Last night, I got a chance to see Superman Returns at the legendary Chinese Theatre on Hollywood Blvd. Seeing a movie there is always a surreal experience, given the throngs of traveling tourists that populate the obstacle course of walkways between the parking structure and the theatre lobby. In front of the theatre are actors who work as living cardboard cutouts of Catwoman and Superman, only Catwoman is about fifty pounds overweight and Superman is in his forties. Needless to say, it all adds immensely to the film-going experience of Hollywood. And there is no film out this summer that screams Hollywood more than Bryan Singer's magical and slightly over-blown "Superman Returns".

The movie is certainly one to be seen this summer on the big screen. Singer gracefully paints the screen with a fine contrast of vivid popcorn thrills and delicate character studies. Clark/Superman and Lois Lane are not just cookie cutter characters running around the streets of Metropolis as pawns in great action sequences. They have stories and hearts and problems and fears. And both Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth surprise with equally powerful and endearing performances as the star-crossed lovers whose destinies are forever entangled in saving the future of the world. And as much as Kevin Spacey and Parker Posey (I mean, she STEALS scenes) tear up the scenery like bulls in a candy shop, the real soul of the film revolves around the love between Lois and Superman, two people who feel chosen in different ways to help shed light on the world and its troubles. The film ignites when the two are on screen together, as the scene where the two fly over the city, through the clouds, over the ocean, and high into the sky illustrates. It is here that the true beauty of Singer's story comes to light.

With X-Men and X2, Singer proved that he knew his way around a comic book movie. And though I recall being more profoundly blown away by X2, Superman Returns seems to be the movie that he was meant to make. In most all aspects, he nails the picture. The visual dynamics on display are phenomenal, and one can see he has a real passion for the grandeur of the characters. However, he could have edited the film down a bit, as it did lack from some valleys in the center that dragged the pacing down. And there were some sequences that seemed to be in the film more for the sheer value of impressing the eye than honoring the story.

In its truest essence, Superman Returns is an allegory for accepting one's fate in life. Once we allow ourselves to stop fighting the person we are meant to be, we can find our true self and excel in that nature. Superman is the epitome of one character whose fate is blinding in its reality, and watching him push to his limits in such extraordinary circumstances is riveting and thought-provoking. If we were given the destiny of being the one to save this world, could we be steel enough to take it? And is it love that truly drives all of our motivations? Sure, it's a movie. But it caused this viewer to stop and look in the mirror. If one does not accept the reality of his/her existence, can one really excel within it?

I had lunch with a friend today, and she made a comment along the lines of, "Until you learn to accept yourself and your circumstances the way they are now, you can't really grow beyond them." You remain stuck. I realize now that there is nothing super about remaining stuck. A superhero is one who faces each new moment with confidence and renewal. And let's face it. There is no better place to be a superhero than Hollywood.

What about it?