From All Movie Guide: Does the world really need a Superman? Bryan Singer tackles this intriguing question with grand and sincere strokes in Superman Returns, a mega-budget kick-start to a dormant franchise that represented some of the best and worst that big-screen superhero films have had to offer. Here, the director whole-heartedly tries to honor Richard Donner's original vision of the DC Comics hero while lending new emotional complexity to the world of this adopted alien savior. The result is an ambitious picture full of fervent emotion and nobility, yet missing the charming spark and energy that its predecessors had in spades. Of the things that work is the surprisingly wonderful new Man of Steel, Brandon Routh, who embodies the role in an uncanny performance that adds the right amount of depth for the direction that Singer and his young writing team laid out for the picture. As his nemesis Lex Luthor, Kevin Spacey has a ball delivering his own dry take on Gene Hackman's humorous antics that turns exc...

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