Synopsis

The world's cries have gone unheeded for five long years since Superman's mysterious disappearance. Without him, crime has risen in the city of Metropolis and beyond; that's not even counting the future destructive acts of Lex Luthor, who has been sprung from prison with the specific intent of using Superman's technological secrets for his own personal gain and glory. Lois Lane, star reporter for the Daily Planet and the love of Superman's life, has moved on since Superman left without a word. She has even won a Pulitzer Prize for her essay, "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman." Lois has other issues to contend with - she is now engaged to the editor's nephew and has a young son to look after. But for Superman, the long search for his place in the universe ends back at the Kent farm, among the only family he has ever known. His destiny lies in Metropolis, where one look in Lois's eyes tells him that this place, among the flawed but ultimately good people of Earth, is his true home. And with Lex's plan coming to fruition mere hours after his return, the world will never need Superman more than it does now. Luckily, Superman has returned.

What The Critics Say

"Routh is delightful... he looks and sounds so much like poor departed Christopher Reeve that it's a bit eerie. But he's his own charming self, too, with a sense of vulnerability that is at once sweeter and edgier than Reeve's was." MaryAnn Johanson FLICK FILOSOPHER "Nothing can stop Superman: not bullets, not plot holes, and certainly not mere mortals like the occasional movie critic. A gravity-defying success!" David Foucher EDGE BOSTON "Superman Returns is near the top -- if not at the top -- of the superhero movie pile. It offers nearly everything: romance, action, humor, and plenty of goose bumps. For Superman, many happy returns." James Berardinelli, REELVIEWS "The film is magnificently mounted, it moves like a speeding bullet and it's so respectful of Superman traditions that even the pickiest of die-hard fans should love it." William Arnold, SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER "...both the film and its star maintain continuity with the earlier films while having their own unique qualities. Superman Returns has an emotional depth that the earlier films did not." Laura Clifford REELING REVIEWS

"This Superman is like nothing you've ever seen before, but it tickles something primitive and comforting at the back of the mind. Gorgeously detailed and meticulously realized, it's a homecoming of a movie." Sara Brady PREMIERE MAGAZINE "...this new Superman is going to be huge and will spawn its own set of sequels." Robin Clifford REELING REVIEWS "... a rare sequel that deserves many happy returns all its own." Carol Cling, LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL "All of these elements -- the casting, cinematography, design and score -- ultimately serve Singer's greatest achievement, which is the storytelling." Annlee Ellingson BOXOFFICE MAGAZINE "The performances are all quite good, especially Routh and Bosworth, who exude the chemistry necessary for a love story, even if it is a triangular one. Leabu is quite adorable with tousled hair and big brown eyes, while Spacey, as the diabolical, rotten-to-the-core Luthor, is well cast. This is no ordinary Superman." Jeanne Kaplan KAPLAN VS KAPLAN

The Inside Story

"Even though you've been raised as a human being you're not one of them. They can be a great people, Kal-El. They wish to be. They only lack the light to show the way. For this reason above all – their capacity for good – I have sent them you, my only son." Jor-El - Father of Superman.

