Superman Returns

It’s all about heart - not that the spectacle falters; this is the finest popular entertainment since the Rings trilogy closed. Superman doesn’t fly - he soars.

Grandly conceived and sensitively drawn.

Director Bryan Singer positions this new film as a sequel to Donner's film, and his Superman -- played with winning fortitude by newcomer Brandon Routh -- is less a Man of Steel than a Man of Heart.

A generally thrilling entertainment that's not quite the grand slam you want it to be.

Yes, this Superman soars, but he doesn't always take us with him.

Contains a dozen winning moments of humor, uplift or exhilaration. But are they enough to justify a 154-minute running time?

The bigger problem is that Singer’s weighty rhythms are disastrous for Superman, and the movie actually gets heavier in its last half-hour.

I just watched this for the first time since it came out, mainly due to a degree of excitement for the new Superman film a little less than a year from now. I kept waiting for the movie to go down hill, to become a crummy film which is what user reviews all over seem to say it is. For the life of me, I do not understand what people don't like about this movie. I enjoyed it from start to finish. If I were being hyper sensitive/ hyper critical about things I would complain that Lois is kind of a nasty and conceited brat towards Clark, who she has no idea is Superman. I would complain that maybe Superman doesn't have all that much character development. And if I was being a complete cynic who only was looking to hate the movie and didn't take any time to realize that this film drops us in long after Superman and Lois have a history, I would say that Superman is kind of creepy in that he stalks Lois a bit. If I was a 10 year old I would complain that it didn't have enough action and that there was "too much talkie talkie and talking is boring!" But I don't think any of those things because I have no reason to view this film in such a cynical way and I am also not 10 years old. Did I have a problem with Superman basically edging out Richard, who is a good man who could never compete with SUPERMAN. Yeah, I did but it was still quite dramatic and an interesting plot point. I think after reading negative reviews, I have gathered that the people who have a problem with this film have issues with there not being enough action, too much focus on the love story, and it's too different from the Christopher Reeves movies. Well, I haven't seen the Christopher Reeves movies for so long that I can't remember them, so I am not jaded by them or putting bizarre nostalgic requirements on this film as a result. I am simply judging the movie by itself and it was very satisfying. I have read some Superman comics and will admit that if Superman had Doomsday or a handful of other villains, it could have been very different and it would have scratched a different itch. But this was a different kind of fight and I am totally okay with that. I loved how this film took a lot of time to emphasize how important and larger than life Superman was to the city, to the country, and even to the world. My favorite part of the film is when, after being gone for 5 years and people think he isn't coming back, Superman makes his debut by catching a giant commercial airline right in the middle of a stadium. The whole crowd cheers ecstatically, "SUPERMAN IS BACK!" and I shared their excitement for a moment.

There have been critics who have been stinting in their praise for this movie, but others were quite condescending. This film is far from a masterpiece, and definitely not the best of the Superman franchise, but it was fairly solid considering what it could've been. First off, visually it looks amazing and I thought the special effects were extremely good. Same with the music score, full of those familiar motifs and some new haunting ones too. While Lex Luthor wasn't portrayed as the cold, shrewd yet somewhat lovable villain Gene Hackman played so memorably in the original movies, Kevin Spacey the competent actor he is played him very well. Also Bryan Singer's direction was able and had just the right edge, and I was intrigued by the film's concept. And I have to say, some of the action scenes were very exhilarating. However, there were elements that could've been better. One of the main problems I had with the film was the pace, I found it unusually slow and there are scenes like Clark listening in on Lois and Jason that dragged on for too long. And maybe I am in the minority who felt that it could've been half an hour shorter, and that the script was clunky at times. Also, I wasn't taken with the two leads either. Brandon Routh is handsome and he is charming but he isn't charismatic enough as Clark Kent/Superman, and Kate Bosworth left me cold as Lois. In regard to these two, the relationship between the two characters was underdeveloped. All in all, a solid and visually enthralling film, but it is let down by uneven pacing and a clunky script. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Just an ok superhero movie, the running time is a bit abusive, but the good cast and some great action sequences kept me engage.

What an entirely pointless film this was. This serve no purpose and way too late, after the fourth one. The fourth one was such a dumb Saturday morning cartoon. this movie tries be to like Batman Begins, still doing the family friendly series, which it didn't work. This should have been a reboot, instead a suppose sequel. Bryan Singer is not that great of a director. The only Singer film I like is Valkyrie. I don't hate this, this is just a middle- of-the-road-film.

.Horrible! No it didn't have humor or romance or anything... wait maybe it did. But it doesn't matter! It was BORING! I haven't watched it for quite some time so i tried to rewatch it. Twice. Failed both times. I just saw the first and last 15 minutes. Boring!