Justus For All

I saw this movie last night, and I was very impressed. Superman is my favorite comic book hero. I understand why a lot of people prefer Batman or Spiderman or Wolverine, but for me, Superman is the greatest there is. He is the ideal, what we all strive to be, and while his perfection may make him unrealistic, it also gives us a target to shoot for. That is what I want from a hero.

One of the interesting things I find about Superman, is that unlike other superheros, when he is himself he is wearing tights and flying around. It is Clark Kent that is the ‘costume’ At the same time, Superman is still a very human character with recognizable wants and fears and of course, a love interest.

So, given my love of Superman, and the hit and miss nature of comic book movies in general and Superman movies in particular, I was excited but fearful about how this movie would come together. Christopher Reeve was a great Superman, and an even greater Clark Kent and that left some pretty big shoes to fill. Amazingly, Brandon Routh does this incredibly well. Although you can’t tell it so much from the still pictures of him, there were several times during the movie when he looked and sounded exactly like Christopher Reeve. The other actors did fine jobs as well. I particularly liked Kevin Spacey’s Lex Luthor and Parker Posey as Luthor’s moll.

Warning: While this post doesn’t contain any spoilers, there may end up being some in the comments.

Update: Here is another review that explains better than I did why this film is so good.  Minor spoilers