‘Superman Returns’ (2006) - this is easily the most underrated Superman movie imho

[quote] Anyone else agree?

Completely agree.

[quote] Brandon Routh was suprisingly good and really brought back Chris Reeve’s Superman.

He is indeed very talented and handsome. An underrated talent to be sure.

I thought the movie was a great nod to the Reeve era. And one of my favorite moments from 2000s film is when the bullet bounces off Supes’ eye, he balefully watches it fall, and then he raises his gaze to stare at the shooter.

And Spacey properly ate the scenery in his tribute to Hackman.

Fun movie outside of Kate Bosworth’s horrid Lois.

It sucked. A crashing bore.

Just saw the James Gunn one. Easily the best Superman since the first two with Christopher Reeve.

Parker Posey was terrific in every scene she was in. Brandon Routh did a great job bringing back Reeve’s Superman.

In case anyone on here didn’t know, this is a direct sequel to Superman II (1980). They’re playing the Reeve film versions, not new versions.

This film ignores Superman 3 and 4.

I think for years until now I though Henry Cavil and Brandon Routh were the same guy.

I liked the movie and hated that Brandon Routh got blamed for everything that was wrong with the movie, but everyone else skated away.

I nominate Streisand and Kristofferson's Superman. Somehow the beard worked on Superman in this version.

R6 i remember the films failure falling on him and it really hurt his blooming career but after this we barely saw Kate Bosworth too. It hurt both of them a lot.

The rest (Spacey, Marsden, Posey etc) walked away unscathed

R5 they look nothing alike

R5 white guys all look the same to me black hair 5th grade haircut red white and blue tights cape etc

This movie needed one more exciting action sequence and a different Lois. Bosworth was too young and, well… um, she’s pretty?

Parker Posey was perfect.

But Routh was also young. They cast them both young in this one.

A touching scene. This is one of the very few superhero films that was very touching and felt magical at times. Such an underrated movie.

The biggest issue is after Lex tortures Superman there is no big fight or Superman getting Lex back. After that Lois and Richard save Superman from the ocean and bring him to the hospital, Lois visits him and tells him Jason is actually his son while he’s in a coma. He heals and wakes up and comes to see his son while he’s sleeping, letting the viewer know he heard what she said in his coma. After this it ends.

A very sweet and touching Superman film with amazing performances but it needed a big fight near the end.

I don't think people REALLY understand that ‘Superman Returns’ (2006) was a direct sequel to ‘Superman 2.’ That's why Luthor knows where the Fortress of Solitude is and how Superman knocked up Lois.

Most people I hear say that they just didn’t really like how Brandon Routh portrayed Superman, but Brandon Routh captured the spirit of Chris Reeves perfectly. He looks just like him at that age (Reeves was also in his late 20s during the filming of the first 2 movies) and totally sold me on this being the same boy scout/awkward dork character from those films.

I agree Kate Bosworth was miscast being too young to play Lois (she was 23, while Margot Kidder was older than Reeves during the earlier movies), but as far as acting goes she, much like Routh, captured old Lois very well.

Luthor seducing a rich old lady to get him out of jail and inherit her money sounds like something he'd do in the past movies. It's absurd comedy! A staple of the old films.

And most people complain that the ending was quick and convenient when that was the case with the earlier films as well (time reversal, anyone?).

Overall, I love this movie and it gets more shit than it deserves.

Also, Routh added a warmth to Superman that no other actor has. I liked his portrayal. He played Superman with a warmth and gentleness that I loved. He captured Reeve’s essence but added a bit more warmth to it. It was lovely.

Had Reeve lived to see this film made I think he would be proud of Routh’s work. He was honorable and respectful in his portrayal.

Routh's handsome face looked like a cartoon, not human. In a good way. He was like the cartoon brought to life.

Yes, agreed r16. He looked like the actual Superman cartoon brought to life. And yes, so damn handsome!

Superman saves an airplane from crashing

Singer didn’t have a lot of action in the movie because he wanted the film to feel like a superhero epic, and compared it to Titanic’s romance story. He wanted to get more women to see a superhero film because its audience is mostly men.

He later realized he shouldn’t have tried to get more women to see it and just focused on the built in audience for the movie.

There were plans for a sequel and it would have been non-stop action, with him comparing Superman Returns to Star Trek The Motion Picture and saying its sequel would be Wrath of Khan.

However, Returns underperformed and the sequel never came to be.

R14, no one except you refers to him as Chris, and FFS when will you learn his last name correctly?

George Reeve

Sally Fields

Uh, yeah.

If Singer wanted a women-centric Superman movie, he probably shouldn’t have turned Lois into an unsympathetic bitch who lies to both Clark and her new husband about the ‘super kid.’

And they probably shouldn’t have made Superman a creeper who hangs outside Lois and new dudes’ house.

In the first two Reeve films Superman is always lurking around Lois’s place. I just rewatched them today. It’s actually on theme for him to do that, even after she’s married.

“Fantastic Foooooouuuurrrrrr”

Is this the one with Mariel Hemingway?

Back in the era when James Marsden was being typecast as the "good guy who gets dumped by the female protagonist".

R25 that came out in 1987. This came out in 2006…

So no.

[quote]R27 That came out in 1987. This came out in 2006… So no.

Then, is this the one with Annette O’Toole?

This film had one of the greatest teaser trailers ever released (and one of the first I can think of?).

I remember when the teaser first hit movie theaters and it was buzzy. Then it came out and critics tore the film to shreds and Routh got chewed apart by Hollywood and critics

Bosworth’s casting destroyed this movie

I was reading discussions on this film and Routh and Bosworth got destroyed by viewers and critics when the movie came out. Bosworth got A LOT of shit just like Routh. It wasn’t just him. And both their careers suffered after.

Legendary actress Eva Marie Saint came out of retirement to play Martha Kent and she was the best Martha we ever had.

You just jinxed her, R32.

R32 agreed, her Martha Kent was lovely. And she looked amazing.

Bosworth was just too young for the role. Her Lois felt whiny and inexperienced, complete opposite of spunky, energetic and wise Lois from 1978. But a lot of that had to do with the writing.

Routh truly was great and captured Reeve well. The hate he got was so unfair.

The film is the best looking Superman film. The cinematography is gorgeous and the film looks elegant and expensive. This films Metropolis skyline is the best we’ve ever seen. It’s gorgeous.

And the Superman saving the airplane scene is the best action scene in any Superman film. It’s gorgeously shot.

Routh deserved better. It’s a shame the sequel got canned because I feel he would have done amazing at what was planned for the sequel. Singer had a great film planned but after this bombed and then The Dark Knight came out in 2008, it was over. TDK was really the final nail in the sequels coffin.

If you wanna know how hated or disliked Routh’s Superman was, just understand this, his Superman isn’t ever in the discussion with the BIG Superman actors, which are Reeve, Cavill and now Corenswet. Despite Routh’s Superman being in a huge budget theatrical release like those other three, he has been delegated to the company of the TV Superman versions. He is on the same level as Hoechlin, Dean Cain and Tom Welling, with his Superman even being featured on a couple of CW specials.

Routh was terrific, as was Posey, Spacey was fine, didn’t care for Louis Lane and the third act climax needed a rewrite but overall I enjoyed it. Didn’t care for any of the recent, darker Superman films. Cavill is pretty but his version lacks charisma.

Cavill lacks charisma r36. He can’t act either.

Lois is 23 in this. That’s one year out of college. How is she already a Pulitzer Prize winning journalist at The Planet after only one year?

The ACTRESS is 23. The character isn’t.