Warning: !!!MINOR SPOILERS!!!

Superman Returns marks the return of our beloved hero in nearly two decades. Kal-El (Routh) has been away for 5 years, searching space for some reminiscence of his home planet Krypton. Now he’s back, trying to get back to some sort of normal life but finds that those around him have changed. Outside of good ‘ole Jimmy Olsen (Huntington), everyone has moved on with their lives, including his love, Lois Lane (Bosworth), now engaged to Perry White’s nephew, Richard (Marsden), and has a five-year-old boy of her own. Meanwhile, Superman nemesis Lex Luthor (Spacey) has also started up with his schemes of world domination (after getting let out of prison because of a technicality). And no good villain can be without a sidekick, this time with Kitty Kowalski (Posey), a woman who doesn’t, to say the least, have grip of Lex’s grand plan -- although she’s not the only one... As a franchise, Superman has been dormant for 18 years after Superman IV bombed at the box office (not to mention the disastrous third installment) and after being in the hands of the likes of Tim Burton (with Nicolas Cage as The Man of Steel) and Brett Ratner (before moving on to X-Men: The Last Stand) and then spending millions on pre-production costs, one wondered if this would actually happen. But Warner, needing another solid franchise cornerstone to go with Batman Begins and one that competes with Sony/Fox’s Spider-Man and X-Men, decided to eat the cost, spend some more (the budget has been reported to be in the $250m range) to get this rebirth out of the way.

After Ratner’s departure (supposedly because he didn’t want to film in Sydney), Bryan Singer comes aboard and gives us a film that is good, not great, just good. Despite some spectacular iconic shots (one coming directly from a cover), I wonder if his focus on those moments blinded him on other issues, primarily editing and the overall flow. One has to appreciate Singer’s heart, but I think it might’ve been detrimental to Returns.

Outside of some of those issues, all in all, this Superman film does both justice as a sequel after Superman II as well as being its own film. There are some moments harking back to Superman ‘78 with Clark’s goofy nature and gee-whiz attitude, but missing is the playful nature between Lois and Clark (either that or it’s just different with Bosworth and Routh’s style).

Speaking of which, nobody expected Brandon Routh to match Christopher Reeve as he IS Superman (and always will be), but Routh gives his all and makes it work. Reeve embodied and OWNED the part and Routh certainly fits into it and that’s all one should ask and expect from the young actor. He might not have the weight on screen, but he’s still good.

Kate Bosworth (Blue Crush) takes on Lois Lane previously played by Margot Kidder. At first I thought Warner (or whoever made the casting choice) made another snafoo like another in Katie Holmes’ Rachel Dawes from Batman Begins. Although I cannot buy her as a Pulitzer Prize winner or a seasoned reporter, I found myself not even thinking about her age throughout. Unlike Holmes, I noticed her poor performance and did not for one second believe she was an assistant district attorney, Bosworth didn’t have that problem. As I said earlier, Bosworth and Routh may not have had the same spark as Kidder/Reeve, but they did work well together and had some chemistry.

As Lex Luthor, Kevin Spacey gives a darker more sinister portrayal of a part inhabited by the great Gene Hackman. Where Hackman played it light and comicly, Spacey’s Luthor is cynical and just out for plain sweet revenge. Of course, he also has a scheme that inevitably involves world domination. This is where the movie gets real silly. Since he has already been to Superman’s Fortress of Solitude, he returns and discovers the powerful crystals and learns Superman’s past and some other interesting tid bits. One of these nuggets, is these crystals have their own powers and can create land (in combination with water). So, Lex decides that this is a good way to both destroy the world (and kill billions) and look like an absolute moron. The issue? Well, the land produced is, at least in its infancy, inhabitable. Sure continents will be gone and he’ll have his own, but that does not mean his little slice of heaven will be worth squat.

Rounding out this admirable cast are James Marsden as Richard White, Parker Posey, Frank Langella as Perry White and Eva Mare Saint as Martha Kent. There are two that stood out for different reasons. One, Marsden plays a role that could have easily been written off as another jerk or a-hole thereby making an easy choice for the audience that Clark is the right one for Lois, so it's refreshing. Also interesting is the role of Posey as Lex's sidekick. Throughout the film, she's conflicted with what Lex's plans and shows some humanity for a part that (especially given Posey's previous performances in Blade: Trinity or even You've Got Mail) could've been over the top and downright annoying. So even though the story has some problems (more later), X-transfers Dougherty and Harris (along with Singer) eliminate two cliches.

One of the best parts -- when I got goosebumps -- came in the opening with John Williams amazing Superman Theme, one that is easily in the top 10 of all time, right along side of Star Wars. As each credit swooshed by, another holdover from the old days, also has a bit of modern twist (of sorts) with me great special effects taking us from an exploding Krypton and the debris floating through space.

The other amazing sequence comes about half-way through as Superman rescues a NASA (or some generic space program institution) plane from crashing after several malfunctions. Not only were the effects great but it was one of the few sequences that made my palms sweat and built up the suspense to an insane level. Unfortunately, even though there are other cool looking scenes, they don’t match this one (including the climax).

As it stands, Superman Returns is certainly a good film worth seeing but it doesn’t compare to the original (and make no mistake, Returns IS a sequel). That said, it’s entertaining with a promising start for the rejuvenation of a franchise out of the public’s mind.