Superman Returns

It’s been nearly two decades since cinema goers have experienced the caped crusader on the big screen. In the interim other heroes from Marvel and DC comics have graced (or disgraced) the screen, many considerably more messed up or complex that Clark Kent’s alter ego. Has plain, old-fashioned goodness in red boots become passé? Have we become too sophisticated and cynical for Superman? Do we need or want that kind of a hero?

It’s a question that plagues Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth). As the film begins Superman (Brandon Routh) is returning after a five year absence. He has spent those years exploring the universe, searching for any possible remains or survivors from his home planet of Krypton. He has returned to find Lois in a long-term relationship with a young son in tow. She has also been awarded the coveted Pulitzer Prize for her editorial on why the world doesn’t need Superman. Whatever homecoming Superman / Clark was expecting, it wasn’t this.

Lois isn’t the only one who has moved on. Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) is out of prison and has fleeced the family of a dying woman of its inheritance. He plans to use the money to finance another dastardly scheme. Using the crystals from Superman’s earthly ice palace, he plans to create a new landmass. The very act of creating these icy islands has the potential to fracture and sink any neighbouring continents, a consequence that bothers Luthor not one bit.

Superman Returns has been written as a sort of sequel to the 1978 and 1980 productions of Superman and Superman II. While Batman Begins presented itself as a reinvention, persuading viewers to forget all previous versions, Brian Singer’s Superman Returns is respectful of some of its predecessors, particularly of Richard Donner’s 1978 film. The most notable nods to Donner’s film are the use of the grand John William’s score and the adaptations of and references to Marlon Brando’s scenes as Superman’s biological father Jor-El.

As with Richard Donner’s version, Singer’s Superman Returns is replete with Christian symbols and allusions. The infant Kal-El (Superman / Kent) is sent to earth by his father Jor-El. He is to be a light to humanity in their darkness. Not that director Brian Singer is seeking to preach Christianity. While his education involved some schooling in Christian institutions, Singer is Jewish and with an openly secular approach to his faith.

Yet the central message of the film is that the world needs a saviour. Humanity is incapable of sustaining itself let alone saving itself. Reinforcing this notion this Superman is an all-seeing, all-hearing superhero. There are visual references to the Cross and even an allusion to death and resurrection. There is no doubt that the man in tights is being presented as a Christ-figure.

And yet, of course, he is not Christ. The salvation Superman offers is temporary. He can change circumstances for the better but can he change the human heart?

While its stunning special effects and glorious cinematography are indicative of modern cinema, Superman Returns has an old-fashioned sensibility about it. The sweeping score evokes the sense of seeing a big picture, something that may not be overly deep or challenging but is momentous and exciting just the same.

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