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Movie Review

Superman Returns

Shamma M. Raghib

Directed by BRYAN SINGER
Released by Warner Bros.
Citywide
PG 13 Comic Action Movie
Characters: Superman (Brandon Routh), Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) | Movie Rating: 7/10

Comic-turned-movies are NOT for people like me who abhor the idea of heroes wearing their underwear over their pants! Especially if the key role is played by good-looking newcomers like Brandon Routh! In this movie Superman (Brandon Routh) literally comes back with a bang five years after searching for the destroyed planet of Krypton. He finds himself in a post-9/11 planet where fiery airplanes fall from the skies, wars erupt in the Middle East and great walls of water threaten the lives of millions. For five years, people have learnt to live without him. Life has managed to go on, even without an invincible intergalactic hero to right various wrongs. Lois, meanwhile, has finally nabbed her Pulitzer award, for an op-ed piece about “Why the world doesn't need Superman after all”. She's even gone and gotten herself another boyfriend who flies a nice-guy pilot (and her fiancé) to be exact. She's become a mommy, too. The son apparently is violently asthmatic, looks extremely feeble but has latent powers.

So what happens when Superman returns? Lex Luthor was a well-known criminal once, but has been in low profile for quite some time until his grandmother dies, without signing the will. Nevertheless, he miraculously manages to copy her signature and thus gets the whole property to himself. He plans to do something very, very bad with a cache of crystals raided from the fortress of solitude. The plan can kill billions, and that is something Superman won't take. Defying the deadly radioactive crystal thrust in his body, Superman fights to save the world once again. In the end, the world fights for saving Superman!

Directed by Bryan Singer, Superman Returns is a loving homage to Christopher Reeve, who once became inseparable from his Superman-branded costume. Remember Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins and the two Sam Raimi Spiderman movies? Well, Superman Returns is a similarly beguiling piece of storytelling that's both soul-searching and respectful, putting a timely spin on a timeless character without violating his original essence. Superman is torn between balancing his personal desires and the world's safety on his hands. The movie is moving, full of nostalgia and it makes you admire humankind's potential when it comes to saving lives. Superman will grip you, stir your inner soul, and make you feel worth living in a world where people care about you. It makes you wonder if it is time when you need a savior. It makes you wonder 'what if Superman were true?'

Personally, I think Kate Bosworth is too old for the character of Lois, while Brandon looked too young. The $ 260 million film nonetheless managed to please the countless comic-book fans, indulging themselves into the story of a timeless hero who saves the world yet again. The movie ends when one character in the movie is apparently pronounced dead! Is it Lois? Is it the bald sly land-grabbing criminal? Or is it Superman himself? Well, packed with awesome SFX and comic like graphics, it is time for you to find out. Well worth a snack-time treat!