![Superman Returns - 2 Disc [DVD]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61poP4O73OL.jpg)
Product Description Adventure sequel set after the events of 'Superman II'. After eliminating General Zod and the other Kryptonian arch-villains, Ursa and Non, Superman (Brandon Routh) leaves Earth to search for his former home planet, Krypton. When he arrives he finds nothing but remnants and returns to Earth. Upon his return, he finds a Metropolis that doesn't need him anymore. Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) is engaged to a relative of his boss (James Marsden), and to make matters worse, his arch-nemesis Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) has contrived a plot to build a continent using the crystals of Krypton that will wipe out most of North America. Superman must again race against time to stop the psychopathic Luthor before it's too late. .co.uk Review It's fair to say that Superman Returns probably wasn't quite the blockbuster many were expecting. It concentrates its action on a handful of dazzling, audacious sequences, it spends time working with its characters, and it deliberately pays homage to the heritage of the source material. Knitted together by Bryan Singer, the man behind the camera for the first two X-Men features, it's some distance away from the last time the Man of Steel appeared on the big screen. But that's very much a good thing. Whilst it doesn't quite, and nor did it need to, perform the major surgery that Batman Begins had to undertake on the Dark Knight's adventures, Singer nonetheless leaves distance between his film and some of its predecessors (although there are respectful tips of the hat to the first two films, not least the nostalgia-inducing credits sequence). The plot finds Superman returning to Earth after several years away, to discover that the world has moved on in his absence. It's not as safe, Lex Luthor is out of prison, and Lois Lane now has a family. Which is the cue for a lot of soul searching, slower, tender moments and character development that divided some sections of the cinema audience. Yet, thanks to a stirring cast, led by newcomer Brandon Routh, the end product gels extremely well. Routh's performance is a fitting tribute to the late Christopher Reeve, while Kevin Spacey chews up anything he's allowed to as key villain Lex Luthor. Further, credible, support comes in the form of Parker Posey, James Marsden and Kate Bosworth. It'd be remiss to call Superman Returns a flawless film. After all, the running time could use fifteen minutes taking off, there's not enough Kevin Spacey and there are occasional moments when the pacing feels a little off. But it is a superb return to form for the classic superhero, with the modern day blockbuster ingredients of some meat to go with the action firmly in place. Further instalments, Mr Singer, will be more than welcome. --Simon Brew
M**R
What a film!
I absolutely loved every second of this film. Close to the original superman and I thought Brandon routh was brilliant as superman and deserved more recognition.
M**E
Don't listen to the idiots...
This movie is fantastic. From the opening sequences which are 'updated' versions of the old ones right through to the story it just brilliant. You finish watching this film just 'hoping' that someday there'd be someone on the earth like this, and don't even care if it wasn't you.The plane scene as people have said really is unbelieveable and will take your breath away and the story while it may not be the most brilliant idea, it's still a good plot.What the other people have to remember is that there was a 5 year gap between supeman leaving and 'returning' the so called mushy stuff (i didn't notice it as being overpowering) was really called for. Bryan singer HAS to address these issues to make the characters believeable and to show superman has compassion and although a superhero, he's also a man, like us who can get his heart broken.Routh was brilliant, while i agree his clark/superman disguise was not as convincing as Reeve's, it's done well enough for it not to be an issue. He resembles Reeve so much and you don't think for a second he's not the 'real' superman. Spacey seemed a bit much at times and while people give it a bad mark for its story i'd ask them to come up with a better one? Superman is completely invincible and too much 'superpower' stuff would have just made this film boring and never make you think for a second that 'actually, he may not get out of this'. How boring would it have been if he made everything look easy? Where's the fun in that? Singer balances this perfectly.Singer should also been congratulated for showing (unlike the originals) that superman protecs the whole earth, not just the inhabitants of bloody metropolis?!So don't listen to the idiots who down grade this film. It's a film about a superhero who has the greatest powers of them all, and it's done brilliantly.
K**
fan
A gift for a friend who likes super heros, to repay a favour
M**7
Highly Entertaining!!
In the recent run of comic book to movie makeovers I dare say Superman Returns was the hardest of the lot. The burgeoning legacy left behind by Chris Reeve and Gene Hackman must have loomed large over the creation of this movie so to be honest comparing the old cast to the new one is unfair. For me this film is a triumph. If you can forget the atrocious Superman 4 and the out of place Superman 3, "Returns" is a fine follow on from Supes 2. After an absence of five years, in which time he discovers he really is the last Kryptonian, and coming back to good old planet Earth to find he maybe no longer appreciated Superman has every right to be introspective and brooding. This fits in well with the plot of the film as he struggles with his conscience and trying to decide whether to hang up his boots and cape. Luckily for everyone this is soon put to one side when the space shuttle comes close to disaster. Spaceys Luther I think is also needed to give a link back to the original movies, don't forget three of his greatest foes had been seemingly killed at the end of Superman 2, so bringing in some other super villain from the pages of the comic wasn't in my mind really going to work. The only departure which concerns me is the apparent superkid floating around.Anyway, hopefully in the sequel (Please) we get to see an interesting antagonist for the Man Of Steel to wrestle with. Or maybe a couple. I am sure from now the sequels can only get even better.
B**X
Perfect re-launch for the Man of Steel
For all the current maligning and talk of need for a 're-boot' (the current trend for everything it seems), you'd think this was shot on video and starring Dappy from N-Dubz as Superman. Instead, it's as pitch perfect as a re-launch gets. Brandon Routh makes a superb Man of Steel, imbuing the role with both a handsome other-worldly grace, and a deeply human kindness and emotion that will feel familiar to Christopher Reeves' fans, but is still very much his own take on the role. The film starts after he has returned from a long absence looking for remnants of Krypton, and the world has moved on. While it does briefly - and excellently - hark back to his childhood discovery of his powers, the film is rooted in the present, and a new threat from Kevin Spacey's Lex Luthor. Spacey doesn't quite soar to Gene Hackman's heights of delicious comedy villainy, but he does bring sly humour and evil to the role, and is aided by Parker Posey as his conflicted 'gangster's moll' style sidekick. The film is perfectly paced, the fun, fairground ride of a plot revealing itself piece by spectacular piece amongst one amazing moment after another - whether during a night flight with Lois, or an astonishingly tense plane-crash set-piece - and it is set firmly and reverently amongst the mythology established by the previous films. Bryan Singer paints a beautiful canvas too. I watched this again only recently, and remember thinking that almost every frame and shot of the film is so beautiful and colourful that it could be a painted canvas landscape. It's a perfectly designed, convincingly acted, thrillingly exciting superhero movie with a strong emotional core being provided by some great writing. A heck of a comeback, filled with epic, amazing set-pieces. A truly justified modern classic.
