Entertainment

It's bird! It's a plane! It's a rousing hit! Welcome to the summer's first super movie

10:54 AM CDT on Tuesday, June 27, 2006

By PHILIP WUNTCH / The Dallas Morning News

So you think you don't need another Superman movie? Think again.

Sony Pictures Imageworks

Superman Returns gives us a Superman with heart and soul, which also happens to be a song used cleverly in the film.

The movie, in fact, is filled with whimsical touches. But first, the basics: The action scenes are, as expected, thrilling. As super-villain Lex Luthor, Kevin Spacey provides the anticipated devilish fun. And Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth give thoughtful performances as Superman-Clark Kent and Lois Lane.

Surprisingly, the film's overall mood is mellow and even bittersweet.

Such an autumnal spirit may bewilder hardcore action fanatics, who probably will be impatient during the plot's 20-minute exposition. Macho moviegoers needn't worry; the enthralling action segments will appease your bloodlust.

Meanwhile, Superman purists will debate various points unacknowledged by the screenplay.

But the film triumphs on its own honorable terms. Director Bryan Singer provides Superman Returns with a unity and wholeness often lacking in such extravaganzas. Mr. Singer directed the first two X-Men flicks as well as The Usual Suspects, and he recognizes the importance of characterization even in the chaos of spectacular stunts.

He's also a crafty enough action director to make you cheer nick-of-time rescues even when you never doubted that the rescues would occur. One of those segments involves a burning space shuttle. It's a terrific vignette, even though we're well aware that Superman flies through the air with the greatest of ease.

The film could accommodate theorists who see a messianic message in the story, particularly when Superman assumes a crucifixion pose. Other Web theories, such as gay undercurrents in the Clark Kent-Jimmy Olsen relationship, seem far more tenuous.

Mr. Singer also seems aware that human and even canine faces can be the most special of effects. This is particularly evident in a lingering close-up of a mournful Eva Marie Saint as Clark Kent's earthly mother. And he has cast the movie with memorable faces.

Understandable reverence engulfs the memory of both Christopher Reeve and his wife, Dana, and the film is dedicated to the deceased couple.

However, we should remember that Mr. Reeve did not stun everyone when 1978's Superman was released. His initial reviews were favorable but not rapturous. But he grew on us, particularly in 1980's Superman II.

Mr. Routh may require a similar period of adjustment. He resembles the late Mr. Reeve to an uncanny degree, but he gives us a softer, gentler Superman. He's a completely modern male, in touch with his feelings. As such, he's more humanized than Mr. Reeve and obviously never the stock figure George Reeves was.

Mr. Spacey comically overflows with delicious evil, never more than when gleefully bragging that his plans to overtake the planet will require "billions of deaths." Onetime indie princess Parker Posey provides deadpan humor as his moll, although her character is a definite nonessential.

Ms. Bosworth's Lois Lane is a definite essential, and she's written and played that way. In Ms. Bosworth's strong performance, Lois has far transcended the vintage "girl reporter" stereotype. She's won a Pulitzer Prize for a stinging editorial, "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman."

She's mightily miffed that Superman left her five years ago for reasons known only to himself, and she greets his return with caution. In the meantime, she's borne a son, Jason, and she has a fiancé, Perry White's nephew, Richard.

Jason and Richard are splendidly played by serious-faced Tristan Lake Leabu and affable James Marsden, respectively. The screenplay intelligently depicts Richard as a sensitive, compassionate man rather than a one-dimensional rival for Lois' love.

Frank Langella is a hoot as arrogant editor Perry White, while Sam Huntington invests cub photographer Olsen with an adolescent's endearing eagerness and self-absorption. Ms. Saint lives up to her last name with a poignant portrayal of a mother who really is a human supermom.

Sets, stunts and special effects are all state-of-the-art. But Superman Return's real hero is director Singer. He gives us a movie that is mellow when it should be and rousing when it should be. That can't have been an easy juggling act.

E-mail pwuntch@dallasnews.com

Superman Returns

Grade: A-
Starring Brandon Routh, Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth, James Marsden and Eva Marie Saint. Directed by Bryan Singer. Rated PG-13 (intense action, mild language, mild sexual references). In wide release. First showings tonight at 10 p.m. 154 min.