History YMMV / SupermanReturns

** Any scene where Richard and Jason are together might be uncomfortable to watch now as in the 2024 documentary series, ''Series/QuietOnSet'' it was revealed that James Marsden supported convicted pedophile Brian Peck.

-->'''WebVideo/CinemaSins:''' It took less than five minutes for this movie to give us the [[BrainBleach mental image]] of Lex Luthor f*cking [[Literature/HarryPotter McGonagall]].

-->'''WebVideo/CinemaSins:''' It took less than five minutes for this movie to give us the [[BrainBleach mental image]] of Lex Luthor f*cking [[Literature/HarryPotter McGonnigal]].

* 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.

%% * 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.

* 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 and Superman Returns had too little action and didn't take many creative departures from its homage material.)

%% * CriticalDissonance: By critics, the film was fairly well received. By fans and the general audiences, however...

* WTHCastingAgency:
** 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.
** 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.

* AuthorsSavingThrow: Compared to the movie, Superman has been given more dialogue and that he is more proactive. It helps that the game is considered somewhat better than the film.

* 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.

* CompleteMonster: In Creator/MarvWolfman's {{novelization}}: ComicBook/LexLuthor 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.

* 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/{{Superman}}'' -- 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.

* StrawmanHasAPoint: ComicBook/LexLuthor accuses Franchise/{{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.

* CompleteMonster: ComicBook/LexLuthor 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.

* 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.

** 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.