Superman Returns.

OK guys, saw "Superman" last night and MY GOD what a letdown! All the elements were there, and they were REALLY faithful to Superman's I & II (John Williams music, Marlon Brando audio/video samples, etc.), but it never really came together for me. The pacing was weird (there would be an action sequence then a longggggggg romance bit with Lois Lane for example, which killed the momentum), the movie was overly long (2:40) and it was tooooo much schmaltz!

Even the scene where Clark first changes into Superman is botched, keep an eye out for it.

At this point I don't have to tell you that Lois actually has a kid in the movie, which she doesn't in the comics. When I first heard about it I thought it was a bad move, but kept an open mind. Well, the kid killed the whole movie. After this and young Anakin in "Phantom Menace," we can safely say: KEEP KIDS OUT OF THESE KINDS OF MOVIES.

(To be honest, ever since "The Sixth Sense" there have been these dopey, pie-eyed kids standing around looking weird and doing nothing for the plot. Only Disney flicks actually aimed at children, like "Holes," should have kids in them from now on.)

I liked Routh as Superman, though. He wasn't the problem. He was really channeling Reeve, esp. as Clark Kent (Kent and Superman both reappear after long absences on the same day. These people at the Daily Planet are investigative journalists?).

Bosworth as Lois Lane was eh. Like Katie Holmes in "Batman Begins" (another that wasn't a total misfire, but could have been way better), I could take or leave her. Giaxia says Anne Hathaway would have made a better Lois Lane, and I agree. At least she's a natural brunette. Bosworth has really cute feet though, there's a scene where we see them.

Spacey was good as Luthor. I like the way they introduced the character. He was kinda doing Gene Hackman, but nuttier. The ending of his story was a complete letdown! Loved Parker Posey as Luthor's chick.

(There was a quick scene where Luthor and his henchmen were standing against a wall that was a tribute to "The Usual Suspects," which was also directed by Bryan Singer and starred Spacey.)

FX were GREAT. The action/flying parts were the shit, but:

THEY LEFT TOO MANY STORY ELEMENTS UNRESOLVED AT THE END AND IT WAS COMPLETELY UNSATISFYING.

The crowd was dead at the end of the flick which is no good for a big summer movie. There were more cheers at the end of "MI:3" despite Tom Cruise's tabloid woes. How this cut got past test audiences is my question.

There are way more little story problems and stuff, but I don't want to give away more of the movie than I already have.

"Spiderman" I & II and perhaps "X2" are still the best modern-day superhero movies out there in my opinion (I don't really count "Blade" simply because they changed that character so much from the comic that it's practically a new creation just for the movies).

More flicks: "Syriana" was a nice, mature film experience (no kids, no guns, only one explosion) that went on and on and on. It was basically "Traffic" with oil instead of drugs. Didn't have Soderbergh's visual style, though.

"Aeon Flux" wasn't as bad as the press made out. Detached, stylized and cool, story tight. It was filmed in Berlin and I recognized some of the exteriors, like Der Haus der Welt Kulturen. Charlize was hot in it.

And speaking of hot action chicks, "Underworld: Evolution" was BETTER than the original! It also was completely dismissed by jaded critics.