Superman Returns: But I think he may be depressed?

SPOILER ALERT: This review contains some key plots points you may want to avoid reading.

SUPERMAN RETURNS

I respect any director like Bryan Singer who can captain a 204 Million dollar monster movie like Superman Returns. And, to his credit, Singer's technical mastery of filmmaking shines through in his newest movie. All the ancillary departments get it right, everything from the costume design to the computer animation is superior. Iconic images of the hero, like Superman floating above the earth, are inspired. Unfortunately, the story is flat and the writing is to blame. This summer blockbuster disappoints, in sharp contrast to last year's Batman Begins, and all of those beautiful visuals can't seem to save the man of steel from his own depressive funk.

In this beginning of this film, Superman returns from deep space after five years searching for his home world Krypton. After a long two and a half hours I was left asking...does it even matter that he's back? Most heroic journeys are transformational, deepening the hero's commitment to his life mission, but in this installment of the Superman franchise we don't get to be a part of something that meaningful. Superman Returns drags on like a long boring first act, disjointed and ineffectual. Nothing seems to emotionally phase the man of steel, not even the loss of Lois Lane or the possibility that he now has a son. Even more, the shred of hope he had about finding Kryptonian survivors is dashed and he seems to just take it in stride. Shouldn't his loss be the emotional pivot that deepens his committement to his sacred ideals? Or even more interesting...challenges them?

Watching Superman in action, you hope to see some renewed passion about saving his adopted home world, and the people he loves. But his fight with Lex Luthor plays like another day at the office? Kal-el goes through the motions of saving Earth as if he's picking up his dry cleaning. Superman doesn't seem to care about much anymore, and it makes this movie-goer care even less. That is a huge disappointment after waiting so long for America's iconic super-hero to return to the big screen.

DESTINY

Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

-William Jennings Bryan

WORK

Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.

-Pablo Picasso

TRUST

"Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great." -- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Few things help an individual more than to place responsibility upon him, and to let him know that you trust him." -- Booker T. Washington

"You can't shake hands with a clenched fist." -- Indira Gandhi

"A man who doesn't trust himself can never really trust anyone else." -- Cardinal De Retz

WAYS YOU CAN'T IMAGINE

Prayer is not asking for what you think you want, but asking to be changed in ways you can't imagine.

-Kathleen Norris

MISTAKES

More people would learn from their mistakes if they weren't so busy denying them.

-Harold J. Smith

THINGS HOPED FOR

Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things only hoped for.

-Epicurus