Pun Salad

This was kind of a disappointment, mostly for reasons I expected, a couple I didn't. Expected: it's a canonical example of a movie made for cold-eyed monetary reasons; it has nothing to add or interesting to say about the characters. They didn't even bother to commission new soundtrack music, using the old John Williams score. And Perry White asks: "Does he still stand for truth, justice … all that stuff?" All that stuff? This grates like super-fingernails on a kryptonite chalkboard. (For commentary on this point, Michelle Malkin is your go-to girl.)

Unexpected: it's overlong and padded with pointlessness. Supes moons after Lois like a geeky teenager. And the Christ symbolism is unceasing and unsubtle. (A good rule of thumb: when an unrefined philistine literalist like me notices symbolism, it's already too heavy-handed.) If you want to make a movie about Jesus, just make it about Jesus.

It's not utter dreck, though. Special effects are good. (Although Brandon Routh is such a smoothie, I found myself wondering if he was a computer-graphic character, like Roger Rabbit.) Kevin Spacey is a good Lex Luthor; even though he's pretty much recycling the Gene Hackman approach from the 1978 movie, he's still fun to watch. It was also nice to see Jack Larson (aka the Real Jimmy Olson) and Noel Neill (aka the Real Lois Lane) in small roles.