At least the guy looks like Superman. In fact, newcomer Brandon Routh, 26, credits a resemblance to his cinematic predecessor with getting him into showbiz. ''When my first manager signed me, he said I looked like Christopher Reeve,'' says Routh (pictured). ''If I didn't, I don't know if he would have said, 'I want to work with you.'''
Of course, with great similarity comes great pressure to bring something different to the table — though not radically different: Superman Returns (unofficially) picks up where Superman II left off, with the Kryptonian refugee returning from a long sabbatical in space to find that Metropolis has done just fine without a superhero watchdog. So has Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth): The Daily Planet ace is now dating her editor's nephew (James Marsden) and raising a child, too. (Burning question: Who's the daddy?) Not that Superman is completely irrelevant — not when there are airplanes and space shuttles crashing, plus a dastardly scheme by Lex Luthor (Kevin Spacey) involving a rich old lady, a mysterious island, and other spoilerish elements.
Shot in the American heartland of...Sydney, Australia, ''Superman was a pretty vicious film'' to make, says director Bryan Singer (X-Men), now in the throes of complex effects work. Expensive? Quite — but not nearly $250 million expensive, as ''some moron'' (Singer's description) recently attributed to him. ''I take enormous pride in being fiscally responsible. That really pissed me off.'' Language, Bryan! Superman would not approve.
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