Superman Returns - 19th July 2006

I've never been a fan of DC comics in general and more specifically of Superman as a character. As a non-human he is too perfect, which, ironically is his greatest flaw. This updating (ish) of the Superman myth did little to give Superman any more humanity but just showed that being perfect could be a lot of fun.

There was a lot to recommend this film; firstly there was a plot, which was neatly structured but at the same time reassuring: evil genius wants to take over the world (or something) and Superman must foil his evil schemes.

The acting was also first rate: Brandon Routh made a good Man of Steel; the inscrutability of the Kryptonian could have been mistaken for woodenness, were it not for the fabulously geeky way he played the mild-mannered Clark Kent. Kevin Spacey gave a brilliant evil genius turn as Lex Luther but the whole show was stolen by his sidekick Kitty who was so fabulously bonkers that every scene she was in turned into pure gold. I find that DC comic characters are a little one-dimensional but sometimes that's just what you need. At least you always know where you stand.

And of course, being directed by Bryan Singer there were some quite clever bits thrown in: the homage to 2001 in the weightless plane; the wonderful expressionistic shot of the crowded, universally Daily Planet-reading elevator; the continuing play on how it is possible no-one suspects Clark Kent to be Superman when they look *identical*; the portrayal of Superman as Atlas with the metaphorical world (and the literal Daily Planet globe) on his shoulders and the Scrabble board, disturbed as Superman makes his return to Earth, containing such words as 'alienation' and 'bent' (I didn't have time to spot any others of note, or to see if any of them were on a triple word score...)

However, being two and a half hours long there was quite a lot which could have been cut. Most notably the scenes where Superman just flies around a bit, for ages. Also most of the scenes containing Lois Lane, who I just found incredibly irritating. She was just so offensively perfect, with her perfect little family - if it had been me I would have watched all three of them drown in the boat, laughing as their perfect little faces silently mouthed their final pleas for help. So maybe it's a good thing I don't have superpowers...

One thing that has been puzzling me for ages is the issue of Superman's hair. As Clark Kent he has a bit of a side parting but then, while changing into his costume, he somehow has time to gel his hair and get that one perfect curl hanging down on his forehead... When does he have the time? And wouldn't that time be better spent, you know, saving people? Maybe that's a question for the (inevitable) sequel.

Superman gets 3 and a half stars out of 5.