Superman Returns

• Directed by Bryan Singer
• Starring Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, Kevin Spacey
• The film's greatest merit, like other superhero greats (Spiderman and Singer's own X-men II comes to mind) is how it begs us to identify and relate with the hero. Brandon Routh's Superman may indeed be super (the film's SFX sequences are all spectacular), but he also has other issues to deal with just like the rest of us. Kudos to Singer who decided to give these other plotlines as much attention and screentime as the save-the-world part. The result is a well-balanced and polished film. Good superhero movies make you want to have superhero powers when you leave the theater. Great ones make you want to be the hero, sharing his/her ideals and beliefs. This is one such movie.
  
  The only real flaw is perhaps the utter uselessness of the main villain. Kevin Spacey did his best to make Luthor as memorable as he could, but when you are going against Superman, you need much more than that to stand out.
  
  IMPORTANT LESSON: When going to watch movies that children might also be present in the theater, either schedule for an evening showing or bring some transquilizer with you. Vicious elbow attacks could work too, to the child or the mother, or both. -Comment written by Dear-