Parker Posey Movie:

		List Price: $34.99		Label: Warner Home Video Salesrank: 13495 Released: August 19, 2008
		Our Price: $19.50
		Used Price: $18.65
		MPAA Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested) Media: Blu-ray

Editorial Review:
Studio: Warner Home Video Release Date: 09/09/2008 Rating: Pg13

Description of Superman Returns [Blu-ray]:
If Richard Donner's 1978 feature film Superman: The Movie made us believe a man could fly, Bryan Singer's 2006 follow-up, Superman Returns, lets us remember that a superhero movie can make our spirits soar. Superman (played by newcomer Brandon Routh) comes back to Earth after a futile five-year search for his destroyed home planet of Krypton. As alter ego Clark Kent, he's eager to return to his job at the Daily Planet and to see Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth). Lois, however, has moved on: she now has a fiancé (James Marsden), a son (Tristan Leabu), and a Pulitzer Prize for her article entitled "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." On top of this emotional curveball, his old archrival Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) is plotting the biggest land grab in history.

Singer, who made a strong impression among comic-book fans for his work on the X-Men franchise and directed Spacey in The Usual Suspects, brings both a fresh eye and a sense of respect to the world's oldest superhero. He borrows John Williams's great theme music and Marlon Brando's voice as Jor-El, and the story (penned by Singer's X-Men collaborators Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris) is a sort-of-sequel to the first two films in the franchise (choosing to ignore that the third and fourth movies ever happened). The humorous and romantic elements give the movie a heart, Singer's art-deco Metropolis is often breathtaking, and the special effects are elegant and spectacular, particularly an early airplane-disaster set-piece. Of the cast, Routh is excellent as the dual Superman/Clark, Spacey is both droll and vicious as Luthor, and Parker Posey gets the best lines as Luthor's moll Kitty. But at 23, Bosworth seems too young for the five-years-past-grizzled Lois. It's nice to see Noel Neill, Jack Larson (both from the classic Adventures of Superman TV series), and Eva Marie-Saint on the screen as well. Superman Returns is one of those projects that was in development for seemingly forever, but it was worth the wait -- it's the most enjoyable superhero movie since Spider-Man 2 and The Incredibles. --David Horiuchi

More Superman

Watch our exclusive interviews with the cast of Superman Returns	Other feature films	Superman in high definition
Smallville	Adventures of Superman	See all Superman DVDs

Superman Returns [Blu-ray] Reviews:
At Least It Erased The Bad Taste of 3 (and 4) Away
2009-11-09 - To me, what truly bogs this film down is bad casting, particularly Lois Lane, the pacing and the lack of originality. While Brandon Routh (who is a dead ringer for Christopher Reeve) acts very well for his role, he doesn't seem to command screen presence like Reeve (ironically the first Superman being his first big feature). Kevin Spacey uses more dry humor and has a lethal threat to him when compared to Gene Hackman. My only wish for these Superman films is STOP USING LEX LUTHOR! It's not like he's got plenty of other villains to go up against (Brainiac, Bizarro, Toyman, Silver Banshee, Mongul, Doomsday, etc.) And since they did use Luthor, again, couldn't they've turned him into the twisted business man instead of him just going after land? Again. Frank Langella does a good job with Perry White, even throwing a reference to the old TV series. Sam Huntington is bland as Jimmy Olsen (a character I don't really like anyway, he gets on my nerves too easily). James Marsden's character was a nice twist so that way Lois isn't always pining after Superman, but the guy must not be very confident in Lois' affections towards him as every time the hero's name is mentioned, he gets into some whiney attitude. Eva Marie-Saint, Jack Larson and Noel Neil (Jimmy and Lois, respectively, from the original series) cameo as well. Bosworth was a complete mistake as a Lois. I don't know if its the way they chose to go with the character or not, but she HATES Superman, almost downright dispises him. I know the guy left without saying goodbye and that can feel hurtful but to go on and write an aricle about how the world doesn't need Superman when, before he left anyway, he was always constantly saving her skin, doesn't put her in a good light. And she looks way too young for the role. When I saw Margot Kidder, I didn't see an actor, I saw Lois Lane. The other aspect I hated was the allusion that Jason is Superman's son (alluding to Supes and Lois' one night stand back in Superman II). It seems too contrived and it feels like a forced plot point. The pacing is slow, especially once Luthor's Kryptonite landmass is formed. For an action movie, the third act, which is supposed to be the climax, just feels like an extension of the second act. The effects are good but the heat vision you can just barely see and some shots of Routh flying (I suppose when its actually him) looks like he's CGI. The story feels unoriginal. I know Singer meant it as a tribute to the first two (more so the first) but Superman reiterating the line about airplanes, using Marlon Brando, Luthor's obsession with land and the romantic flying sequence just feel like they were ripping those moments off. Now, subtle references/moments which work better for me are Kitty asking if Luthor's been in the Fortress before, saving a plane and Lois' first interview with Superman. John Ottman does a fine job adapting Williams' classic themes while doing a great job with his own material (and editing the movie as well).

