Superman Returns

Well, I went to see the movie Superman Returns last night.  It was absolutely spectacular.  I haven't been that enthralled in a movie since I was just a kid.  I sat in my seat glued to the screen at every moment of the movie.  Not once during the entire 2.5 hour movie did I look at my watch or think "is this over yet". 

 I had a lot of worry about how this whole thing would turn out given its very long and sordid history.  If you don't know anything about it you can read it here.  I will warn you though, you will finish reading it and want to cry or hurt something when you realize how incompetent and idiotic movie producers can be.  You will also breathe a HUGE sigh of relief that the movie ended up the way it did.

 There were a few plot points that were a bit questionable and it will be interesting to see what happens in the sequels and where they go from here.

 Overall it was fantastic.  There were several homages to the past Superman incarnations including almost an exact word-for-word set of lines at the very beginning of the movie.  If you know your lines from Superman I you will grin when you hear it.

 Brandon Routh is incredible as the new man of steel.  I am so glad they went with a total unknown.  It makes it easier to get into the movie.  Brandon nails all of the classic Christopher Reeve mannerisms for Clark/Superman while simultaneously making the characters his own original works.  I've been told that in an interview Brandon stated the only thing he religiously copied from Christopher Reeve's Clark was the way he always pushed up his glasses.

 Kevin Spacey is fantastic as Lex Luthor.  At times he was a carbon copy of Gene Hackman's Lex.  He got all the great Lex'isms that really made Gene Hackman's Lex shine.  Additionally Kevin really made the character his own.

 Parker Posey is a gem as Lex's ditzy gal, but all I could think of while watching her is "Damn, she'd make a great Mrs. Hannigan in an Annie remake."

 To sum it up, I highly recommend going to see the film.  At the end right before the credits there is a dedication to Christopher and Dana Reeve.  There is nothing after the credits so no worries about leaving after you see the dedication.