Line #20 YMMV/SupermanReturns


1	%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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3	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation: The creators of the film appear to have had it in mind that Superman was to be a Christian Allegory or at-least an all-around boy-scout. This is kind-of undermined by how he turns out to be the father of Lois' child meaning he either slept with her without her knowing he was Clark, or Jason was conceived in ''Superman II'' and he impregnated her during the night they spent together which he erased from her memory -- along with everything else -- at the end of the film. He also decides at one point to eavesdrop on Lois and her family one night after using his super hearing to listen in when she tells the cab driver where to take her.
4	* AluminumChristmasTrees: Piggybacking a shuttle on a Boeing plane has been done, although they are 747s, not 777.
5	* {{Anvilicious}}: In the Creator/ChristopherReeve films Jor-El talking to Superman already sounded like God talking to Jesus ("I have sent them you, my only son", etc.), but this film takes that parallel and runs with it. Besides reusing that version of Jor-El, Superman's return is a "Second Coming", he suffers a "Passion" when Lex and his men beat him up and Lex stabs him in the side, after saving the day he falls to Earth near death in a [[CrucifiedHeroShot cruciform position]], and he unexpectedly recovers from supposedly fatal injuries, with his empty hospital bed evoking the empty tomb. And as at least one critic (of ''[[Magazine/TimeMagazine TIME]]'' magazine) pointed out, Superman secretly having a child with Lois is sort of like [[Literature/TheDaVinciCode Jesus secretly having a child with Mary Magdalene]].
6	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic: Composer Music/JohnOttman is more than up to the task, both adapting Music/JohnWilliams' classic themes and adding some stellar contributions of his own.
7	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
8	** Kitty Kowalski is either a good character or a ReplacementScrappy for Miss Tessmacher.
9	** Jason White. Hoo boy. Either giving Superman a son is the perfect way to conclude his story while leaving the door open for a PassingTheTorch moment, or giving Superman an ''illegitimate'' son made Superman a glorified deadbeat dad. There really is no middle ground.
10	%% * BigLippedAlligatorMoment: The dog that ate the other dog. Seriously, what was that about?
11	* BrokenBase:
12	** The premise of the film. Either it's a genuinely intriguing WhatIf scenario that [[NothingIsTheSameAnymore seriously shakes up the status quo of the Superman mythos]], or it's just another half-assed excuse to revisit cinematic characters [[Film/SupermanII from 1980]] instead of telling a new story.
13	** The fanbase was (and remains) divided over this movie. While numerous fans saw ''Returns'' as a sincere ode to the earlier films, others were dismayed that the film didn't use any material from the more modern comics (given that the earlier films and their Silver-Bronze Age style Superman characterization was about 20 years out of date by the time this film was made) and completely changed the dynamic of Lois and Superman's relationship. While the film received some good reviews, the overall polarizing reception and underwhelming box office caused plans for a sequel to fizzle out, despite director Bryan Singer promising a more action packed follow up.
14	** There has been some controversy with Jason White, since for some his role as Superman's illegitimate son make him look like a deadbeat parent, while others see it as a good closure to the character.
15	* CompleteMonster: In Creator/MarvWolfman's {{novelization}}: Lex Luthor is [[AdaptationalVillainy a far more serious, depraved threat]] than in the film. Locked in prison after various crimes against humanity, notably attempting to assassinate the President of the United States and [[Film/SupermanTheMovie nearly wiping California and millions of lives off the map]] just for greed, Luthor escapes confinement and ruins an elderly woman's life before conning her out of her fortune. With his newfound resources, Luthor gets his hands on Krypton crystals, testing them out and causing citywide chaos throughout Metropolis that he giddily enjoys. Ultimately planning to use the crystals to form a new island that will never cease to grow, Luthor proudly brags that billions will die as his "new continent" overtakes and destroys entire countries, remarking that the countless lives lost deserve their fate for not appreciating his genius. Luthor hates Superman with such vitriol that he tries to murder Lois Lane and her [[WouldHurtAChild five-year-old son]] just to spite the hero, and, after depowering Superman, Luthor spends several minutes [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown brutally torturing and beating him to a bloody, broken pulp]], taking sick pleasure out of his coming triumph.
