By The Movie Maven

The latest installment in the Superman movie legacy, “Superman Returns,” is a visually impressive and entertaining family action flick that keeps in tune surprisingly well with the original films in some aspects, but is sorely lacking in others.

The story begins with Superman (Brandon Routh) returning from a prolonged visit to his home planet, Krypton, to search for possible survivors after its destruction. Upon his return to Earth, he is dismayed to find that the world has moved on in his absence, including love interest Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), who now has a son, a fiancé, and a Pulitzer Prize, which she won for writing a scathing article entitled, “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman.”

Sensing a little anger there? Superman is determined to prove her, and the world, wrong. Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey), arch nemesis to the Man of Steel, has also resurfaced, devising a deadly money-making scheme that would kill billions of people and eliminate Superman once and for all.

Newcomer Routh may look a little like Christopher Reeve, but he lacks the charisma and onscreen persona that Reeve so easily conveyed. Instead, Routh comes across as a closet metrosexual with little to say. I also wondered why Superman has the same look of extreme strain whether he’s lifting a jet or a pencil. Does Superman have limits, or does he just want to make people think he’s working?

Bosworth looked great playing Lois Lane, but other actresses could have done a better job pulling off the sass that Margot Kidder exhibited in the original (1977) Superman movies.

Bosworth plays Lane with an air of vanilla that you could cut with a knife. In fact, her performance was so brilliantly blank, I never really felt worried or upset when she was in trouble. Her son, Jason, (Tristan Lake Leabu) wasn’t much better. Though we may know who the father is, we definitely know he inherited Lois’ genetic lack of spunk.

As a summer action flick, “Superman Returns” feeds the craving for impressive visuals and keeps the content under control well enough for children to enjoy it. I do want to take this opportunity to warn you, though, that the bathroom lines at the end are miserable. A movie this long (two hours, 34 minutes!), combined with a jumbo theater beverage, spells certain disaster!

“Superman Returns” is showing at Weatherford Cinema 10.
3 out of 5 stars