You were not my Superman...

SO, I just got back from watching Superman Returns. I should be in bed cause I gotta get up in 6 hours to get to work, but I want to post about it while it's still fresh in my mind. I will NOT be disclosing anything from the movie, nor revealing any spoilers, so even if you want to see the movie later, you can still read this post.

Okay, if you've read about this before, you know I had very low expectations for the movie. I hated the costume, didn't think Brandon Routh was the right guy to play Superman, dispised the choice of that chick who's name I forget to play Lois Lane, and just expected them to muck it all up. As the movie started I sat in my seat, munching on my popcorn (they didn't have Goobers, Bella, I looked for them!) expecting the worst, prepated to hate it.

Well, some stuff happened and then the opening credits started. And they were playing the theme music from the original Superman movie in 1978, and as it reached the first climax, the new Superman 'S' crest filled the screen.

Honest to GOD, I sat there with a big ole smile on my face and goosebumps all over. They had me right from that point on. Oh I WANTED to hate it, I really did. And there were couple nit-picky things, a couple inconsistencies. And honestly, the last 20-25 minutes just draaaaaaaged. BUT, as a whole, I really, REALLY enjoyed myself!

Even the early sappy love scenes were very well done, and I didn't mind them (the early ones, mind you). Jimmy Olsen is superb. The first action sequence involving the shuttle is eye-poppingly awesome! The first time we get to see Brandon Routh, he's buck nekked. And there's a very pleasant chest shot later on. And allow me to say right here and now, the boy does know how to fill out a Superman uniform! I was never a fan of Christopher Reeve as Superman. ANd I was not impressed with the photos I had seen of Routh as him either. But I gotta say, he pulled it off. Routh is perhaps THE best personification of Superman I have seen. Even the chick playing Lois Lane did a great job. Lex...evil, intelligent AND funny, wihtout being campy like Gene Hackman was. Parker Posey...very well acted, I was surprised. And hey, Kumar, from Harold And Kumar Go To White Castle has a pretty extensive, although I believe wordless, part. The kid playing Jason is aDORable and does a great job! ANd James Marsden, well, since he got screwed out of a job with the X-Men franchise, it's nice to see the hottie back in another film. Good to see Eva Marie Saint again (and she was in the Oscar winning On The Waterfront, with Marlon Brando, whow as Jor-El in the first movie and speaks again in this one. Just a bit of useless trivia there for ya). There were a few funny parts in it, and I'll be honest, there is one moment, in one scene near the end, where I actually teared up slightly. But that's just me. the costume works, they made it work for me somehow, and when the cape is flowing in the wind....wow. The flying sequences, so real. All I can say is the special effects are outstanding!

The movie was a bit long, but I sat enraptured through the vast majority of it. Maybe I'm still wrapped up in it, and maybe as I think of it more, I'll become more critical of it, I don't know. But right now, I gotta say the movie is excellent, entertaining, and well worth the price of admission. And really, coming from someone who was all prepared to hate the movie, THAT is saying something.

Now, get off your duffs and go see it this week!

POLT - listening to "Candle In The Wind" by Elton John

Reality continues to ruin my life. - Calvin & Hobbes