So what’s ERA’s consensus on Superman Returns?

[Uzumaki Goku]

It's been 13 years. I remember people saying it was boring and to be honest, it really is and Superman having an illegitimate son is a VERY odd decision that only the screenwriters understand.

Brandon Routh is good but he's mainly doing a Christopher Reeve impression. Kate Boswoth is woefully miscast as Lois Lane.

I think it's better than Man of Steel but that's not saying much.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

It was bad then and it's still bad now

 

[Htown]

I don't even think it's better than Man of Steel, the movie that didn't understand Superman at all.

 

[Volimar]

Pretty much agree with you OP. Also though I understand why they did it, I wish they had kept the extended opening.

 

[CoolestSpot]

I hate it ignored the bad reeve entries instead of embracing them, even with small remarks would of been fine

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

Both Singer and Snyder liked to do the Jesus imagery.

 

[LewieP]

The shot where superman gets shot in the eye and it bounces off is really well done.

I liked the scene where Kevin Spacey said "wrong".

The rest of the movie is creepy and/or forgettable, and tbh given that it has Spacey in it, and was directed by Bryan Singer, I'm happy for it to be sent to The Phantom Zone.

 

[Prolepro]

The Singer-Spacey pedo fusion dance is my kryptonite.

 

[litebrite]

Deadbeat Dad Superman with Baby Mama Drama and Lois Lane apparently having sex with two different guys so close in time frame to conception that the not Biological Father could reasobly believe it's his.

 

[InspectaDekka]

Truly the greatest piece of acting seen in media.

 

[Pilgrimzero]

It's bad. Other stupid stuff aside. I can get passed that he didn't fight anyone the whole film, but him lifting a while island of Kryptonite was just too far for me.

 

[hordak]

- plot makes no sense. Even if luthor creates new land. He can't just sell it like he owns it. Also he would be arrested for kidnapping and murder.
- Lois has more action scenes then Superman
- Superman was creepy as fuck

 

[No Depth]

Saw it in the theater and recall almost nothing. Well, besides Parker Posey being in it and Kevin Spacey yelling.

I do recall thinking he did a pretty bang up approximation of a more vicious Gene Hackman and the comic Lex at the time.

 

[Strike]

Nice homage to the old Donner films. Not enough action. Great trailer.

 

[VideogameVices]

Meh

 

[I am a Bird]

I liked when lex Luther shouted wrong. Then someone made a Sparta remix of and I enjoyed that more than the movie.

 

[Man God]

Terrible movie.

Still better than anything Synder did with the character.

 

[GamerJM]

It's not something that's falls-on-its-face bad like X-Men 3 or the Green Lantern, but some parts of it just kind of.....don't really work that well. Everything is fine on paper (aside from the illegitimate son) but the performances and filmmaking don't really stick the landing. Still probably better than Man of Steel I guess, but both movies are pretty mediocre.

 

[bionic77]

I was really hyped for the first 20-30 minutes, which ends with that awesome airplane scene.

But it was all downhill from there.

 

[Siggy-P]

As a kid I remember being massively bored by it.

 

[Deleted member 17388]

It's like 2000's X-Men, narratively sterile, and unlike the former it didn't have a loose cannon to dumfound the rest of the characters with an attitude to mask how boring everything is. Synger went for his usual one action setpiece telegraphed by the character's powerset, but here it's the most cliche rescue by using Supes' flight. Iron Man 3 did it so much better.

The rest? I honestly don't want to talk about how Lois Lane is treated on this film.

 

[Doggg]

I definitely prefer MOS. This film was prettyyyyyy bad. Fucking Super Stalker, lol. And what was up with having a mannequin-like Superman that hardly seems to talk? It was bizarre.

 

[Blue Skies]

It was good for what it was, but it could've been something so much better.
Why did they pick another Lex Luther the Realtor scheme again?

 

[Grimminski]

Brandon Ruth is a treasure, every thing else can fuck off and die in a fire.

The Boys even made a joke about the plane scene.

 

[Latvian Hitman]

It had some cool moments, but turning Supes into a creepy stalker kinda' killed it for me.

 

[Praetorpwj]

For some reason I recall they spent about $20m making a corn field.

The film has charm but they write themselves into a complete dead end by the end. Supes does a lot of heavy lifting and not much else. Also the plane scene is not as good as remembered and is mainly thrilling by virtue of the score. He grabs it by the edge of the wing?! What is this Year 1?

