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Superman Returns to Save the World

One of the biggest movie events of the summer occurred this week, as ?Superman Returns? was released in U.S. theaters on Wednesday in order to get a head start on the July 4 holiday. The summer movie season has been somewhat lackluster in recent years, with one or two movies propping up the rest of Hollywood, and even those movies aren?t always the best. Last summer, ?Batman Begins? came to the rescue of Gotham. This year, it seems as if Superman and Metropolis can not only save Hollywood, but restore America?s faith in its oldest superhero.

That?s right, the grand-daddy of American superheroes is Superman. He?s been around 68 years, longer than Batman, Spider-man, the X-Men, or any of the other less-than-values driven heroes full of angst. The Superman-mythos have been done and redone again and again, from movies to TV shows like ?Lois & Clark? and ?Smallville?. And while many have tried to use cynicism as cultural kryptonite, Superman has endured. Will this always be the case? Look to America?s future to get your answer.

How the public reacts to ?Superman Returns? will play a major role in determining whether this summer movie season will see a return to the box-office fun of old. As Hollywood relies more on CG, and is incorporating good storylines along with the graphics, we may be seeing a shift toward a different kind of Hollywood future. In the meantime, we can sit in movie theaters and watch the Last Son of Krypton do for his universe what we?d like to see in our own.