Superman Returns (2006)

This film was the opposite of what the previous Superman films were.  It excelled in special effects, as well as showing more realistic feats (or at least allowing for the laws of physics) by Superman, but it came up short in character and story.

It was amazing to see Superman take off from the ground and follow him as he launched into the air, instead of flying off camera as was done in the original films.  Also, the trouble he had in handling the plummeting airplane was much more realistic than the simplistic depiction in the first film.  One other question that had gone unanswered is what would happen if Superman were shot in the eye, and this film covered that as well.

One other thing is the Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor was quite ridiculous and Gene's attempts to put humor into the character came up short.  It was utterly ridiculous for Lex Luthor to refer to himself as a "criminal" genius.  No one refers to themselves as a criminal.  On the other hand, Kevin Spacey did an excellent job as Lex Luthor, the one bright point in this film.

Also, the choice of muted colors for Superman's suit in this film, while understandable from an attempt to make Superman more acceptable to those who consider his suit ridiculous, still makes his suit appear too much like the colors worn by evil Superman in Superman III.