 

[-JD-]

I really liked Brandon Routh but the rest of the film outside of the airplane sequence was pretty bland.

 

[Netherscourge]

It was OK.

I liked it better than the DCU versions for sure.

 

[Beren]

It's pretty to look at, aside from that Kryptonite island.

There were just a lot of strange, uninteresting decisions everywhere in this film. Superman doesn't really talk to anyone, he's got a son he didn't know about, Lex is out of jail I guess and also still doing the land thing, and the whole thing feels very impersonal. It's all surface level, and the emotional connections and beats depend on knowing Superman lore and maybe the first two Reeve movies. The personal relationships the characters have are only mentioned with a line or two of dialogue, and they spend most of the run time not interacting with each other. It's a letdown.

 

[Mr. Poolman]

Terrible movie, still better than MoS.

Also, having Spacey and Singer... ugh.

 

[Torpedo Vegas]

I really liked Brandon Routh but the rest of the film outside of the airplane sequence was pretty bland.

Click to shrink...

 

[Sephzilla]

It's a better Superman movie than Man of Steel.

As much as I hate saying it, because the man is a piece of shit, Spacey's Luthor was pretty great though.

 

[PlanetSmasher]

I feel bad for Routh because he was earnestly trying. But he and Kate Bosworth have no chemistry, Spacey's version of Lex is a weirdo, and it was a very strange choice to do a Superman movie where the only time he ever punches anyone happens off-camera for a gag.

Probably a better movie than Man of Steel overall, but still a mess.

 

[Arta]

In the White Marsh theatre when I first saw it, near the end of the movie the guy in front of me said "Goddamn homewrecker".

Those words should never come to mind when watching a Superman movie.

 

[Sephzilla]

Routh had the potential to be a fantastic Superman but he just never got the chance due to the movie he was associated with. Cavill had a similar problem.

 

[Arkanim94]

i sincerely haven't see a more boring movie.

 

[modoversus]

Superman Returns to Lift Heavy Things

 

[NeverWas]

I thought the movie itself was forgettable trash, but Brandon Routh was well cast as Superman. He should have gotten a few more movies out of it.

 

[Richiek]

Boring and too beholden to the original Richard Donner film. It should have been its own thing.

 

[Blader]

It's not good in pretty much area, the plane rescue sequence is super overhyped, and -- while I'm generally ok with separating the art from the artist in most cases -- it's basically unwatchable now thanks to its doubling up of pedophiles.

 

[SJRB]

Terrible, but the airplane scene is the best piece of Superman movie action we've ever had.

 

[VorpalNonsense]

I like it but I won't deny its faults to those that want to argue about it. Better than Man of Steel. Routh was good. Casting in general was pretty darn good, modern revelations aside. Criminal of them to cut the already finished Krypton sequence which was super cool.
Would have liked to see more Routh superman and so I'm looking forward to his return for 5 episodes of mediocre television soon.

I think I'm more positive than the consensus, but the consensus still seems to be "at least better than MoS."

 

[DiipuSurotu]

It's pretty much the Phantom Menace of Superman films in that it's the most forgettable entry in its franchise and doesn't have much purpose and consequences

 

[boi]

It's bad. Superman, as most DC characters, inherently is a bad character to make movies about. He's so freaking boring and uninspired. The closest we came to something decent is Man of Steel, and that interpretation had to change already so much about the character and his world.

 

[Numb]

I enjoyed the game as much as the movie
Both were ass

 

[Yerffej]

The airplane scene is dope. The rest is trash.

 

[manchego obfuscator]

I will always be completely baffled how this movie got made in the first place; I don't agree with many of the creative choices made in MoS/BvS, but at least they superficially made sense on a crude, mercenary level. Returns, on the other hand, is absolutely full of decisions that should have been obvious box office poison (making it a direct sequel to the Donner film, not having a physical antagonist, his entire relationship with Lois, etc.), and which WB somehow greenlit anyway.

 

[Uzumaki Goku]

Funny both this and X-Men 3 came out around the same time and they both stunk.

 

[Lothars]

Brandon rough is a pretty good superman but the movie itself wasn't very good.

 

[mrmoose]

I have no idea why Marsden always got roles that ended up in him losing the love triangle. X-men, this, Enchanted, you could argue WestWorld. At least he found love on 30 Rock...

But yeah, what everyone else said. Super stalker homewrecker Superman, a lack of action, etc. As usual, the casting of Superman is spot on even in bad films, though.