7-20-06, 9:17 am

Superman Returns Directed by Brian Singer

Super soppy. Superman Returns to discover that the world is still in need of a superhero in an age when the second coming of Christ has been widely predicted by the supporters of President Bush.

This despite the fact that his former girlfriend Lois Lane has just won the coveted Pulitzer prize for writing a feature article, Why The World Doesn't Need Superman.

Well, the poor girl was left in the lurch when the man of steel decided to take time out to return as Kal-El to Krypton to check out whether anybody had survived the big bang.

Based upon the character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster to fight the nazis in the 1940s, Superman was reinvented by Richard Donner in 1978 as a cold war warrior defending the American way.

In Brian Singer's resurrection, Superman has returned as a saviour prepared to sacrifice his perfect self to save humanity, much as we're told by Christian scripture that Jesus did.

I kid thee not, it even repeats the advice given to him by his father Jor-El played by a resurrected Marlon Brando, 'Even though you've been raised as a human being you're not one of them.

'They can be a great people, Kal-El. They wish to be. They only lack the light to show them the way. For this reason, above all, their capacity for good, I have sent them you ... my only son.'

Let me spell it out. Jor-el (Jehovah), Kal-El (Christ), his earthly foster parents Martha and Jonathan Kent (Mary and Joseph) and Smallville (Nazareth) readied him before he embarked on his mission.

This time, we have him return as he originally landed, his spaceship tearing up the corn fields so that he can be with his aging mother (Eva Marie Saint) before popping up in Metropolis as the mild-mannered Clark Kent.

Clark, as every one knows, was meant to appeal to the geek in all of us, allowing us to assume the identity of a self-confident superhero by proxy, so enabling us to believe that we could be cock of the walk.

They've even found a Christopher Reeve lookalike in square-jawed Brandon Routh to play the part, thus creating the image of a double resurrection, echoed in the original titling and reprise of John Williams's soaring score.

Originally, the costume was to remind us of the stars and stripes. This time, the cloak is a of a much darker hue, a little like the bloody shroud that we associate with Renaissance paintings.

You may also remember that, in Superman II, he was briefly allowed to feel human, so enabling him to experience the love of a woman, only later wiping Lois's memory with a kiss.

This time, Lois (Kate Bosworth) has a child (Tristan Lake Tebu) and a fiancee (James Marsden) in tow, so enabling a storyline that might have got interesting, had the film-makers been revisionists.

Still, the sight of a single mother career woman successfully living in sin might just have a few god-botherers wringing their hands, never mind the fact that she appears to have the power to give the kiss of life.

Never fear. Although sorely tempted, Superman hasn't the time. Apart from reminding us all of September 11 2001 by saving a passenger plane spiralling out of control, he has to combat his nemesis.

Yes, the devilish Lex Luther is back. Having been foiled in his attempt to split off California from the mainland, this time, he uses Superman's crystals to create a new property in the middle of the Atlantic.

Naturally, given Superman's immortality, Lex has to conjure up a way to weaken the chap, thus allowing him to fulfil his mission to suffer the pain of the passion before dying and being resurrected again.

Again, religious imagery is recalled, him plummeting from the heavens when downed, his seemingly crucified body hanging in the air, only to be resurrected in the full light of the healing sun.

Kevin Spacey is a worthy successor to Gene Hackman as the balding bad boy. I can't say the same for Bosworth, who fails to fire in the role that the feisty Margot Kidder originally ignited.

So, it's up, up and away on a pilgrimage, the kiddies already clamouring for the cinematic equivalent of the resurrection - the sequel. Better yet, the son of the son soaring across our screens.



From Morning Star