Superman Returns (2006)

I first watched Superman Returns as a rental 3 years and 2 weeks ago but couldn't muster the guts of an opinion or the gumption to write a review. It was a pretty fair movie -- but also fairly forgettable. Now that I've seen it again on cable, I find I can still appreciate the nicely done scenes -- while still looking for the movie's soul. (So where was Superman all those years anyway?) A big deal was made on the movie's release about how Brandon Routh looked "just like" Christopher Reeve and so a sequel faithful to the earlier movies could be made. Reeve was much more than a pretty boy though -- he had more heart and soul than any number of men put together. He even had a sense of comic timing -- and when he smiled, Reeve *was* Superman. What can Routh summon from within? (Indeed, what has he done since he was granted this role?) His Superman smile is a mix of puzzlement and a moue of a scowl. He seems like a superhero without a rudder -- the antihero's antihero. The shell of a good Superman picture but overall a super yawn. 4 stars.