Superman Returns

"Look-up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's the virtual clone of Christopher Reeve, Brandon Routh!" Creepy....It's true, Brandon Routh does bear an uncanny resemblance to Christopher Reeve (the more original Superman than Dean Cain but not as original as George Reeves) in looks, mannerisms, and even ways of speaking. Frankly though, Routh seems to lack the sheer charm Reeve had as Clark Kent. In Bryan Singer's latest installment/remake (or whatever you want to call it), Superman is back, after a nearly five year absence, to find that the world has moved on without him, especially the woman he loves (Kate Bosworth's Lois Lane), who now has a child--who looks and acts eerily like Kent--and fiancee.
Many criticisms of this latest Superman flick have to do with the fact that there wasn't enough action. However, you'll often find that with action/fantasy/comic-book films that are at the beginning of their franchise. The fact is that the filmmakers have to introduce a lot of information about the characters: how they came to be who are they are, what the world is like. The same thing occurred in Batman Begins (and the original Batman), Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, X-Men, and other franchise beginnings. I think it's extremely necessary and helpful to have this added information. With most of these "superheroes" and such, the audience wants to know why they choose to help people, what events in their lives shaped them, why they are often orphans, and how they came to have special powers or abilities (that's the coolest part-seeing the origins of their mutations or magic!).
Another response to the criticism of slowness or inaction is this: did you even SEE this movie? The plane sequence (Superman single-handedly stops a plane from crashing, holding it on his back), and especially the entire ending, with the beginning of the growth of a new island/continent made entirely of the only substance that can destroy Superman, kryptonite, are extremely exciting, action-filled parts. A second criticism that is often brought up with specifically comic-book movies is their cheesyness or sappyness. Comic books themselves are quite cheesy, and it definitely works for them, as they have very little space and very few words in which to convey what is going on, while being entertaining and funny. It is harder to translate that to film and still have audiences accept the cheese factor, however I think it is better when the spirit of the comic book is kept as intact as possible, cheese and all. I look forward to the next man of steel film immensely!