Reviews

I had extremely high expectations for this movie. Richard Donner's Superman is one of my favorite movies and I feel one of the best movies ever made. Bold statement. I stand by it 100%. I was beyond disappointed by Superman 3 and Quest for Peace, so I've been waiting for a long time for a REAL Superman movie and at the 10:00 show on Tuesday night I got A REAL SUPERMAN MOVIE. Superman Returns is a beautifully shot, superbly designed, smartly written, wonderfully performed and masterfully directed masterpiece of epic film-making. This movie gets it right on all levels for me. It treats Superman with the reverence and respect the character deserves, it got the romance between Lois and Superman, the nerdiness of Clark, the evil and fun of Lex Luthor- everything is spot on. This review is basically a love letter and I don't care. I loved SUPERMAN RETURNS. Congratulations to Bryan Singer and his team; you did it. Thank you.

This movie gets everything right. The action is fast and furious, the characters are interesting and engaging, and even the love story is effective.Nobody shows the spy game at it's most fun, dangerous, and emotionally gripping as JJ Abrams. This guy is a genius. In his feature debut Abrams revitalizes the disappointing MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE series.

Tom Cruise, who can be hit and miss, knocks this one way out of the park. He definitely brings his A-Game to this show. He is a movie star of the first order. It is a testament to the great actors around him and the strong script that Cruise doesn't monopolize the screen. He is THAT magnetic in this movie. Philip Seymour Hoffman offers a more than worthy adversary. Hoffman's Owen Davien is hands down the best super villain since Alan Rickman nearly stole the show as Hans Gruber in DIE HARD. He is always a step ahead of Cruise's super-spy and is scarifyingly ruthless. The scenes between Cruise and Hoffman snap like a live-wire.

The action is supercharged but most importantly the characters and story are gripping. You truly care about Ethan and his goals this time around and that gives the action scenes immediacy, energy and intensity that was lacking in the first two missions. A GREAT MOVIE THAT WILL LIVE LONG AFTER IT'S OPENING WEEKEND.

Genuinely the most intense movie I've seen in years. I almost threw up three times. And I never get queazy watching movies. The set up is what makes the pay off so terrifying. We get to spend time with the kids before things get wild and that is what makes the movie so gripping in the last half or 2/3's of the movie; our attachment to the characters. Beautifully photographed, great performances (especially from John Jarret. Jesus, could that guy be any creepier? or funnier?), awesome gore effects (great looking and expertly employed, not overused). A real achievement for director Greg Mclean. Can't wait to see what this fella does next.

Simply a great movie. I gained a new respect for Costner after seeing this movie. He's always good as baseball players and cowboys, but this character is really a perfect fit for Costner. Combines all the elements that add up to a great Costner performance: humor (Crash Davis from Bull Durham)+ dark violence seething under the surface (Charly from Open Range)+ Child-like enthusiasm (Ray Cansella from Field of Dreams). Severely underrated, A Perfect World stands right up there Eastwood's best behind the camera achievements. And in case you haven't figured this out yet; Eastwood is the man, so do yourself a favor and check this movie out.