Superman Returns (PG-13)
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A wee 12 when Superman saved the caped-hero genre and its fans in '78, Bryan Singer here repays the debt with a blockbuster whose filial relationship to Richard Donner's original turns out to be even richer than market demographics would require. Marlon Brando's Jor-El, miraculously resurrected from both death and licensing purgatory (how many bucks per second is ol' Method man banking now?), turns up to give Supes (Brandon Routh) some classic parenting advice that could come in handy with Lois Lane's uncannily intuitive five-year-old (Tristan Lake Leabu). Tempted by the straight life, the Last Son of Krypton (or is he?) will first have to deal with three mortals: Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey), who's bidding to expedite the upshot of Al Gore's inconvenient truth; Lois's fiancé Richard (James Marsden), who also can fly (a plane, anyway); and Lois herself, who won a Pulitzer for arguing in print that the world doesn't need a savior. (Note to faithful film protesters: You're being called out again.) The crusading director, meanwhile, merely has to turn back time, to make his audience forget that Superman III (and half of II) ever existed. Following sincerely in Donner's footsteps, Singer bows to the patriarchy at a snail's pace--which, by current standards, is at least preferable to the usual speeding-bullet-in-the-head. (Rob Nelson)
Review by Rob Nelson
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