The film Text copyright (c) Filmverdict 2006-present. Any film titles and artwork used are copyright of their respective owners.
The new Superman movie was quite possibly my most anticipated cinema release ever. Suffice to say then, it had quite a lot to live up to in my mind. While not all of my hopes were completely satisfied, overall I would say that this was a successful return for the Man of Steel. Director Bryan Singer's love of the first film shines through in many areas, with some similar dialogue and, of course, the casting of Christopher Reeve lookalike Brandon Routh in the title role. Routh doesn't manage to fill Reeve's shoes (lacking a touch of charisma and natural comic timing), but he was never realistically going to; he does however deliver an excellent performance nonetheless. Singer kicked things off in the best possible way, with the use of the classic Superman theme and even imitating the opening credits font style of the original. I liked how Lex was handled in the beginning; it was clear from the off that this was a much darker character than before. Disappointingly, though, I found that Kevin Spacey, while excellent as usual, didn't really have much to get his teeth into in the role (I was hoping for more rants and tirades, but he was mostly very restrained). The film is certainly quite slow paced for a big Summer blockbuster, with not as much Supes action as there could have been. What there was though was mostly excellent, although I found that the action scenes felt a bit disjointed and never really gathered momentum from each other to reach a real adrenaline-pumping crescendo. Possibly my favourite part of the film occurred when Lex and his goons beat up a Kryptonite-affected Superman, making for a surprisingly brutal but also brilliantly intense fight.
Several aspects of the film surprised me (and not unpleasantly, in general), such as the main action finishing a good 20 minutes before the film did, with the end going for the low-key, emotional approach, like much of the film to be truthful. I hate to jump on the 'Kate Bosworth is too young' bandwagon too but I have to say I agree with that assessment; in fact, I thought Parker Posey, who was very good as Lex's right hand woman, would've made a perfect Lois. Bosworth wasn't a dead loss or anything, but I just didn't find that she left much of an impact. Unfortunately I found the film lacking in the personality and wit of the early ones but I get the feeling it'll grow on me. There were lots of scenes that I loved and few that I had any real problems with (no clunkers like 'Can you read my mind?' or anything here!). Even the little kid managed, amazingly, to not annoy me. I must confess, I can't really see where the reported $260 million budget went, especially with the lightness on action. I get the feeling that there are some rather juicy deleted scenes. On a side note, the partially-3D IMAX version enhances the experience considerably.
The summary
The first hour or so is excellent, the middle is a bit saggy and slow, but it picks up at the end, although the action at the climax is slightly lacklustre. Brandon Routh was a great casting choice.
