It's a bird... It's a plane...

They can be a great people, Kal-El. They wish to be...

They only lack the light to show them the way...

For this reason above all, their capacity for good, I send them you - my son.

*whooooshhh*

And so Superman Returns to Earth with a big bang (literally), arriving in a Kryptonian spaceship that crashes right on Kent Farm into the frail arms of his adopted mother.

He doesn't take long to get his return known to the world - by participating in a CGI-assisted-mid-air-airplane-crash-rescue.

Oh, by the way, he's also heartbroken that his lover Lois Lane already started a family with Daily Planet Editor-in-chief's nephew Richard, with a 5-year-old son to boot. Man, he must be so depressed. And to add salt to the wound, Lex Luthor was released from prison because Superman failed to testify in court (he was busy looking for the remains of his tattered home planet).

Anyway, Lex Luthor manages to find Superman's secret hideout in the North Pole, steals some bling-bling crystals, and threatens to create a new continent with the alien technology. Oh, wait a minute, he does... and infuses the land with a healthy dose of Kryptonite (so long Superman?)

As usual, good prevails over evil, and Superman saves the day with some heavyweight lifting stunts.

Is the movie any good? It certainly brings back some nostalgic memories about the simple superhero without any dark history or troubled past. Superman is the kind of superhero that exists simply to save the world, nothing else. And if this movie helps to revive the feeling of hope that good will eventually prevail over evil, then it is certainly worth the 2+ hours in the cinema. Oh yeah, the soundtrack penned by John Williams is just stunningly amazing and needs to be experienced in the cinema hall.

Let's all forgive the boring story, lacklustre plot and bad acting. After all, who can resist the pull of the Man of Steel who wears red underwear on the outside?

Superman Returns gets a 2.5 stars out of 5.