16	* CriticalDissonance: By critics, the film was fairly well received. By fans and the general audiences, however, less so. It has a higher critic rating than audience rating, which contrasts ''Man of Steel,'' which had a lower critic rating and a higher audience rating. Of the three official cinematic adaptations, ''Superman: The Movie'' remains the only one with high critic AND audience ratings since both of the other two struggled to capture both (Man of Steel's dreary tone and out of character moments for Clark/Superman hurt its critical reception and ''Returns'' having too little action and not taking many creative departures from its homage material hurt its audience reception.)
17	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Some fans and critics felt that Richard White was more sympathetic than Superman/Clark Kent. In addition to being a loyal husband and a loving father to a child that isn't really his, he's a BadassNormal pilot who regularly flies halfway around the world on dangerous journeys, ''without'' superpowers to protect him.
18	* HarsherInHindsight:
19	** The already tense scene where Lois and her son are held hostage by Lex Luthor can be quite uncomfortable to watch in light of the revelation that Creator/KevinSpacey was a prolific sexual predator who targeted underage actors. Creator/BryanSinger has also been accused of that. Not to mention that his EstablishingCharacterMoment has him swindling an old lady into getting her will and she mentions how he "shown [her] pleasures that [she] never known".
20	** The ending with Superman promising never to leave Earth, Lois and his son again becomes absurdly devastating 13 years later, when this version of the character returns in the crossover of Series/{{Arrowverse}} ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019''[[spoiler:, and it is revealed that the Joker murdered Lois, Perry White, and Jimmy Olsen. It's even worse when you remember this is the same Superman from the Christopher Reeve movies...]]
21	* HilariousInHindsight:
22	** Creator/HenryCavill was one of the top two contenders for the role along with Creator/BrandonRouth, with the latter getting cast. Routh only got to play Superman for one movie before the studio decided to make the next live-action Superman movie be a ContinuityReboot completely separate from the Donner/Reeve movies, and Cavill got to finally play Superman in his own trilogy that made comic book movie history for Superman and other DC characters (''Film/ManOfSteel'', ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'', and ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'').
23	** The reveal that Superman is a father would become a reality when ''ComicBook/{{Convergence}}'' revealed that pre-New 52 Superman and Lois now have a son named Jon, who would return to the main Franchise/DCUniverse when ''ComicBook/DCRebirth'' came out.
24	** The wig Lex wears is the same hairstyle that Creator/JesseEisenberg sports in ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''.
25	** This wouldn't be the last time that Creator/JamesMarsden played a human {{sidekick}} in a movie to a PrimaryColorChampion coloured [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020 iconic protagonist who is also an alien that moves at super high speed.]] And unlike this film, that one went on to [[{{Irony}} spawn a franchise]] despite having the opposite [[TaintedByThePreview initial public reaction.]]
26	** Sir Richard Branson cameos as the commander of the space shuttle. In 2021, he actually did go into space on his ''Virgin Galactic'' spaceplane.
27	%% * HoYay: Jimmy Olsen seems to be just a wee bit too fond of Clark Kent.
28	* ItsTheSameNowItSucks: A common criticism of the film is that it doesn't really try to do anything new with depicting Superman in live-action and its plot is far too similar to the original ''Film/SupermanTheMovie'' -- Superman tries to save Metropolis when Lex Luthor and his feisty female assistant try to kill him with kryptonite and make money with a real estate scam involving natural disasters.