Superman Returns... Hiding in the bushes it's a bird...
2009-11-07 - Superman Returns: 4 out of 10: This movie is definitely missing the spark that made the first two Supermans fun. (Superman 3 was pretty awful and Superman 4 is one of the worst films of all time). Superman comes across as a bit of a jerk and a bully in this film and the franchise is not all that better for it.

Superman has gone away for five years in a plot contrivance that threatens to sink the film before it can begin. The claim is that he is seeking the remains of his home world (Not to sound like a comic book geek, but he if gets his powers from our yellow sun one would think he shouldn't be flying past Pluto let alone halfway across the galaxy.) He comes back, sort of says hi to mom, tortures his poor loyal dog with a tennis ball and heads to the big city where he stalks his ex-girlfriend Lois whom he did not even tell he was leaving and who has clearly gone on with her life.

I'm not exaggerating the stalking. Superman hangs outsider her house using superpowers to snoop like some DC comics version of a cautionary Lifetime movie.

Lex Luthor is also back with another stupid plan though Kevin Spacey does play the character well and a talented Parker Posey fills both the Otis and Mrs. Teschmacher shoes.

Both leads (Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth) have zero chemistry with each other and considering they were passionate lovers, their conversations are pretty stunted and mundane.

The action sequences are decent but the whole film seems to drag at two and a half hours and there is a distinct lack of joy. (You know something fun like everyone putting his or her Kryptonite up on E-bay, or Superman dating a supermodel to make Lois jealous that kind of thing, everyone seems so damn melancholy.) Speaking of melancholy, I noticed that Superman never asked about any disasters he didn't prevent while he was on his so-called vacation. Maybe a trip over lower Metropolis to see Ground Zero would have given him a reason for all the moping.


The best superhero movie since Spider-Man 2 (and Superman 2)
2009-09-10 - Superman is the Grand Old Man of superheroes, and so a movie dusting the character off after an almost twenty year absence needs to walk a fine line between reverance and pure high adventure. Bryan Singer's Superman Returns does just that ... at once a loving homage to the great work Richard Donner did in 1978 with Christopher Reeve and Gene Hackman and an elegant re-imagining of a hero we all know by heart, even if we think we don't. What Bryan Singer delivers is a smart, action-packed and heartfelt movie, bringing Superman to us after a fruitless 5 year search for his home planet, Krypton. His return to earth as Clark Kent coincides with Lex Luthor's newest real estate scheme, this one involving Kryptonite and a place to detonate it. (It's funny that the Lex Luthor of the Superman movie universe is so brilliant but only obsessed with real estate. And Kevin Spacey does the arch-nemesis complete justice ... making him both funny and very terrifying.) Our first real encounter with Brandon Routh's Superman (an excellent Brandon Routh) is a set-piece involving a fiery airplane and an endangered Lois Lane. This first glimpse of him is as satisfying as when Christopher Reeve snagged a falling Margot Kidder from the Daily Planet building and she screeched "You've got me? Who's got you?" And statistically, flying is still the safest way to travel. -- Brandon Routh's Superman already has an old soul and he wins our hearts from the beginning. He is an alien on an alien world and his outsider status never fails to touch us. This is not a question of Superman Returns being the best movie since Reeves' first two outings. Superman Returns belongs on the same shelf with these two. It is, simply, the most satisfying super hero movie to come along in a long while. Epic and intimate, spectacular and touchingly ordinary, Superman Returns does proper tribute to the first (and best) superhero flying around out there. Highly recommended.

Superman returns
2009-09-05 - Movie is clean and older child friendly. The acting could have been better. Superman character was sweet and comes across as almost helpless. IT is hard to review since no one could take Chris Reeves place. As a whole, I did find it entertaining and had to buy the first 4 to find out in what original segment when Superman could have become a father. I just wish they could have carried it a little further, I felt like it left us hanging in the air. After all what part was he going to play in raising his child.

Superman Finally Returns - An Incredible Epic With Missing Pieces
2009-09-04 - Three years ago, this film had lots (and lots) of potential considering its astronomical budget and enormous special effects resources that weren't available at the time Christopher Reeve's Superman exuberantly soared across movie screens in 1978. In all fairness, the 2006 film's overall production design is its best asset -- it's simply nothing short of fantastic. However, this movie's main flaws consisting of non-existent chemistry between the romantic leads, some unconvincing CGI special effects, and a recycled, charmless script frankly belong on enthusiastic director Bryan Singer's doorstep because he also co-produced and co-wrote this production. As much as this movie is a heartfelt tribute to the timeless 1978 Richard Donner film, Singer apparently didn't realize that a Superman adventure still needs an exhilarating sense of fun to succeed.

