Is It A Bird?, Is It A Plane?, No It's Superman...

So Superman has returned! Bout bloomin' time too! One of the hottest days of the year here so far and I've just spent 3 hours of it inside the cinema. Still it's been a while since Superman made an appearance so it had to be done.

I was wary of this one mind. Superman is my favourite superhero and I loved the films as a kid (Superman 2 being a favourite!...Terence Stamp giving it "It is a strange place this planet they call Houston"! ). Would I be able to accept a new Superman and Lois? Was is possible to replace Christopher Reeves and Margot Kidder? Actually yes it was.

Brandon Routh bears an uncanny resemblance and makes a fine replacement. His Clark Kent doesn't come across quite as geeky and clumsy as Christopher did it all those years ago but it's a minor point. Kate Bosworth does a fair enough job as Lois and I'm sure if there's to be a sequel ( em obviously!) she'll make it her own but there's just a teeny bit of me that thinks they've lost Lois' hard edge (Margot Kidder's gravelly voice and Lois' festy attitude seem a bit lacking) and I can't help thinking they could have found someone to fill the role better...for some inexplicable reason I kept thinking it should have been Courteney Cox..I don't know why!

Kevin Spacey (whom I could watch all day) makes a fine Lex Luthor. They may want to think about giving him a few more comedy lines next time round though, Gene Hackman always got a few funny lines which made Lex a slightly likeable villain!

The film is set 5 years on from Superman's last exit (which was quite frankly dire!) and he's reurned to find the world still needs a Superhero (you'd think he could have shown face round about September 11th eh?). Disaster is looming and he gets the costume on and heads to help out...I happily admit to feeling all warm inside as he averted the disaster and the crowds applauded his return!

It was nice to see all the old moves were there....laser eyes, freezing stuff, trips to space etc! Kryptonite made an appearance and caused a bit of havoc as well!

Spiderman may well be alright but let's face it he can't even fly! He'll never get across the Atlantic as quick as Superman can! Batman? Well he's just a rich guy with gadgets really ain't he? If you want a superhero you need to have Superman, simple as that.

Superman and Lois share the obligatory touching moment and it's obvious the love is still there. Lois appears in this film with a family. A partner and a son. However, from the minute we see the wee boy use his inhaler we realise just who his Dad is...your mind goes back to remind you that Superman and Lois once shared a night of passion!

So I enjoyed Superman's return to the big screen. It was worth the few hours of missed sunshine and the small fortune it costs to get into the cinema nowadays...it was a damn sight cheaper back in the 80's!

One small and insignificant niggle though...obviously Superman's outfit has been brought up to date a bit and it's nice enough but his cape and boots should be red! Bright Red. They're not though, they're more maroony red which is just not right. However it's a small irritation in the grand scheme of things. Superman is obviously a Jambo!

Jenny xx