Superman Returns
Lois Lane won a Pulitzer for an editorial called "Why the World Doesn't Need Superman," written during the five-year period in which the Man of Steel was gone, vanished without a trace and presumably not coming back. He does come back, of course, in "Superman Returns," and at the end of the film Lois is writing a new piece: "Why the World Needs Superman." Only she can't seem to type anything beyond the title. Does the world need Superman? According to the Daily Planet front pages we catch glimpses of, "Superman Returns" is set in September 2006. Think of what Superman has missed in those five years. Think of what we've endured without him. When he makes his first post-hiatus appearance, bringing a doomed airliner to safety in front of a crowded baseball stadium, the reception he gets is deeply stirring. No one begrudges him his absence. No one complains of being abandoned. People are just elated to see him, overjoyed to once again have a savior in their midst. Glance again at the front page of a newspaper and tell me we don't need Superman. The question is, do we need "Superman Returns"? Since the last embarrassing effort in 1987 -- "Superman IV: The Quest for Peace," in which Superman battled a monster made of nuclear energy -- not only has the world changed, but so has moviemaking in general and comic book movies specifically. Our superheroes today aren't as four-square as they were the last time a caped Christopher Reeve leapt tall buildings in a single bound. Nowadays they have angst, crises of faith and streaks of brooding selfishness. They are eminently human, in other words -- something Superman literally is not. How can a hero so alien be relevant in 2006?
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