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Brian Singer is reported on this site as being unwilling to do this movie if he couldn't use John Williams' score. I think this is the key to understanding the tone and motivation of this 'sequel' to Superman 2. The leisurely way in which the characters are introduced, the scenes beautifully lit and detailed with references to the earlier Salkind productions reveal Singer's reverence and affection. If you went to see the first Superman movie at an impressionable age (as I did) it is difficult to be objective as you sit with a little reminiscent smile on your face. However, it is too long and the co-stars are not sufficiently exploited, leaving it a little short on humour. HOWEVER, Brandon Routh's performance lingered in the memory after I had left the cinema - not given much to say, he is a powerful and haunting presence, the sense of his loneliness and central goodness is persuasive and only surprising if you forget that he had clearly modelled his performance on the late Christopher Reeve. Once you recollect this blighted man's freshness and sincerity in the role do you forgive the missed opportunities of this feature and look forward to the sequel. Brian Singer has proved himself a safe pair of hands.

I understand that there is some history about the journey from stage to screen - but I am not an expert so I'll limit my comments to the movie I have just seen. It starts well, with smooth operator and cynical manipulator Sinatra checking out the San Francisco clubs for a chance to move in and make his mark. His eye contact with the men as he flirts and seduces the womenfolk is telling - and convincing, I feel that this was closer to Sinatra's real personality than the gauche ingénue from 'On The Town' and 'Take Me Out to the Ballgame'. But the film disappoints - Rita Hayworth seems distracted and Kim Novak is just poorly cast, too hefty for the twig-like Frank. And there is absolutely no heat between either of the women and Sinatra. The songs are great - I'm not stupid, these are classics for a reason, but, apart from Frank, they are delivered without conviction. Maybe the genre was running out of steam by then - but it just doesn't stand up as well as older musicals. Not brave enough to be really cynical and realistic, but too knowing to pull off the supposed innocence of earlier Hollywood offerings.

Those who tired of Roddenberry's smug and glossy Federation from 'Star Trek' will find an antidote here. Mankind has settled elsewhere in the universe but all of our faults, foibles and failings are intact. Captain Malcolm Reynolds and his lovable band of pirates scrape a living on the rim of the semi-fascistic central government called the Alliance. The story is compelling, if familiar, and the special effects up to standard, but this is not why this movie is worth seeing. You really care about the characters, they have genuine chemistry and dimensions numbering more than two. The dialogue is funny and witty and the action moves along at a good old pace, pausing for a little emotional down-time here and there. Joss Whedon deserved to have his series (from which this movie sprung) given a little more time, but that's Hollywood for you. If people stay away because there's no 'big name' attached to the project then, Gentle Cinema-goers, we deserve all the hackneyed, reconstituted, mindless pap that gets thrown at us. Something with a little brains along with its brawn should do better.