29	* MemeticMutation: '''[[LargeHam "WRONG!"]]'''[[labelnote:Explanation]] When Lois says "Superman will stop you", Lex interrupts her by shouting "Wrong!" Creator/KevinSpacey's bombastic delivery made the line highly popular among viewers, who took to editing the scene into other clips to emphasize that a character has made a wrong assumption.[[/labelnote]]
30	* {{Padding}}: One common criticism is that the movie feels padded to all hell. Multiple sequences of the movie feel as though they easily could have been considerably shortened. One example is a sequence towards the end of the film where they keep cutting between Superman saving people from various disasters occurring as a consequence of Lex's plan, and Lois Lane and her family trapped on Lex's yacht as it sinks. This sequence drags on for more than ten minutes when two or three easily could have gotten the point across.
31	* QuestionableCasting:
32	** Creator/KateBosworth as Lois Lane. Numerous commentators seemed to be of the opinion that she and Creator/ParkerPosey should have swapped roles, not least because Posey had a closer resemblance to Creator/MargotKidder, the Lois Lane of the previous film sequence. The fact that Kate Bosworth is thought to be too young as Lois (23 opposed to Posey's 37) helps.
33	** The casting of Creator/BrandonRouth as Clark Kent/Superman. Even though he had the bare minimum of Superman's appearance (tall white guy with dark hair) -- he was only about 25 when he was cast, yet he was supposed to be playing a Superman who was already an established and experienced hero, a legend in his own time. The problem is that Routh, at best, looked like a recent college graduate. (He's actually almost two years younger than Creator/TomWelling, who was simultaneously playing the much-younger Clark on ''Series/{{Smallville}}'') He got to return to the role in ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019'' at age 40, which everyone agreed worked much better.
34	* {{Sequelitis}}: A variation; one of the often-raised criticisms of the movie was that the makers didn't seem able to make up their minds whether they were carrying on from the end of ''Superman II'' or whether they were making their own distinct film.
35	* SoOkayItsAverage: A general consensus of the film. It's not even close to as bad as many detractors say, and serves as a better sendoff to the classic film series compared to ''Superman III'' and ''IV'', but it does lean a little ''too'' heavily on the original films by recycling the primary conflict and story beats of the the first movie.
36	* {{Squick}}: Regardless of how the film was received, the only thing ''everyone'' agreed on is the idea of Lex Luthor sexually servicing an ''elderly woman'' for money is one of the most disgustingly weird things that has ever happened in any Superman story ever.
37	* StrawmanHasAPoint: Lex Luthor accuses Superman of [[ReedRichardsIsUseless selfishly withholding the advanced alien technology]] he inherited from his dad, so that the planet is forced to [[HoldingOutForAHero stay dependent on Superman]]. While he is probably wrong about Superman's motives, he has a point. Sharing, say, what Kryptonian science knows about medicine or space travel or producing food would probably save a lot more lives than individually putting out fires with super breath.
38	* TearJerker:
39	** This small moment during Superman and Lois' conversation while he's flying her up over Metropolis.
40	--->'''Superman:''' Listen; what do you hear?\
41	'''Lois:''' Nothing.\
42	'''Superman:''' I hear everything. You wrote that the world doesn't need a savior, but every day, I hear people crying for one.
43	** Superman's DisneyDeath and everything leading up to it.
44	** The vicious beatdown Superman receives from Lex Luthor after being BroughtDownToNormal.
45	** An early script even had Lex reveal to a weakened Superman that he had one of his henchmen send false signals to set Superman up into leaving Earth and going to space. Thus, this would make Superman, defeated and near death, realize he left Earth, Lois, and (unknowingly at that point) his own son, for nothing.
46	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot:
47	** Superman is MIA for a few years, the Earth has to learn to get along without him, and then he comes back and... this potentially interesting idea of the Earth having to readjust to his return while he has to rediscover his place among humanity never really goes anywhere, since the film seems too busy focusing on Superman being mopey about Lois moving on.
