It's been five years since Superman was last seen. But one evening, as Martha Kent (Eva Marie Saint) says goodbye to neighbor Ben Hubbard, her ramshackle farm in Smallville, Kan., is rattled by the arrival of a flaming meteorite. It's Clark, back from his mysterious sojourn in the stars.

Lex Luthor (Spacey), meanwhile, is at the deathbed of his new wife, ailing billionaire Gertrude Vanderworth (Noel Neill, the movies' first Lois Lane), who is responsible for springing Luthor from prison. "All good men deserve a second chance," Gertrude gasps as she signs over her estate before expiring.

Luthor and his gang, which includes girlfriend Kitty Kowalski (Parker Posey), take Gertrude's sleek yacht out on a secret mission to the arctic. There Luthor leads them into an icy fortress, where he employs a crystal to activate an image of a long-dead scientist from the planet Krypton. "Tell me everything," Lex says.

Back in Metropolis, Clark returns to the bustling newsroom of the Daily Planet, the newspaper where he is a reporter. Cub reporter Jimmy Olsen (Sam Huntington) is the only person with time to welcome Clark back. And what about Lois Lane (Bosworth)?

Well, she's now got a son, Jimmy says. And a fiance: Richard White (Marsden), the nephew of Daily Planet editor Perry White (Frank Langella). Oh, and she's aboard a fancy new 777, which is about to launch a sophisticated new space shuttle into orbit.

Back in Gertrude's mansion, Lex is about to test a theory. But when the lights go out, it affects Lois' airplane ride. If only Superman were around to save the day ...

The Man of Steel soars back in triumph

After more than 10 years of development hell, Superman Returns finally lands, and the news is good. Superman Returns is, quite simply, a triumph. It has been lovingly crafted by a director and writers who know Superman from the soles of his red boots to the tip of his spit curl. In theme and image, with allusion and homage, Superman Returns references the entire history of the franchise, from comics to radio drama to Max Fleischer animated serials to Richard Donner's 1978 movie—especially the Donner film—with a new story that is also a thrilling update for the 21st century.

Singer and his X2 collaborators Dougherty and Harris have managed the neat trick of revisiting Donner's original movie while coming up with an entirely new story that includes a shocking twist to the Superman myth that pushes it beyond what's come before.

It's all there, from the opening images of the doomed white planet Krypton to the abbreviated Kansas pastoral to the Daily Planet screwball comedy to the rooftop romance and even the aerial pas-de-deux above Metropolis. Singer lovingly recreates and updates the opening credits and closing images, bits of dialogue ("How many 'F's in catastrophe?" Lois asks), the design of Krypton and the Fortress of Solitude, Marlon Brando (resurrected, eerily, with the aid of computer imagery), and, of course, many of John Williams' musical themes, which have been deftly worked into John Ottman's spirited score. And the film carries a fitting dedication to Christopher and Dana Reeve.

The movie deals with all the big issues: love, hate, duty, destiny, sacrifice, heroism. But Singer et al. also imbue the movie with authentically conflicted human emotions with which even Superman, for all his invulnerability, struggles. Lois and Clark have to grapple with very modern issues: What do you do when a long-lost love suddenly returns? How do you act when the love of your life suddenly appears with a child and a fiance?

Singer also brings to the well-worn material something else that hasn't been seen before: an artist's eye and palette. The movie shines with burnished colors, painterly lighting and heroic imagery befitting Superman's godlike stature. The sight of Superman hovering in space recalls the DC Comics images of Kingdom Come artist Alex Ross.

But this is above all a summer popcorn movie, and Singer again demonstrates that he's the master of comic-book action, in full command of the arsenal of state-of-the-art movie magic.