"Superman Returns," which recent news indicates might receive The Hulk reboot treatment, does not suffer from a lack of riveting action despite what disgruntled moviegoers say.
Truly detrimental to this chapter of the Superman legend on the silver screen is that it tries, but fails miserably in trying to break free from a tired premise over which it cannot help but inevitably swoon.
Weak performances by the leading cast only complements the deadliness of the film's creative Kryptonite.
A small speech Luthor makes early on further indicates that his ambitions have evolved from wanting land to all-out power in the form of advanced technology.
Once again, a large meteor-like object in which Clark Kent (Brandon Routh) is traveling manages to survive reentry into the atmosphere, landing in the American Midwest without any astronomers or military units being the wiser. They probably just assume that Superman has come back to Earth as the only alien in the universe instead of taking an interest in their jobs.
Astronomers at least earn their paychecks by spending their time looking for remnants of Krypton, which causes Superman to leave Earth long enough for his absence to provide the film with a relevant premise as to what happened since he inexplicably left to find apparently non-fatal highly radioactive rocks.
Refusing to stop flogging a dead horse, the film continues with the prospect that Kryptonian crystals can be utilized to expand to form land masses, which needlessly reconnects Luthor to his real estate scheme roots. Yet despite the Kryptonians' ability to create limitless land and interstellar baby space pods, they did not somehow repair their doomed planet or leave for greener pastures elsewhere in the universe.
Luthor's plan is mentioned to point out how "Superman Returns" attempts to retell the story established in 1978's "Superman" in a manner different enough for no one to notice.
An aerial accident forcing Big Blue to expose himself to the world, his shorter romantic flight with Lois, the Addis Ababa meteor rock and Luthor's scheme to own beach-front property are nostalgic allusions that eat up too much time in this more than two-and-a-half-hour film.
Even more frivolous are bank robbers who find it more prudent to set up a large gun turret on a rooftop with which to shoot at the police than hightail it out Metropolis in their nearby helicopter.
But as much as there is hesitancy to change Superman movie fundamentals, story innovations such as Superman fathering a child and Lois getting hitched are more acceptable.
So what is meant to be an homage to the first two Richard Donner Superman films is for some unknown reason intermixed with the super powerful title character making no qualms about being willing to break up a seemingly happy home despite how it is later justified with a hitherto unknown conception of a child. Not to mention the absurd comparison of Superman with Jesus Christ as a savior.
Only clever about the story is the explanation as to why Luthor is walking the streets as a free man instead of serving hard time in prison.
An adequate amount of of action that disappointedly does not include super powerful fist fights serves to veil the faulty premise, though little effort is made to make what Superman does amazing in the eyes of those around him so that dodging bullets and catching plummeting airplanes comes off as nothing more than overblown, meaningless special effects.
Add to that gloomy visuals of Metropolis constantly portrayed as though the sun is about to set, a sea storm, the dark red cape and a creepy piano duet between one of Luthor's goons and Lois' son, the gratuitous beat-down of Superman that make this seem more like a nightmare than a brightly inspiring Superman film.
A good thing about the action sequences is that they allow Routh to limit his dialogue as Clark Kent to polite banter with the rest of the cast, whom have considerably more lines, and no more than few non sequitur remarks as Superman. He simply looks like Christopher Reeves, but without the actor's powerful presence when wearing the signature blue body suit.
Also too noticeably green is Bosworth's portrayal of her character, who comes off as more of an upset, whiney ex-girlfriend than someone conflicted by her feelings for two important men in her life.
Parker Posey gets stuck playing a more erratic version of Miss Eve Tessmacher.
Kal Penn, though not known for powerful performances, is relegated to the status of an extra thats says close to nothing.
Memorable character portrayals are limited to those of Spacey's Luthor, who is as menacing as his evil scheme is ridiculous, and Frank Langella's lovably stern Daily Planet Editor in Chief Perry White.
Not soon to be memorable is this uninspired attempt to recreate the magic of 1978's "Superman" by radically moving around its story elements to make the film seem different enough to be novel. "Superman Returns" simply has no other reason to exist other than to indulge in cinematic nostalgia, and that is anything but super.
One shudders to consider that Warner Bros. and Legendary pictures studios might unleash a sequel because a lack of action is presumably what they perceive as the only thing that is wrong with this film.
Popcorn rating:(2 out of 5 pieces)
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