Superman Returns (2006)
Average Rating: 7/10
Reviews Counted: 257
Fresh: 194 | Rotten: 63
Bryan Singer's reverent and visually decadent adaptation gives the Man of Steel welcome emotional complexity. The result: a satisfying stick-to-your-ribs adaptation.
Average Rating: 6.9/10
Critic Reviews: 48
Fresh: 36 | Rotten: 12
Bryan Singer's reverent and visually decadent adaptation gives the Man of Steel welcome emotional complexity. The result: a satisfying stick-to-your-ribs adaptation.
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Average Rating: 3.3/5
User Ratings: 477,349
Movie Info
The Man of Steel returns to the big screen with this continuation of the icon's film legacy that picks up after the events of the first two Christopher Reeve films. Some time has passed since the events of Superman II and the world has gotten used to life without Superman (Brandon Routh) ever since his puzzling disappearance years earlier. Upon his return, he finds a Metropolis that doesn't need him anymore, while Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) has moved on with another young suitor Richard White
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Cast
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Brandon Routh
Superman/Clark Kent -
Kate Bosworth
Lois Lane -
James Marsden
Richard White -
Frank Langella
Perry White -
Eva Marie Saint
Martha Kent -
Parker Posey
Kitty Kowalski -
Kal Penn
Stanford -
Sam Huntington
Jimmy Olsen -
Kevin Spacey
Lex Luthor -
Marlon Brando
Jor-El -
Tristan Lake Leabu
Jason White -
David Fabrizio
Brutus -
Ian Roberts
Riley -
Vincent Stone
Grant -
Jack Larson
Bo The Bartender -
Noel Neill
Gertrude Vanderworth -
James Karen
Ben Hubbard -
Stephan Bender
15 Year Old Clark -
Peta Wilson
Bobbie-Faye -
Jeff Truman
Gil -
Barbara Angell
Polly -
Ian Bliss
Shuttle Commander -
Ansuya Nathan
Shuttle Pilot -
Richard Branson
Shuttle Engineer -
Warwick Young
777 Co-Pilot -
Bradd Buckley
777 Navigator -
Bill Young
Mission Control Flight ... -
Thomas W. Stewart
Mission Control Officer -
Patricia Howson
Museum Guard -
Mirren Lee
Vanderworth Relative -
Stephen Ostrow
Vanderworth Relative -
Hank Roberts
Vanderworth Relative -
Karina Bracken
Hospital Ward Nurse -
Raelee Hill
Hospital Nurse -
Lee James
Doctor -
Michael Duggan
Doctor -
Keegan Joyce
Boy With Camera -
Frederique Fouche
French News Anchor -
Julian Pulvermacher
German Anchor -
ReBecca Barratt
German Reporter -
Penelope Heath
Sydney Reporter -
Ted Maynard
News Anchor -
Ed Wightman
News Anchor -
Prue Lewarne
News Anchor -
Paul Shedlowich
News Anchor -
Barry Quin
News Anchor -
Francine Bell
News Anchor -
Genevieve Davis
Reporter At Deli -
Robert Meyer Burnett
Cape Canaveral Reporter -
Terrell Dixon
Hospital Policeman -
Kevin Fisher
Security Guard -
John Lucantonio
Security Guard -
Robert Flanagan
Bank Gunner -
Phillip Henry
Police Sharp Shooter -
Henry Browne
Taxi Driver -
Darin Rossi
Home Plate Umpire
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Superman Returns Trailer & Photos
All Critics (257) | Top Critics (48) | Fresh (194) | Rotten (63) | DVD (33)
... while I can't call it a home run, I'll say it's a solid base hit.
Top CriticSinger's revival of childhood wonder and timeless heroism [is] an extraordinary feat of movie magic.
The movie may not be a single-bound building-leaper but Bryan Singer reconfigures the daddy of all comic-book sagas into something knowing, witty, and even sensitive.
What could possibly justify making a Superman movie that runs 154 minutes? Plenty of films last longer, but their characters are generally sharp enough to recognize a guy with or without his glasses.
Superman, born in 1938, is still very much alive in 2006. The Man of Steel has so skillfully bent the bars of our imagination that he seems real to us. And in a sense, he is.
The much ballyhooed movie, far from great and far from short (2 1/2 hours!), is still great fun.
Would have benefited greatly from Singer trusting his talent and assembling a Superman movie that attempted to soar beyond the heights previously achieved decades ago.
