Comic geek alert!

This review of Superman has some potential spoiler info, so read forth with caution.

The good. The special effects are amazing. Best flight sequences I've ever seen. I completely bought in. Pretty much all special affects were outstanding. I thought Brandon Routh was a decent Superman/Kent. I like Kevin Spacey's Luthor, and Parker Posey (but she's usually a scene stealer-check out "Best in Show"). I also liked the way it tried to keep the story going from the original movies (I called the final scene-thus confirming my comic geek status). Unfortunately, by picking up after the second movie, (and wisely rendering numbers 3 and 4 a comic never-happened) Superman Returns ran smack into the power of the "Threequal" curse. You just shouldn't mess around with this kind of magic. The movie was doomed before the camera's even rolled.

The bad. I hated the story. (Here come the spoilers) Superman has a kid? I have a general rule agianst introducing kids to movies (think Temple of Doom) or shows in general (I have a 2 season rule for when kids get randomly introduced to TV shows. When you see a kid come into a sitcom, it has two years tops left before its off the air. Brady Bunch, Family Ties, even DiCaprio couln't beat the rule on Growing Pains. If you could bet on this stuff I'd make millions. Except for The Cosby Show-he brought in a new kid every season, I'd have gone broke betting against him-anyway, where was I?) Right, the kid. So here's how it works. Veteran reporter Lois lane, who looks like she's 22 in the movie (Meaning she was in her late teens when she was with the big S), slept with Superman before he left for 5 years. Thus, the kid is about 4, but like all movie/TV kids looks and acts approximately twice his suposed age (This is common. Baby born one season, off to kindergarten next-Family Ties took this to a new level. That kid was off to college by the end of the second season after she was born). Only now she has a fiance who thinks the kid is his. So Lois must have waited, like, zero days until she hooked up with the guy, that or he's Forrest Gump gullible. This whole triangle is less realistic than a man in tights flying around saving everyone. I just couldn't get past this, I hated it. Seriously. The villan plot was fine. Luthor does his evil genius thing, that worked. Also, as you can probably guess, I thought Lois Lane was completely miscast. They should have gone with someone older and more believable as a verteran reporter.

Overall, Superman Returns, or Superman III if you like, was a big dissapointment. I can't completely pan it because the afore mentioned special effects make you believe, but the story makes you disbelieve.