Superman--born on a planet which has long since died--has been raised by adoptive parents on the Kent farm in Kansas. The young boy Kal-El is renamed Clark Kent, and though he has grown up among humans, he is not one of them. Under Earth's yellow sun, he can do two things humans can only dream of, but to co-exist with them he must live a dual life as mild, unassuming Clark Kent, secretly transforming into the Man of Steel when the world cries out for him. But now, the world's crises have gone unheeded for five long years since Superman's mysterious disappearance. Without him, crime has risen in the city of Metropolis and beyond; that's not even counting the future destructive acts of Lex Luthor, who has been sprung from prison with the specific intent of using Superman's technological secrets for his own personal gain and glory. Lois Lane, star reporter for the Daily Planet and the love of Superman's life, has moved on since Superman left without a word. She has even won a Pulitzer Prize for her essay, "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." Lois has other issues to contend with--she is now engaged to the editor's nephew and has a young son to look after. But for Superman, the long search for his place in the universe ends back at the Kent farm, among the only family he has ever known. His destiny lies in Metropolis, where one look in Lois's eyes tell him that this place, among the flawed but ultimately good people of Earth, is his true home. And with Lex's plan coming to fruition mere hours after his return, the world will never need Superman more than it does now.

Where do you pick up after twenty years, after numerous directors and writers attached to the project have come and gone. Where there have been way to many cast changes and cast rumors and the series has sat in neutral for a decade, while audiences have moved on to the next generation of super heroes, the x-generation, the new super heroes who aren’t always perfect and aren’t as pristine as superman. Don’t get me wrong I love superman but he has always been the pinnacle of all super heroes and this can wear on you. He has nearly every super power you can think of, he lives in a world that is black and white, right and wrong and he is always on the side of white and right, so the character never translated that well in a world that is more gray than black or white. It’s the reason I always liked him in stories like Smallville when he was flawed and learning to use his powers. But Superman is the pinnacle of the comic world, he is the king of the super heroes and his throne has been left unattended for too long, so it was good to see him back on the screen.

I like what they did with the story, they could have scraped the first four movies much like the Batman series did and started from scratch but instead they decided to only scrap two of the movies (III and IV to precise) and pick with he legacy that Christopher Reeves left. And for the most part it works, the story is interesting and intriguing, what would a world who have benefited from a superman do once they lost their hero and what would they do when he reappeared. Does the world need a superman, does it need a savior, does it need someone to combat the evils of the world the movie never really fully answers these questions but its still fun to see thme asked. I thought the story was good, and of course in the 30 years since the original the special effects have come a long way, you can almost feel the wind beneath Supes cape when you watch the movie. A lot was riding on this movie as far as the most famous of super heroes was concerned and for the most they deliver in a fantastic retelling of the most famous of comic characters and the most super for that matter as well.

I like the direction of Bryan Singer, he has really shown he knows what a superhero movie should be and he delivers it. You can see the differences between his X-men movies and those of Brett Ratner’s and realize how much better this superman movie would have been if Brett Ratner had been allowed to direct it. He keeps the mythology of the comics, he keeps the spirit of superman and delivers and action packed thrill ride mixed with plenty of laughs and some homage to the cheesy movies of yesteryear.

I loved and I mean loved Kevin Spacey as Lex Luther he made the whole movie for me, finally we got a Lex that was totally evil and hell bent on destroying the world for his own purposes. Not to say I didn’t like Gene Hackman but his portrayal of the evil genius was too tongue in cheek for me, I want my villains evil, so evil I almost find myself rooting for them instead of the hero. And I have to admit I did want to see Spacey win over the oh so perfect Superman and throw a twist in the series ala the doomsday story arc of the comics. I also like Brandon Routh as Superman because he does look the part and he does pull off the characters of both Clark Kent and Superman. Christopher Reeves will always be the ultimate Superman but Routh does a really good job feeling in the late actors shoes. The only one I was disappointed with was Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane as she never really fit the part of Lois. While I never really cared for Margo Kidder as the original Lois Lane, she felt like Lois and acted how you would thing Lois would act while Kate never does. It may be the age as Bosworth really isn’t old enough to be Lois or it could be the fact she never really makes the part he own like Routh and Spacey did. She is one of the few flaws in an otherwise well done updating of the Man of Steel and she really doesn’t take away from how much fun Superman Returns was.

Grade: A-