Superman Returns Winning Critical Praise

James Joyner @ Gone Hollywood | Wednesday, June 21, 2006

The long-awaited return of Superman to the big screen is drawing rave reviews from critics who have pre-screened it.

“Superman Returns,” which opens in the United States next week, is receiving knock-out first reviews from critics, with newcomer Brandon Routh tipped to win over audiences as the latest crime-fighting “Man of Steel.” Hollywood’s two trade newspapers, Daily Variety and Hollywood Reporter, gave the movie strong reviews, with The Reporter describing it as “a heartfelt Superman movie that plays to a broad audience thanks to an emotionally troubled Man of Steel.”

Daily Variety critic Todd McCarthy said director Bryan Singer had imprinted the Warner Bros. movie with its own personality. “‘Superman Returns’ is never self-consciously hip, ironic, post-modern or camp. To the contrary, it’s quite sincere, with an artistic elegance,” he said. Routh won praise for his apparent effortlessness — with his resemblance to Superman predecessor, the late Christopher Reeve, not going unnoticed.

The movie’s plot has Superman returning to Earth following a mysterious absence of several years. Back home, an old enemy plots to render him powerless once and for all while the superhero’s great love, Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), has moved on — or has she?

Newsweek said Singer, who left the popular “X-Men” franchise to make “Superman Returns,” did the right thing from the start of “this gorgeously crafted epic” by showing respect for the most foursquare comic superheroes of them all. The magazine added that “Routh may or may not be a real actor, but he effortlessly lays claim to the iconic role, just as Reeve did. Indeed, he virtually duplicates Reeve in the way he plays Kent as a diffident, awkward Midwestern colt.” “Next to Singer’s champagne, most recent superhero adventure movies are barely sparkling cider.”