In terms of casting, the supporting cast members, specifically, Frank Langella as Perry White; Sam Huntington as Jimmy Olsen; and former X-Man James Marsden as Lois's fiance, in my opinion, outshine the three lead actors. While Marsden received far more screen time than Langella and Huntington, all three actors made the most of their on-screen opportunities. Despite Kevin Spacey's seemingly perfect casting as the diabolical Lex Luthor, his evident boredom here makes one constantly hope that he will spring a witty Gene Hackman-esque quip at any time just to liven things up (it doesn't happen). Parker Posey fares pretty well substituting as Ms. Teschmacher (under a different name), but, in Spacey's bombastic presence, she mostly fades into the scenery. Terrific cameos by old "Superman" pros Jack Larsen, Noel Neill, and, of course, Marlon Brando, were, however, much appreciated. The young actor portraying Lois' young son also did a fine job.

As for leads Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth, I didn't grasp what magical chemistry Singer must have thought they had together, because it doesn't really ignite on-screen. Routh tries as best he can to mimic Christopher Reeve's iconic presence, but, unfortunately, Routh can not match neither the charisma nor the depth Reeve brought to the role (by making it look so easy). Still, yes, Routh was probably the best possible choice to play Superman, and he certainly deserves another chance to improve his relatively solid performance.

On the other hand, Kate Bosworth, despite being a good actress, was simply miscast -- honestly, I haven't seen this bad of a miscasting job since Denise Richards haplessly appeared as a nuclear scientist with Pierce Brosnan's 007 in "The World is Not Enough," back in 1999. In large part due to her youth, Bosworth doesn't come close to making one believe she is a Pulitzer-worthy, big city journalist who is raising a young son and still recovering from her break-up with Superman five years later. Actress Mia Kirshner (who is much closer to Lois' supposed age and appearance) reportedly lost out to Bosworth for the role, and, in retrospect, would likely have made a better Lois if she had been given the opportunity. If a sequel is produced soon, perhaps Kirshner will get the chance.

Moving on to the film's special effects, despite some truly breath-taking visuals, I felt like I was often watching a live-action video game's graphics. In other words, the enormous budget is easy to see, but the CGI effects are really too obvious at times. Routh appears in at least some of the close-ups during the flying scenes, but, since Singer chose CGI over old school effects, a viewer more often sees Routh's computer-animated clone flying, not a real actor. Here is one of the film's crucial flaws: Christopher Reeve's acting skills (i.e. his facial expressions) while flying made one believe he was truly Superman rather just an actor hanging from wires. In comparison, unfortunately, Routh here is less convincing because it is too hard to distinguish him from his expressionless CGI counterpart.

Finally, the storyline is missing two vital elements. One, the wonderous fun and charming humor of Donner's film is sorely absent here. Considering both the film's grim plot and hefty running time, I can't fathom why Singer didn't recognize how vitally important comic relief was to Donner's film. Besides, if he lovingly incorporated so many of the original film's popular elements, why omit the humor? Second, Lex Luthor needs to take an originality pill. While, yes, it is consistent that Hackman's Luthor had an affinity for real estate (and lots of it), as does Spacey's character, Singer should have at least been able to conjure up a fresh evil plot worthy of Luthor's incessant scheming to enhance this movie's potential.

If the screenwriters were to go back in time and completely revamp this storyline, I might have suggested to them to consider making Routh an adult "Son of Superman," with Margot Kidder playing his widowed mother in Smallville, and, of course, the late Marlon Brando making a cameo as the new Superman's grandfather. As a coup, bring in a fresh, new villain (like Brainiac) to team up with Spacey's Luthor (Gene Hackman is probably too old now) to tangle with their new worst enemy (a rookie Superman). With an assist from some CGI effects, the film could have then satisfactorily wrapped with a poignant, one-time only farewell sequence between Routh's Superman and his long-missing father (reminiscent of the Reeve-Brando scenes from "Superman: The Movie"). That way, much like J.J. Abrams did so well with "Star Trek" this year, the Superman franchise could have been revitalized with an entirely new focus and a wide open future to play with, while still re-affirming Christopher Reeve's timeless legacy as the definitive Man of Steel.

In summary, as much as I wanted to enjoy Singer's movie, there were many times I just couldn't. Without the necessary humor and charm, a lot of wasted potential went down the tubes with Singer's grandiose saga. Inevitably, Superman will someday soar back into theaters, but he may very well need a director like Richard Donner on the sidelines directing traffic to ensure that filmgoers will truly believe a man can fly.

Grade: a strong 3 (out of 5).