This one is a bit of an honorable mention here. Its a pseudo sequel to Superman I and II. It ignores III and IV and Supergirl.
We go back to Lex Luther, and a bit less camp and comedy, though not quite as grim-dark as the later Justice League DC world. We also get a different Superman, since Reeve has passed away at this point with Brandon Routh. Funny enough, I know him mostly for his later role as another DC hero, The Atom. He does feel like he fits the bill of “Boy Scout Superman” pretty well though.
Total Side note, why did he have to throw that Doggo’s ball like that. A dog brings him a ball on the Kent farm, he throws it like he is Superman, and the dog is so sad. I guess this is Asshole Superman, so much for “Boy Scout Superman”.
Poor Clarke, he apparently has vanished for a while (for reasons currently unknown) and now Lois is getting married to someone else and has a kid.
Aye, Lex said the thing about tech and magic from Arthur C Clarke. Also, who is this posse of followers he has trailing around with him everywhere, from the Fortress of Solitude to his own home. AND also, I am going to have a hard time taking Lex seriously knowing how much of a POS Spacey is. Anyway, Lex is doing something with crystals from the Fortress of Solitude and accidentally kills all of the power in… a very large area. Like HUGELY large. Which causes problems on an experimental Space Shuttle launch that, of course, Lois is covering, and involved with, and we finally get Clark into action as Superman1
Superman is able to save the plane, but unfortunately, because she wasn’t wearing her seat belt, Lois has broken every bone in her body and was crushed to a pulp under the thrust of the Shuttle that was attached to her plane.
No wait, that’s what probably should have happened. Folks, this is why I kind of don’t like Superman. Nothing about his abilities really makes any sense, especially when he gets to God Tier power levels.
Anyway, there is a bunch of slow drama, which is honestly, kind of really dull, while Leg robs a museum for some Kryptonite.
There is also this tension going on where it’s not clear if Lois knows Superman and Clark at the same person. And Lois is very upset that Superman abandoned the world (her). Anyway, despite all of this, and Lois being engaged, Superman still works to court her. Once again, maybe he isn’t “Boy Scout Superman”.
Back to the movie, we finally get the full picture of Lex Luther’s plan, and it’s kind of dorky and lame as it has been. Lex in general actually feels really out of place in this, because all of Superman/Clark’s scenes are really somber and Lex is in fact, kind of goofy. Anyway, he wants to use the Kryptonite Crystals he stole front the Fortress of Solitude to build a large new continent to sell land. Like, dude is already rich, but he needs more. I guess that fits for rich assholes.
He also finds that the Kryptonite weapon he has created seems to affect Lois’ kid, which basically answers the other underlying question, “is that Superman’s kid?”
Now, not only is he not “Boy Scout Superman,” he is “Deadbeat dad Superman”.
Lex shoots off his Green Kryptonite into the ocean to start the creation of his new Continent, and Lois manages to send a Fax out to the Daily Planet to get Superman’s attention. New York begins to basically collapse as Lex’s new entity grows, and Superman flies around rescuing everyone.
Once again, this is why I dislike Superman. He is still just, one dude.
Eventually Superman confronts Lex on his Kryptonite Island, which of course, is made of Kryptonite. Lex’s goons beat on him a bit before Lex intervenes and stabs him. It’s worth noting here maybe, that one of the goons who shows up periodically in the movie is Kal Penn. He says pretty much nothing all movie, he is just sort of there. It’s not even like this is some sort of “first big role” situation, dude has been in a lot before, including Harold and Kumar, which is he well known for.
Anyway, Lois and her fiance rescue Superman from the Ocean, because god forbid a villain actually WATCH THEIR NEMESIS DIE. After Superman recovers he digs down under the island and lifts it out of the ocean and flings into space and god I kind of hate it and this is why I dislike Superman. It’s just SOOOO over the top powerful that I have a hard time suspending disbelief over it all.
What follows is a kind of long drawn out sequence where we wonder if Superman is dead or not, then of course, he is not and I guess things just sort of, return to normal.
Its probably worth noting that Routh later reprises his Superman role during the CW’s Arrowverse crossover event, Crisis on Infinite Earths. His costume suggests he is Kingdom Come Superman, who at some point became disillusioned with the state of Earth and humanity and so he’s is a bit crabby. This also is a bit amusing because Routh also plays Ray Palmer, aka The Atom in the Arrowverse.
