Last seen in a cinematic equivalent of a rohypnol (Superman IV: The Quest For Peace), Superman has been revived by a man who put the x-factor into the X-Men. Singer brings the Man of Steel back to earth and back into the arms of Lois Lane, yet time has not stood still. Now that his home planet Krypton has been destroyed, Superman returns to find that the love of his life has moved on, is married with child and his arch-nemesis Lex Luthor is out of jail. What to do but get his old job at the Daily Planet and start saving the world, again.

Singer spends much of his sprawling 154 minutes re-establishing key figures and central relationships. He does it with John Williams’ original, rousing score which earned a few whoops of delight. Then – well, not very much. The unknown Routh may look like the bastard son of Christopher Reeves and TV’s Dean Cain, but his personality bypass limits the amount of zest he and Lane can work up, and watching these two downers rekindle their tired relationship does not for magic make. Only Kevin Spacey’s Lex Luthor has any fun as a madman with the Genesis complex. Having stolen Superman’s miracle crystals, he plans recreating earth on earth, studded with Kryptonite to keep underwear-man at bay. Good plan, goes wrong.

A bit like the film: Superman Returns is a long slog that goes through the motions but is far from Singer at his best. All that said, there’s still something strangely compelling about a man in tights.

// COLIN FRASER