13 Gloriously Hammy Performances In Comic Book Movies
6. Kevin Spacey (Superman Returns)
The vitriol levelled at Superman Returns has largely dissipated in the wake of Man of Steel and in the build-up to Batman V Superman. Its almost possible to re-watch Supermans adventures as a deadbeat dad without that familiar righteous anger. Kate Bosworth is miscast as Lois Lane but inoffensive in the role, and Brandon Routh does his best with subpar material. Then theres Kevin Spacey in the overactors role of a lifetime, Lex Luthor, as whom he delivers a performance which seems more credible with each passing year. Spaceys most famous scene in Superman Returns sees him explaining his master plan to Lois Lane in the tradition of villainous megalomaniacs everywhere. If you can momentarily ignore the plan itself (to sink America, raise sea levels, and create real estate opportunities), which is ridiculous, and the presentation, which involves a slideshow of remote-controlled maps including one of the planet helpfully labelled World, you can spend the scene thoroughly enjoying Spacey at his hammiest. He smirks, waves his hands up in the air, giggles, and wiggles his ears, and still nothing prepares you for that ear-splitting yell: WRONG!! Fortunately, Luthors a character who lends himself to exaggeration, and Spaceys performance was acclaimed at the time as one of the only redeeming features of the film. It remains to be seen whether Jesse Eisenberg can match it.
