Bryan Singer’s “Superman Returns” begins after a five-year absence for the Man of Steel. Sometime after his battle with General Zod in the second film, Superman (Brandon Routh) leaves on a five year odyssey to find Krypton, or what’s left of it. He returns to find Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) now has a fiancee (James Marsden), a kid named Jason (Tristan Lake Leabu) and a Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial entitled “Why the World Doesn’t Need A Superman”. Overwhelmed by these changes, Superman struggles to re-discover his place in Metropolis, while Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) plots his downfall using crystals stolen from the Fortress of Solitude.
After a host of celebrity hopefuls, Singer did the film a service by casting relative unknown Brandon Routh as Clark Kent. He doesn’t fill the cape in the way Christopher Reeves did, but he comes very close regardless. Reeves had the physique of linebacker, yet he could blend seamlessly into Clark Kent’s genuine insecurities. Routh lacks Reeves’ impressive physique, but he is able to mirror Kent’s vulnerability effortlessly. He also manages to bring something new to the mantle, able to look like both Clark Kent and Superman in the same scene. With Routh at the helm, its becomes hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.
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