The whole world breathed a collective sigh of relief on the 29th of June 2006 when the world's greatest super hero, Superman, alias Clark Kent, unexpectedly returned to the blue planet after an unexplained abscence of five years. Where had he been? Why had he deserted us? People in every nation on Earth wanted those questions answered. The world had grown a lot darker in those five years and without a 'saviour' to protect us, dark forces threatened to destroy the very fabric of society. Criminals like Lex Luthor who was freed because of a lock of evidence. With Superman's return this dastardly evil mastermind has a plan to take his revenge on the man of steel even if billions of people may die. He will use Superman’s technological secrets for his own personal gain and glory. Excited that their hero is back, the good citizens of Metropolis rejoice. His return creates some problems. Lois Lane has moved on. She is engaged to Daily Planet editor Perry Whites son Richard who adores her and her little boy. Lois is about to received the Pulitzer Prize for journalism after writing an essay titled, "Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman". Will the spark of love be rekindled now that Superman has returned? All will be revealed in "Superman Returns", the latest 'man of steel' film adventure which tells "an intimate story of one man’s unattainable love and struggle to belong against a backdrop of vast scope and scale, set in a modern-day Metropolis. My hope is, after seeing Brian Singer's film, that it will be the start of a long running franchise, after all Superman is recognized and loved the world over. "There’s not a country you can go to where they don’t know Superman," says director Bryan Singer. "You could probably take the ‘S’ shield into the jungle and you’ll have fifty-fifty recognition. In that way he’s a global Super Hero." "Everyone has grown up with one version or another of Superman," says co-screenwriter Dan Harris. "Whether we knew him from the comic books or the small screen or the big screen, we all know the Man of Steel. It’s as simple as that." And why is Superman so popular? The man who directed "The Usual Suspects" and became a household name with "X-Men" and "X-Men 2" believes it's the "combination of his virtue, his indestructibility and his ability to fly. To do the right thing, to be able to take on anything that comes at you and to be able to soar up into the sky, we all have imagined at some point in our lives what it would be like to be him." Even though he was born in 1938? "He was the first to come from another planet and embody a lot of things that we, as human beings, dream about being able to do, primary among them being the ability to fly," says executive producer Chris Lee. "But there’s also his super-strength, his ability to see through anything, and his sense of goodness. That lack of ambiguity is very appealing, and it has stayed the course throughout the 70 years of Superman’s history." And what glorious history it has been. The Superman character went on to be featured in a newspaper strip which ran for more than three decades and today continues to entertain millions of fans each month in DC Comics comic books distributed worldwide through twenty five languages in over fourty countries. On the big screen, the 'Man of Steel' first appeared in 1941 in seventeen groundbreaking animated shorts produced by the famous Fleischer Studios, along with two live action serials. Since then, the Superman has starred in five feature films, numerous successful series for television and thirty five titles on video and DVD. The first-ever feature film was 1951’s "Superman and the Mole-Men" starring George Reeves. It kicked off the subsequent television series "Adventures of Superman" which ran for one hundred and four episodes between 1952 and 1958. Reeves played Superman in the series and reportedly received two thousand five hundred dollars US per episode in the first year of production. Baby Boomers will remember well those exciting years when television became a part of our lives as did Superman. For many fans, their first introduction to Superman came with the release of Richard Donner’s "Superman: The Movie" which starred the late Christopher Reeve as the Man of Steel and deceased film legend Marlon Brando as his father, Jor-El. Director Brian Singer remembers going to see the film with his mother during it's opening week. "I loved it," he remembers. "It brought the character to such amazing life and yet it had a very nostalgic quality but at the same time was very contemporary. It mixed eras effortlessly." The young teenager had a common bond with the super hero. "Superman and I share the fact that we were both adopted," he says. "I was an only child and he was an only child. For those very basic reasons, I have always felt a real connection to him and that is why he is my favorite Super Hero. That is why it was so important for me to tell my Superman story my way." And what a telling it turns out to be. Producer Jon Peters says he got goosebumps when he first heard the story Brian Singer wanted to tell. "The story is contemporary, emotional, action-packed and a love story, too," he said. "It hits all the bases that we want in a Superman movie." But it doesn't re-tell the original tale? "We felt that everyone, whether they realize it or not, knows the origin story," says screenwriter Michael Dougherty. "Everyone knows who Superman is to different degrees. We are simply trying to continue that story." It's a good move and the team made the right choice, we all know the origin of Superman so why go back over the same ground. What the story needed was a fertile mind and it got it when Singer had the change to re-vision the ongoing tale of Superman. "Bryan is a terrific filmmaker," says producer Gilbert Adler. "His great success in the past stems from the fact that he's a natural born storyteller. Bryan tells a riveting story, whether it’s at the craft services table or up there on the big screen. Bryan is a maestro!" One thing Singer was accutely aware of was the need to find an actor embody all the qualities of Kal-El, Clark