I liked SUPERMAN RETURNS, but better than BATMAN BEGINS? No wonder I question Irishman's logic. I should have noticed something when he thought that the Red Sox will seriously contend next year.

If anything, RETURNS does suffers from problems:

(1) Too much loyalty to the Donner films. His work is a good foundation to work with, but its not durable enough that I would build a house on. Worse, Bryan Singer decided to carry over the one damn problem with the really good original SUPERMAN film: Camp.

(2) Alot of plot holes that arrive because people haven't seen the first two movies. Why you all think the movie only made $200 million in America? I mean, yeah I understood why Luthor would know where the Fortress of Solitude. Hell, I even know how Kryptonina sperm would score in a human womb. But imagine if I hadn't seen SUPERMAN or the Donner/Lester committee sequel SUPERMAN II?

Picky? Sure, but why be slavish that badly to the Donner films? The Brando-Jor El footage was a great touch. But SUPERMAN RETURNS did raise a question that never popped into my skull with Donner's films: What does the Fortress of Solitude in those movies actually good for, besides being a labor of work for Union workers and a nicely-paid Art Director?

(3) Kevin Spacey is great casting for Lex Luthor. But which Lex Luthor? If it was to follow the campy/smartass intellectual taskmaster that Irish wanted that we got from the Gene Hackman regime, then its successful.

Thing is, I HATE that Luthor. You know what Lex Luthor I wanted?

I forgot which episode, but in an JUSTICE LEAGUE:UNLIMITED animated series episode, after leader King Gorilla had led the Legion of Doom to turn every human into an ape, and failed, he had a Legion board meeting. Luthor outright told him how fucking stupid and pointless his plot was(which viewers would agree). took out his gun, blasted him away, and took power of the group.

That Luthor is a ruthless cold-blooded "killah". His smarts, and one very nice bank account, counters Superman's powers. Spacey can be a ruthless bastard very easily. Too bad instead that the quietly-homosexual Spacey instead played it for camps. Too bad...

(4) Wait, the kid can throw a piano, but can't punch through a door? Singer is too smart for such Ratner-esque mistakes.

Yet, there are good things in SUPERMAN RETURNS. Brandon Routh I really doubted, but man, he IS Superman. Singer was right on the money. The stadium sequence is real feel-good. The 3rd act with the hospital is really....well, it brings things to home.

I think its the fact that like X3 and FANTASTIC FOUR, I can't help but....realize that I prefer the vision in my head. I'll share it later in the morning when I pen it up.

Still, SUPERMAN RETURNS is a good film, and I hope the sequel is really superior.