<i>Superman</i> opens to rockin' reviews
News
oi-Staff
By Super Admin
New
York
(Reuters):
Superman
Returns,
which
opens
in
the
United
States
next
week,
is
receiving
knock-out
first
reviews
from
critics,
with
newcomer
Brandon
Routh
tipped
to
win
over
audiences
as
the
latest
crime-fighting
Man
of
Steel.
Hollywood's
two
trade
newspapers,
Daily
Variety
and
Hollywood
Reporter,
gave
the
movie
strong
reviews,
with
The
Reporter
describing
it
as
''a
heartfelt
Superman
movie
that
plays
to
a
broad
audience
thanks
to
an
emotionally
troubled
Man
of
Steel.''
Daily
Variety
critic
Todd
McCarthy
said
director
Bryan
Singer
had
imprinted
the
Warner
Bros.
movie
with
its
own
personality.
Superman
Returns
is
never
self-consciously
hip,
ironic,
post-modern
or
camp.
To
the
contrary,
it's
quite
sincere,
with
an
artistic
elegance,''
he
said.
Routh
won
praise
for
his
apparent
effortlessness-with
his
resemblance
to
Superman
predecessor,
the
late
Christopher
Reeve,
not
going
unnoticed.
The
movie's
plot
has
Superman
returning
to
Earth
following
a
mysterious
absence
of
several
years.
Back
home,
an
old
enemy
plots
to
render
him
powerless
once
and
for
all
while
the
superhero's
great
love,
Lois
Lane
(Kate
Bosworth),
has
moved
on
or
has
she?
Newsweek
said
Singer,
who
left
the
popular
X-Men
franchise
to
make
Superman
Returns,
did
the
right
thing
from
the
start
of
''this
gorgeously
crafted
epic''
by
showing
respect
for
the
most
foursquare
comic
superheroes
of
them
all.
The
magazine
added
that
''Routh
may
or
may
not
be
a
real
actor,
but
he
effortlessly
lays
claim
to
the
iconic
role,
just
as
Reeve
did.
Indeed,
he
virtually
duplicates
Reeve
in
the
way
he
plays
Kent
as
a
diffident,
awkward
Midwestern
colt.''
''Next
to
Singer's
champagne,
most
recent
superhero
adventure
movies
are
barely
sparkling
cider.''
Time
magazine
said
Singer
and
writers
Michael
Dougherty
and
Dan
Harris
had
revived
and
revised
the
story's
premise.
''The
result
is
an
action
adventure
that's
as
thrilling
for
what
it
means
as
for
what
is
shows,''
Time
said.
The
film
is
Superman's
first
big-screen
appearance
since
the
1987
movie
Superman
IV:
The
Quest
for
Peace
starring
Reeve.
Warner
Bros.
is
a
unit
of
Time
Warner
Inc.