Superman Returns
Dir: Bryan Singer
2006
**
Bryan Singer made one of the best films of the 90's, his 1995 The Usual Suspects gave cinema the kick in the behind that it really needed around that time. He also opened a new chapter in the Superhero genre. Nothing of great value was happening in the world of superhero/comic adaptations and 2000's X-Men took everyone by surprise. The (late) 70's had Superman, the (late) 80's/ (early) 90's had Batman and now the (early) 00's had X-men. He raised the bar and showed the door to pretty much everything that has come since. Producers could finally see that there was profit to be had and this was the way to go. You can thank/damn Singer for the recent explosion of superhero films in many respects, depending on your tastes of course. After X2 Singer was offered Superman, many versions had been written and binned since Christopher Reeves last outing in 1987 and for a young director and huge fan, it was an offer he just couldn't refuse. I get that, there are many fans who have passed working on Superman films because they knew deep down they would never be able to do it justice, I respect their integrity but I also respect anyone who takes it on as it can be a make or break deal. Singer dropped his beloved X-Men franchise, passed the third movie over and worked on bringing the Man of Steal back to the big screen where he belonged. 
 After the collapse of McG's 'Flyby' and Tim Burton's infamous Nic Cage lead 'Superman Lives' (watch the brilliant The Death of "Superman Lives": What Happened? by Jon Schnepp to find out more), the steaks were very high. Singer needed to ground the myth and give the fans what they really wanted, or at least what he and the audience thought that was. 'Flyby' and 'Lives' may not have been green-lit, and maybe this was a good thing, but at least their scripts were fresh and original. Superman Returns relies heavily on the Reeves films, takes the bits it likes and filled in the gaps with imitation when they should have made the film their own. I loath this film. I think the audacity of asking (telling) the fans to simply forget Superman III and IV ever happened is extremely arrogant, not to mention lazy. I was thrilled when I heard John Williams' original theme tune only to be let down by what seemed like a cheap copy. Brandon Routh looked the part but he was never allowed to inject anything new into the character, which was very unfair for him. He's a great Superman but not a very good Christopher Reeve impersonator. The casting is pretty much wrong across the board, apart from Kevin Spacey who is one of the film's few saving graces. Interestingly, the casting of Spacey was the only idea that Singer kept from McG's failed Flyby. My biggest problem is the story. Singer wanted to explore the idea of an outsider, great but I think he totally fails to do so. In previous Superman films our hero is stopped by Kryptonite the size of a pebble, somehow now a whole continent of the stuff can't even stop him. Historically, Superman's real 'Kryptonite' is his ridiculous abilities. Flyby and Live knew this and had limited his power to strengthen the story. We know he's going to prevail but at least make it interesting, vaguely sensible or at least correct past mistakes. It's never very clear or convincing as to why Superman went back to Krypton either and don't even get me started on the whole Son of Superman/Superboy scene. More time seems to have been spent on fashionable Matrix-style effects rather than on story, these effects brought nothing to the film, which was overall pretty dull. The original 1978 Superman film had problems, as did the sequels, but Returns doesn't have the slightest ounce of passion or magic that those films had. I don't think I would have been in the least bit interested if I had seen it as a child and a childhood without Superman is unfathomable to me. Thankfully many fans agreed, it made money but the reviews were in. Back to the drawing board and thankfully Singer went back to X-Men. 2013's Man of Steel isn't a perfect film but thankfully it has moved the story on somewhat and has given us something new, something the franchise desperately needed. Singer asked the fans to forget Superman III & IV, but personally I'm more than comfortable to forget Superman Returns instead.