"I'm Always Around."

Ah, Superman Returns, perhaps the best film to be released during the summer of 2006. Good enough for me to pay an approximated $46.50 to see it seven times, once at the IMAX in 3-D, an experience every superfan should have. Much like my previous post, http://rooneyplanet.blogspot.com/2005/12/day-with-rooney.html, this is going to chronicle my love for Superman and how that came to be.

I was never into comic books. Only recently have I dabbled in a few comics related to specific storylines in different series due to interest in future films, television shows, etc (ex., The Dark Knight Returns, The Dark Pheonix Saga...). But the first superhero I really remember is Superman, played by Dean Cain on The Adventures of Lois & Clark. He was never my favorite, per se; I never really had a favorite, but Superman was always around.

Fast-forward to October 16, 2001: the series premiere of Smallville. I remember watching the first three or four episodes of it, but never really getting into it, mainly because I didn't know that much about Superman, and diving into knee-deep superlore as a ten year old isn't exactly a fun thought. But in November of 2005, my freshman year of high school, I jumped in...and great Caesar's ghost was it wonderful. Smallville is one of the most well-written shows the WB ever produced (Joss Whedon's work aside) with characters and plot to boot. It's addictive and thought provoking and impossible to stop watching. Thus began my love for Superman.

As June 28, 2006 drew closer my anticipation grew. I had never seen a Superman movie all the way through, never picked up a comic book, but I knew the icon and I knew Bryan Singer, and that was enough. The night before the premiere, I saw Superman: The Movie for the first time. It's campiness was overwhelming in the tone of the film, but the man Christopher Reeve presented was the man the world knows, loves, and most importantly needs.

Butterflies flitted in my stomach as the theatre darkened. Unmemorable popcorn and previews whizzed by and it finally began. The Superman Theme, perhaps the best of John Williams's work, danced in my ears and excited the audience in an almost patriotic way. Countless references to the original Salkind brothers' productions were artfully woven throughout the film from the title crawl, to minor plot devices, to almost exact lines, to star, Brandon Routh's mannerisms. Every single scene, shot, frame, and sound was absolutely perfect. Routh expertly mixed Christopher Reeve's classic portrayal with his own contemporary view of the effigy was perfect for the masterfully crafted film and Kevin Spacey brought a toned-down Lex Luthor to the mix, a refreshing change. Screenwriters Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris created the deft love triangle where the audience felt as though Lois should almost be with the everyday superhero and good guy, Richard (James Marsden), rather than the lovelorn Superman. Secondary characters Jimmy Olsen (Sam Huntington) and Kitty Kowalski (Parker Posey), Lex's latest fodder, brought an understated sense of humor to the film. Nothing about it bothered me, except the uncharacteristcally subdued Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth) who seemed a little too road-weary to hunt down a story. The cheap plot device of giving Lois Lane a son bothered me because it didn't seem to fit in with the rest of the Superverse, but Tristan Lake Leabu (Jason White) was so charming and sweet, it worked. A particularly poignant moment is when kryptonite-poisoned Superman lies unconscious in the hospital Jason kisses his unknown father on the forehead.

In short (you wish), Superman represents something our society has needed, currently longs for, and will always strive for: truth, justice, and the American way. And Superman Returns is an articulate monument to that.

"I hear everything. You wrote that the world doesn't need a savior, but every day I hear people crying for one."