What the Flick

...than Gene Hackman, not Michael Rosenbaum on SMALLVILLE and certainly not Kevin Spacey here.

But I am being a tad too picky. Hackman's Lex wil live on as the greatest super villain ever, but I think this new Superman/Clark Kent (Brandon Routh) has the potential to take his place up there with the previous greats. He certainly has all the necessary qualities for a good Superman. Tall? Check. Blue eyes? Check. Dark hair with adorable forelock? Check. Looks good in glasses? Check. Looks good and somehow sexy in blue tights and red Speedo-esque outfit with cape? Check. Humble? Check. Fights for truth, justice, and the American way? Check, check, and check. In fact, I found myself wishing Routh would break out a bit more from the style set way back when by Reeve. But no matter, because I love all incarnations of Superman -- he's the archetypal man, in my book, which may be why I'm not married.

And what about Lois Lane, you ask? Kate Bosworth certainly is prettier that Kidder's Lois, but I think I liked the original Lois' spunky style a little better. Even with "brainy" brown hair, Bosworth is a knock-out, but seems so tiny as to be easily swatted across a table, so she brings more of an intellectual feistiness to the role than Kidder's physicality. (And I totally missed the 'original' Lois and Jimmy in their parts.)

After the same credit sequence style as the old Superman movies, and the same super-music, SUPERMAN RETURNS picks up when, uh, Superman returns after a 5-year sojourn to see what remains of Krypton, his home planet. He arrives in a familiar way: that wacky star-shaped meteor-ship hurtles across the prairie skies and lands in the back 40 of the Kent family. I was, like, if that naked superbaby comes out of there, this movie is going to have 1 too many repeats. But luckily, the fully grown hunky Clark Kent (oh, more hunky or less hunky than Smallville's Tom Welling's Clark Kent? Too close to call) emerges to greet Mama Kent (Eva Marie Saint). Back in Metropolis, Clark learns that Lois has a kid and a live-in boyfriend, Richard (X-Men's James Marsden), and seemingly has moved on while Clark/Superman was out trolling Krypton.

However, as any girl reporter worth her salt knows, one look at Superman in action plus one tiny personal flight over Metropolis, and any mere mortal is pretty much cooked. But these are all civilized people, adding a tragic element. Then Lex shows up with a typically Lex-sized evil scheme, Lois of course gets in the middle of it, and I LOVED how they handled the Richard vs. Superman and who's gonna save whom angle.

Despite the many reminders of past Supermans, SUPERMAN RETURNS ends up standing on its own; it has some of the gentle humor of the older movies, but brings a new depth to the Man of Steel (perhaps a little heavy handed when it comes to the "savior" imagery), and leaves lots of juicy room for future installments. I may still pine for that old Lex Luthor, but I'll happily line up for the new Superman's next adventure.