Superman Returns

Flying back onto the big screen, almost 20 years after Christopher Reeve donned the red and blue spandex for the final time, Superman Returns brings the summer blockbuster season to a spectacular close.

Bryan Singer's bravura re-invention of The Man Of Steel puts Mission: Impossible III and Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest in the shade.

The special effect-festooned action sequences are exhilarating and brilliantly orchestrated as might be expected, but it's the intense emotions which director Bryan Singer brings to Superman Returns which set the film apart.

Not since Spider-Man - or Singer's original X-Men film - have we witnessed a comic-book adaptation that quickens the pulse with such giddy abandon and makes us care so deeply about the protagonists.

The heart-rending story of Superman's forbidden love for Lois Lane propels the film to its rousing finale.

Screenwriters Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris don't quite deliver the knockout emotional blow but they come very close.

Perhaps they are holding something back for the sequel, which could intensify the superhero's suffering as he wrestles with his true feelings for Lois whilst honouring his responsibilities to a world that can never truly understand him.

The story begins five years after the events of Superman II - made in 1980, back when Reeve was in his pomp and Margot Kidder played his love interest.

The Man of Steel (Routh) returns to Earth and his adoptive mother Martha Kent (Saint), having spent these years searching the galaxy for survivors of his home planet Krypton, which exploded due to unstable geological conditions, and from which he was sent as a baby to Earth by his father, Jor-El.

In his guise as the clumsy, bespectacled reporter Clark Kent, Superman returns to his old position under bombastic editor Perry White (Langella) at The Daily Planet, where he learns that ace reporter Lois Lane (Bosworth) has won the Pulitzer Prize for her essay, "Why The World Doesn't Need Superman".

More pressingly, Lois now has a young son, Jason (Leabu), and a fiance, Richard (Marsden), who is Perry's nephew.

Superman's arch-nemesis Lex Luthor (Spacey) is soon up to no good once more, threatening world peace with his latest devilish scheme, aided by sidekick Kitty Kowalski (Posey) and various henchmen.

When Lois is caught up in a mid-air disaster caused by Lex's dastardly meddling, Superman flies to the rescue, re-igniting long dormant passions.

Perry immediately assigns Lois to cover the return of the Man of Steel.

"Three things sell newspapers: tragedy, sex and Superman," argues Perry, with characteristic insight. "People are sick of tragedy, we know you can't write a damn about sex..."

So Lois reacquaints herself with Superman, which unsurpisingly leaves fiance Richard feeling deeply insecure.

Superman Returns holds us spellbound for more than two and a half hours and when the end credits roll, we're left hankering for more.

The computer-generated visuals are incredible, from countless flying sequences to the tour-de-force airplane stunt that reunites the superhero and Lois.

Physically, Routh fits the part beautifully and recalls the young Reeve with his classic good looks.

He also brings sensitivity to the role, illuminating the terrible burden that Superman must bear alone: "You wrote that the world doesn't need a saviour," he tells Lois, "but every day I hear people crying for one."

Screen chemistry smoulders with between Bosworth and Routh. Supporting performances are colourful, particularly from Spacey and Posey, who bicker relentlessly as the devilish, hare-brained master plan unfolds.

"You're not a god!" shrieks Kitty. "Gods are selfish beings who fly around in little red capes and refuse to share their power with mankind," snarls Lex.

The screenwriters remain faithful to the legacy of the old films, including excerpts of Marlon Brandon in scenes at The Fortress of Solitude in the Arctic.

"I am Jor-El," he booms, "By now, I will have been dead for many thousands of years."

With Singer at the helm, Superman soars to breathtaking new heights.