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but an incredibly disorganized one with no gravitas. She's simply too girlish, in that way now endemic to youth-obsessed Hollywood. Worse, when you consider that Lois looks younger(not even 25), and five years have supposedly passed, in which time she's had a kid, that's a little problematic.

But the biggest problem, by far, is Superman himself. Singer's approach is to make Superman more distant, more godlike, and so has ended up with a Superman that isn't much more than a handsome, wooden figure to hang the special effects upon. This isn't helped by an equally gravitas-free Brandon Routh, who has the thankless job of trying to do a Christopher Reeve imitation, which he doesn't bring off at all well, except at certain moments as Clark Kent. His Superman is alternately too godlike, and too pathetic, to really take to heart the way we did Christopher Reeve. Inexplicably, too, Clark has acquired a Boston accent.

It's probably unfair to make that comparison, but as it's Reeve Routh has been asked to imitate, it's quite pertinent. Reeve's Superman worked because Reeve gave him personality and an internal life that could be read in his face. Most of all, there was his friendly, beaming smile. His Superman, you could be certain, loved you and would do anything to keep you safe, even turn back time. And yet he was friendly and approachable; everybody's pal. You could trust him and believe in him.

Routh is, sadly, none of these things, and in addition, seems too young for the part, given that even Jimmy Olsen looks like he's got a few years on him. (and isn't it funny that Routh is actually younger than the guy who plays Superboy on SMALLVILLE?) And no amount of padding seems to have been able to give him the physique that Christopher Reeve worked out like a madman to achieve.

A major surprise, though, is James Marsden, playing Lois' fiancee and rival for Lois' affections, whose position is naturally under extreme threat when Superman steps back into the picture. Marsden plays a character that in most films would be the Heel, the guy we don't want to see get the girl. Ralph Bellamy once made an entire career of playing such characters. This is a character that the audience doesn't have to like. But instead of going that easy, manipulative and predictable route and also giving Lois a very easy choice, we see instead a performance full of humanity and balance, a very sympathetic and decent guy who genuinely loves Lois, so much that he is willing to make no fuss if she should

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