This new Superman and his Lois do not bode well for the current generation. Superman returns to Earth after an absence that is probably well known to the comic readership, but peculiar to the rest of us. He finds a single-mother Lois who has won a Pulitzer for writing about his unimportance, and a darker, more crowded world than Christopher Reeve's Superman inhabited. Today's Superman wears dirty blue and grubby red and moons about a bit sulkily.

He has reason to be sad. His Lois isn't the spunky black-and-white heroine, or the gung-ho no-holds-barred Margot Kidder performance. She would never challenge Superman the way Teri Hatcher's Lois did. This is the 'girlie' Lois. Soft, curly, wussy, and about to marry an appropriate man. It's not just the motherhood, but the post-feminist revision, creating a lesser woman to stand behind the darker Superman.

Yes, she does get to indulge in a few heroics, but ultimately the new Superman is not so much flawed as compromised, and the new Lois would have her backside thoroughly kicked by any one of the magnificent ladies who preceded her.

Story? You know, flying superhero, a touch of angst in lieu of character. Someone's dusted off the old action flick formula wheel. Give it a miss, there's got to be a better Superman coming.

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by Ali Kayn Due for Australian release 29 June 2006 For credits and official site details, see below Search Festivale for more work by the film-makers below. See also: Fantastic Four ; Superman Returns ; Batman Begins ; Iron Man ; Spider-man; Ghostrider

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Just the facts: Title: Superman Returns (2006) Written by: Michael Dougherty (screenplay) & Dan Harris (screenplay) Bryan Singer (story) & Michael Dougherty (story) & Dan Harris (story) Jerry Siegel (characters) and Joe Shuster (characters) Directed by: Bryan Singer Rating: M running time: 154 mins The Players: Brandon Routh ... Clark Kent/Superman Kate Bosworth ... Lois Lane Kevin Spacey ... Lex Luthor James Marsden ... Richard White Parker Posey ... Kitty Kowalski Frank Langella ... Perry White Sam Huntington ... Jimmy Olsen Official website: IMDb entry For session times of current films, use the cinema listings on the Movie links page. For scheduled release dates, see the coming attractions section. For more information about this movie, check out the internet movie database. For the latest additions to Festivale, check out the change history section.