Bryan Singer: His Films Ranked From Worst To Best

Given that he'd more or less single-handedly saved the comic book movie genre with the first two X-Men movies, expectations were high that Singer would enjoy similar success bringing the original superhero back to the screen for the first time in almost two decades.

This, of course, was not to be. Ten years on, 2006's Superman Returns tends to remembered as an outright failure both on a creative and commercial level. However, while it didn't make the impact it needed to, the film still has much to recommend it - particularly in light of how the subsequent Superman movies have treated the material.

Singer and co approached Superman with a reverential spirit, and set out to celebrate his traditional positive attributes; his innate decency and sense of honour. This is effectively conveyed, and there are many visually striking sequences the capture the character's iconic power beautifully.

The problem is that the film is far too beholden to the earlier Christopher Reeve films in every respect. Brandon Routh, as has long been remarked, was clearly cast primarily based on his resemblance to Reeve, and never really gets the chance to make the part his own. Kate Bosworth, meanwhile, is far too bland to make for a captivating Lois Lane.

Still, Kevin Spacey is clearly having a ball as Lex Luthor, even if Parker Posey routinely steals all the scenes as the henchwoman Kitty. It's just a shame his evil scheme - essentially to make himself the world's greatest property baron - really doesn't make a great deal of sense.

Then again, they also thought it was a good idea to give Lois and Superman a kid, so there was clearly a lot they didn't think through hard enough at the script stage.