Kent and Superman which the late Christopher Reeve had done so well. He realezed that to do so, he needed an unknown actor in the lead role. It was the same challenge Richard Donner faced when he decided to cast for his film. It seems nothing had changed. "However daunting that task may have been to fill the boots of Christopher Reeve, the actor to play Superman couldn’t have the baggage of being a movie star," says Singer. "I needed someone who represented and looked like the collective memory we all have of Superman." Donner agrees with Singers assessment. The actor chosen for the role has "got to bring to life the son of Jor-El. He’s got to bring reality and purity to this character. He’s got to then evolve into a Super Hero," he said. "If in any way he is tainted with past references, it would be a major mistake. I think Bryan faced the same conundrum. The moment you associate the actor with another role, you lose the character. To make a man fly and believe it, it had to be an unknown then, and I think today it’s even more true." I, along with many, many Superman fans believe that Singer got it right when he chose twenty six year old Brandon Routh for the role. He's fresh, comes across as a believable man of steel and in many ways is so much like Christopher Reeve. After months of searching for the right actor Routh was discovered on an old audition tape he'd done for Warner Bros Pictures. And guess which role the audition was for? A previous Superman idea Warner were entertaining. Singer says there's no doubting Routh's "physical presence. He looks like he walked off a page in the comic book. Pretty much at that point, he became my first and only choice because I felt confident he could handle all three roles; Kal-El, Clark Kent and Superman." "There’s a great heart at the base of this actor and this person," says producer Adler. "That’s what we all responded to in Brandon. He has a great heart. He has a great understanding of human nature, and I think that’s what makes his portrayal of Superman so compelling. He always had Clark down and it took him no time to become Superman." As for Routh, well he started believing he really had the role when he woke up on Australia in Clark Kents bedroom on the Kent families farm. And how did he get to from Norwalk, Iowa to to the 'land down under'? Like Superman he flew of course. "Walking up to Clark’s room, Kal-El's room, it was exactly as you would imagine it would be," Routh says. "My first shot as Clark was walking across the farm yard and I felt it then too. It’s such an all-encompassing experience, playing this character." In another Super Hero film there's a line that says something like; 'with great power comes great responsibility.' Like the fictional Superman, Routh understood that. "It’s a big responsibility to be true to Bryan’s vision, and to embody someone that so many people around the world have seen in their minds." Joining Routh in the film is accomplished and much lauded actor, Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey who plays Lex Luthor. Spacey, who has won both categories of Oscar for Best Actor and Best supporting actor ("The Usual Suspects" and "American Beauty" respectively) describes his Lex as "much darker, bitter and out for revenge but still with a comic flair. He is the ultimate capitalist. He’s got wide-ranging, hugely complicated evil plans. But at the end of the day, it’s really basic. He just wants his cut." Also in the cast is the gorgeous Kate Boswell who co-stars with Kevin Spacey in "Beyond The Sea". If you haven't seen "Beyond The Sea" rent it on DVD or see it on its release in Australia because the two are just sensational. Like me, Singer says he was "just blown away by Kate’s portrayal of Sandra Dee. Kevin had told me she was terrific to work with so I had her come in and read with Brandon. It was pretty clear that they had a real immediate emotional connection and we all thought she would make a wonderful Lois Lane." It was just one of the many right choices Singer and the team would make in casting the well known character roles in "Superman Returns". The Verdict "There's not one valid reason why anyone would want to compare Superman and Brian Singers "Superman Returns" with any of the previous efforts except to say that it is every bit as good as, if not better than, what you've experienced in the past. Brandon Routh is Superman and lets hope he's around for a long while to come. Has Superman returned? You betcha he has! Very Recommended FOUR STARS." Cast & Crew Bytes "SUPERMAN RETURNS" stars .......
Brandon Routh ["Karla"]; Kate Bosworth ["The Horse Whisperer", "Blue Crush", "Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!" and "Beyond The Sea"]; Parker Posey ["Best in Show", "A Mighty Wind", "Laws of Attraction" and "Blade: Trinity"]; Frank Langella ["The Novice" and "Good Night, and Good Luck"], Sam Huntington ["Home Of Phobia", "Not Another Teen Movie" and "River's End"] and Academy Award Best Actor winner Kevin Spacey ["American Beauty", "K-Pax", "The Shipping News", "The Life Of David Gale" and "Beyond the Sea"] as Lex Luthor.
"SUPERMAN RETURNS" was .......
directed by Brian Singer ["Lion's Den", "The Usual Suspects", "X-Men" and "X-Men 2"]; screenplay by Michael Dougherty ["Season's Greetings" and "X-Men 2"] and Dan Harris ["The Killing of Candice Klein", "X-Men 2" and "Imaginary Heroes"]; production design by Guy Hendrix Dyas ["X-Men 2" and "The Brothers Grimm"]; director of photography Newton Thomas Sigel A.S.C. ["Three Kings", "X-Men", "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind", "X-Men 2" and "The Brothers Grimm"]; original music by John Ottman ["X-Men 2", "Gothika", "House of Wax", "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" and "Fantastic Four"] set decoration by Brian Dusting ["The Matrix Reloaded" and "The Matrix Revolutions"] and costume design by Louise Mingenbach ["The Usual Suspects", "K-Pax", "X-Men 2" and "Starsky & Hutch"]. Run Time 156 minutes Rated M [AUST] Copyright ©2006 - Warner Bros Pictures - All Rights Reserved Copyright Protected © 2006 - Impact Internet Services - All Rights Reserved