The latest actor to don the cape is Brandon Routh, who—whether on his own initiative or not—offers not so much his personal interpretation of Superman as his best impersonation of Christopher Reeve playing Superman. This feels constrained, to say the least, allowing us limited access to Routh’s potential charm, and it thickens our suspicion that we have seen the same tale told more cheaply before, although what, exactly, was so perfect about the 1978 project that it should warrant emulation? The new Lois Lane, Kate Bosworth, is not a patch on Margot Kidder, or, for that matter, on Teri Hatcher, in the TV series; much of Singer’s casting errs toward the drippy and the dull, and your heart tends to sink, between the rampant set pieces, as the movie pauses listlessly for thought. “You wrote that the world doesn’t need a savior,” our hero says, “but every day I hear people crying out for one.” His principal solution is to thwart individual robberies, which is unlikely to put either the police or the international aid agencies out of business. As far as the film is concerned, however, such public service confirms him in the Christlike status among mortals that was predicted by his dad. “They only lack the light to show the way,” Brando declares, adding, “I have sent them you, my only son.”

# posted by Gerry Canavan @ 7:51 PM  |