I had absolutely no intention of catching this movie on the big screen but when I saw that they were showing it at Imax and with 20 minutes in 3D I thought – well, this should be something different at least. Hmmm … jury is out whether it was worth my time (and money!)

Firstly, a commentary on the experience. Watching it at Imax is actually pretty cool becuase the screen is GIGANTIC so from that aspect it was a total viewing experience. However you should make sure that you are in the back half of the room so you can take in the screen without swivelling your head back and forth. The 3D aspect was okay. Of course you had to wear those really cool (yes – just a touch of sarcasm) glasses (which were also GIGANTIC) so we had to keep putting them on and taking them off. There were four sections in total (about 20 minutes all up) and to be honest they seemed to have chosen strange moments to turn into 3D. The 3D was just okay but I was more impressed with the 3D aspect of the trailers (Ant Bully and something else) where you really did fell like you were in the movie.

So, a review of the movie itself. Briefly on the story, Superman returns to Earth after five years digging into his roots. The old adage that the more things change the more things stay the same – Clarke slots back into his old job at The Daily Planet, Jimmy Olsen still worships the ground he stands on, Clarke still loves Lois Lane who is still also at The Daily Planet reporting away – so from that aspect there is nothing new. However, Superman/Clarke is disappointed to find that Lois has found herself a new beau and a son and is hurt to find she’s about to receive a Pulitzer for her article “Why the World Doesn’t Need Superman.” Gee do you get the feeling someone was just a bit p!ssed at him for taking off for five years without a goodbye? Then of course you have Lex Luthor skulking about still intent on his evil ways.

At first I wasn’t sure that Brandon Routh could carry out the part of Superman but to my surprise he wasn’t too bad at it though he did spend a lot of time brooding. As Clarke Kent he was appropriately square, geeky, awkward and as Superman he was the epitome of cool. Kate Bosworth was not bad as Lois Lane though I found her different coloured eyes distracting and Kevin Spacey was fabulous as ever as an extremely villainous Lex Luther (the scene where he literally stabs Superman in the back is just plain scary). Oh and I had a good laugh at our (Australia’s) own rugby player turned actor Ian Roberts as one of Lex’s sidekicks.

With the relatively satisfactory acting I’m not sure where the film failed for me. Perhaps because it felt like Superman/Clarke Kent never really seemed to have a place in this new world he had returned to and all he did really was moon over losing Lois Lane (and let me tell you it didn’t take much to win her back). Of course there was some relatively good action scenes and use of special effects but I think the story was a little all over the place. Can’t really put my finger on it but something just didn’t jell and it probably didn’t help that the movie was half an hour longer than necessary (including a long awkward scene towards the end when Superman is hospitalised).

If you go, and I’m not saying you should or shouldn’t, at least go see it at Imax in 3D.