. Even if you know how they siphoned half of that movie’s budget towards other projects (something that Cannon Pictures was known for), it’s still baffling how bad the movie is.
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I also wrote a review on this last month. I remember watching this movie in theaters in 06. I have watched it for more than a hundred times already, and I really did, and still enjoy watching this film. (might be my most favorite Superman film) Anyways, great review bro…
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Thank you so much, Kenneth. That’s very much appreciated. It’s definitely one Superman movie that doesn’t deserve as much hate as it seems to get.
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Huh, a surprisingly high score! Guess you needed some pick me up after all those abysmal sequels 😉 I’ve actually never seen this. Somehow even Spacey couldn’t bring me around to watching it, but now I might be tempted. Great review, Lashaan!
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Hahaha yep, this one isn’t as horrible as Superman III or IV or Supergirl. It’s a decent movie with its own flaws but not something that people should blatantly hate, considering how many years we had to wait to get a decent Superman movie again hahah Thanks for reading, Ola! 😀
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Reblogged this on Whipped Owl.
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I remember seeing that actor in some ‘Arrow’ episodes back in the day. Or maybe it was one of the spin-off series. I didn’t know he was in anything else prior to that. Interesting…
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Nah, he is in the Arrowverse series. He plays Ray Palmer who is the Atom (another superhero). 😀 He then gets a more recurring role in The Legends of Tomorrow. But before all that, yes, he was Superman. 😀
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