Well, I flooded this blog with Superman Returns posts a while back... and dammit, it paid off.
I saw this one, a practice that is becoming increasingly common (the joys of summer), and was throughly impressed. I didn't want to lead on, but I was a bit concerned about how this film would turn out. Bryan Singer has been nothing but capable in his past work, but the Kent/Kal-El of this quasi-sequel to Superman II concerned me. Brandon Routh? Who?
Superman... that's who. I don't want to gush, but he fills the boots left behind by the late Christopher Reeve ably. In fact, he fills them more than ably. Though I cannot say that he brought anything inventive or new to the work, he plays the role one would expect to a T. He is awkward and bumbling as Kent, yet gracefully powerful as the Man of Steel. The action is spectacular, with the flying CG working at an almost disturbingly high level. Routh soars, and it all feels possible, if not believable.
Kevin Spacey (Lex Luthor) and Parker Posey (Kitty Kowalski) turn in the kind of scenery-chewing performances required to accent this film that can be best described as "grand". Mountains rise, airplanes plummet, and globes fall, all to be addressed by the man in tights. One of my lone complaints is barely one, as the sight of Kal "Kumar" Penn as a Luthor henchman is offputting-- doubly so when he makes his move upon the hero.
in the pantheon of superhero films, this one stands tall, eclisping the increasingly overrated Batman Begins, but falling just short of the celluloid brilliance of Spiderman 2. See it, see it now. As the taglines say, you will believe that a man can fly.
