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MovieMail's Review
Shot with Panavision's new 'Genesis HD Digital Cinematography System', Superman Returns is the most astounding example yet of the digital video (DV) feature: technically it looks (at least to an untrained eye) as flawless and prestigious as one shot on 70 mm film. The polished look is enhanced by some exquisite production design and art direction, and a thankfully discerning use of show-stopping CGI effects. Of course, for a film costing a reported $250 million, we'd expect nothing less, but even so, Returns is an impressively classy addition to the pantheon of summer blockbusters.
Director Bryan Singer takes things a little more seriously here than Richard Lester did in Supermans II and III (let's forget Sidney Furie's Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, shall we?), and brings the film more in line with Richard Donner's first instalment and the original Donner-staged scenes for Superman II. As Returns serves loosely as a sequel and a remake, the action works as a follow-on from the events of the second film. Having abandoned a potential love affair with Lois Lane to fly into deep space to look for what remains of his home planet, Krypton, Superman returns five years later to find Lois with a new partner and child. Added to this emotional blow is the tireless threat of arch-villain Lex Luthor (played with relish by Kevin Spacey, clearly enjoying a cultural break from overseeing the Old Vic's current repertoire). As twistedly ambitious as ever, Luthor has got his hands on some Kryptonite technology in a bid to kill the caped crusader and dominate the world.
Intriguingly, Singer focuses the film on the human (or super-human) side of the story, rather than on the usual whizz-bang lengthy action sequences – even more so than in Raimi's soap-opera-esque Spider-Man films. While it doesn’t carry this to the extremes of M Night Shamalyan’s excellent Unbreakable, the approach gives unexpected depth to the story and means that when the notably spectacular action sequences come, they carry more weight than you'd expect.
A triumphant and exilarating return to the big screen for Superman, who here returns to the planet Krypton before coming back to earth to act again as the people's savior. Kevin Spacey is superb as Lex Luthor.
