Bryan Singer

The usual suspect.

The Usual Suspects (1995) -- A clever movie that's probably just as clever on the tenth viewing. B

X-Men (2000) -- Another big ol' crazy actiony-type movie, slightly better than the rest, but not too much. (Bryan singer also directs the sequel X2: X-Men United.) C

Superman Returns (2006) -- This movie makes itself part of the Christopher Reeve series of Superman movies by utilizing the John Williams music, using stock footage of Marlon Brando as Superman's father, getting an actor who looks a lot like the young Christopher Reeve, and of course by continuing the plot rather than doing the origin story again--though apparently the only reason Superman has been gone for five years is so they can call the movie Superman Returns. Most things are more or less formulaic: Superman shows up, saves the day on a grand scale (throwing yet another big chunk of something into space), has some moments with Lois Lane, gets Kryptonited by Lex Luthor, and then gets out of it somehow. The additions to the formula are not good ones, but merely stupid: like giving Lois Lane a kid with a dumb haircut that's actually Superman's kid, or having Lois and her live-in boyfriend save Superman at the end, with the Man of Steel actually ending up in the hospital for an anti-climax. What does work about the movie is undoubtedly one reason why they made it in the first place: namely the cool effects. Bryan Singer knows how to do that kind of stuff, and everything looks both cool and natural here, and the action scenes are pretty nice. I also give props to Brandon Routh himself for channeling Reeve and embodying Superman the character in a charming way, and to Kevin Spacey for giving Luthor as much or more zazz as Gene Hackman did. In the end, it's a somewhat fun popcorn movie that suffers from certain elements of 00s movies and makes you miss some of the goofiness of the 70s and 80s films. (Sidney J. Furie directs the predecessor, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace.) C