48	** If they had kept in the DeletedScene of [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome Superman arriving to the ruins of Krypton]], this would have been the first ''Superman'' film to show Supes traveling to another solar system in his Kryptonian spaceship -- finally bringing the interstellar scope of the comic books to the big screen. But despite the ''many'' opportunities for Supes to have adventures in outer space and tangle with aliens, his interstellar journey is quickly glossed over so that he can return to Earth and try to woo back Lois Lane.
49	** When Superman is hospitalized for his kryptonite stab wound and they can't inject anything to help him, the doctors don't get the idea of using controlled exposures to the mineral to allow that or surgery. The comics had already established that medical option years earlier when Superman needed surgery for a kryptonite bullet wound.
50	* VindicatedByHistory: A mild case. While this movie is still considered SoOkayItsAverage overall, it's received a bit more positive attention thanks to ''Series/CrisisOnInfiniteEarths2019'', where Brandon Routh [[RoleReprise reprised the role]] and got a chance to play Superman as a more world-weary version inspired by the ''ComicBook/KingdomCome'' comic, which was greatly received by fans and critics.
51	* SugarWiki/VisualEffectsOfAwesome: The film had a budget of $250 million and every cent can be seen on the screen. From the beautiful opening titles to Superman's incredible rescue of a jet to Superman having a bullet bounce harmlessly off his eye, every scene shines with a quality that shows how much Singer cared. Special mention must go to the scene where Superman lifts an island with shards of Kryptonite mere millimetres from his face. The effects are unanimously stunning, which only makes the shoestring budget of ''Film/SupermanIVTheQuestForPeace'' all the more hilarious in comparison.
52	* WTHCostumingDepartment: A ''lot'' of people who dislike the film cite the suit as a reason why. The darker red wasn't very endearing in an already rather dark-hued film, then the much smaller S-insignia doesn't look great, and the cape itself has an odd look due to the color, sometimes even seeming as if it's inside out in certain angles (and it's like that in the movie tie-in game, no less). Then there is how it looks on Brandon Routh. He is clearly trying very hard to be an homage to Christopher Reeve, but the way the suit fits makes him look like a ten year old dressing up in his dad's clothing. Many people have also cited him being "too small" for the role (at least relatively speaking; Christopher Reeve was 6 ' 4 ' ' and Brandon Routh is 6 ' 2 ' ') and he looked significantly less muscular even if their sizes weren't that different height-wise. The artificial blue of his eyes also put some people off too, as the color just looks way too much like a colored contact during a time when audiences can sometimes accept an iconic character's eye or hair color being different (ex. Tobey Maguire in the Spider-Man films has blue eyes, but Peter Parker is almost always a brown hair, brown-eyed character in the comics). Overall, the look just ends up rather underwhelming for some folks.
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54	!!The games
55	* CompleteMonster: Lex Luthor is [[AdaptationalVillainy worse than his film counterpart]]. Faking reports of Krypton still existing to get rid of Superman, Lex is released from jail and cons an elderly woman out her belongings. Lex steals and experiments on the data crystals, causing a blackout and unleashing multiple criminals and creatures onto the city, including Bizarro and Riot. Lex's ultimate goal is to use the crystals to build a continent that would destroy most of North America and potentially kill billions. Lex later plants the crystals, [[WeatherManipulation causing tornadoes]], and abandons Lois Lane to die. When Superman comes to the island, Lex beats him up and throws him into the ocean to die. Uncaring and out [[ItsAllAboutMe only for himself]], Lex laughs off any of the damage he causes.
56	* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: The tie-in game was soundly thrashed by critics, and generally seen by gamers as somewhat decent compared to stinkers like ''VideoGame/Superman64'', but nothing to write home about. [[WideOpenSandbox Flying around Metropolis saving the day]] is fun, and the unique idea to handle Superman's invulnerability by giving the ''city'' a health bar instead is interesting, but on the whole the game is just kind of... there.

Context YMMV / SupermanReturns