For all the mountains of kryptonite ranged against him, you never fear for Superman or Lois Lane, never experience anything more intense than the fret of mild peril.
The movie runs nearly half an hour longer than it should, with a new plot strand introduced in the third act that has questionable vitality in the presumed sequel.
Superman Returns is a great kick start to a potentially knockout new franchise, which ultimately leaves the audience, like the people of Metropolis when its greatest hero returns to the skies, brimming with hope.
One of this summer's best action movies.
More stolid than awe-inspiring
None of which would register if Routh weren't a Superman whom if we don't need we can at least feel for.
Underneath its mechanical safety and mild-manners, this movie does have some heart and some muscle. You'll come to like having it around, even if you thought you'd already moved on.
Superman Returns feels eager to please, and it frequently succeeds, but despite its best intentions, it seldom soars to the height of 1978's Superman: The Movie
Superman Returns is a bombastic, rousing, explosive burst of summer fun and fantasy, enriched by its predecessors and rejuvenated by the new blood and slavish religious devotion of director Bryan Singer.
Solid and emotionally direct but not the concussive powerhouse many will be hoping for.
the tragedy of 9/11 and Lois' super sex with the 'man of steel' are two major selling points of the film, but they remain as sublimated as Clark Kent's secret identity.
Ignore the hype, ignore the budget, ignore the expectations, sit back, relax and let Superman return.
The Man of Steel as a morally-compromised and ethically-challenged figure has the potential to be quite compelling, but if and only if he is portrayed as confronting his demons in a more meaningful way.
better than 3 and 4
May be the most reverent superhero film ever made.
Singer has crafted a generally exciting and dazzling entertainment.
It's too long, but then so-called 'event movies' always have been.
Resembling Reeve both physically and vocally, Routh certainly has large red boots to fill. And he fills them admirably
Yes, the new Superman Returns movie flies. It just doesn't soar.
Audience Reviews for Superman Returns
Super Reviewer
"Superman Returns" is a sequel to "Superman 2" completely forgetting the events of 3 and 4. Here, Superman(Brandon Routh) has been gone for 5 years and returns to Earth. Upon returning he sees that Lois(Kate Bosworth) now has a fiancée and a 5 year old son(hmmm). Also, Lex Luthor(Kevin Spacey) is out of prison and planning something new that will destroy Superman, and half of America. This movie gets a pretty bad rap because it's not as action filled as other comic book movies, and shows a much more emotional side of Superman. I hadn't rewatched this since I saw it in the theaters, and I gotta say, it holds up good. It's not as bad as I remember, and if you don't compare it to other superhero movies like "Iron Man" or "Dark Knight", it's good for what it is. Routh does a very solid job as the Man of Steel, even if he looks like a wuss in some parts of the movie. Actually, the whole cast is great, especially Spacey, who is good in anything. Yes there is too much "angst" for a comic book movie, but it was necessary for this particular story. I wish they would have done another one, because I'm curious where it goes with him and the boy. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. It is very long and drawn out(2 and a half hours is way too long). But is it as bad as people remember? Absolutely not. When comparing this to the Reeve's movies, I think the only one better is number 2, but not by much. Definitely worth another view, and you'll see it's better than what you thought it was.
Super Reviewer
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- Superman/Clark Kent: I'm always around.
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- Jason White: Fajitas!!
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- Lex Luthor: [after seeing Lois and her son on his yacht] Miss Lane?
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- Lex Luthor: Come on, let me hear you say it, just once!
- Lois Lane: Your insane-
- Lex Luthor: No! Not that, no, the other thing!
- Lois Lane: Superman will-
- Lex Luthor: WRONG!
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- Jor-El: You will travel far, my little Kal-El, but we will never leave you-even in the face of our deaths. You will make my strength your own. You will see my life through your eyes, as your life will be seen through mine. The son becomes the father. And the father, the son.
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- Perry White: Lois, Pulitzer Prizes are like Academy Awards, nobody remembers what you got one for, just that you got one.
Discussion Forum
| Topic | Last Post | Replies |
|---|---|---|
| New Fan-Edit of Superman Returns: "Superman Resolved" | 11 days ago | 4 |
| Plot Holes | 1 day ago | 2 |
| Maybe it would have worked if... | 4 months ago | 1 |
| How? | 2 days ago | 0 |
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Movie: ID: 155655236 Title: Superman Returns Release Date: 2006-06-28 00:00:00.0 MPAA: 3 Status: 1
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