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Then:
Richard Donner's Superman, which was released in 1978, begins with John William's souring musical score and blue outlined credits flying toward the viewer.  This is followed by the appearance of Marlon Brando and an explosion of the planet Krypton.  A meteorite then crash lands on Earth at the farm of Ma and Pa Kent.  As they quickly discover, an alien boy who looks like a human was inside the rock.  Superman's first rescue is of Lois Lane from a flying vehicle (a helicopter), followed by the speech, "I hope this experience hasn't put you off flying. Statistically speaking, it is still the safest way to travel."  While in a library in a tunnel under a train station, Lex Luthor hatches an evil plan to destroy half of North America (including New Jersey, where his female assistant's mother lives) and create new land to make millions as a real estate mogul.  This is explained via a speech in which he begins to quote his father, saying, "My father always told me to," and his female assistant interupts him, saying, "Get out."  Lex then laughs sarcastically and finished the quote with, "Stocks may rise and fall, utilities and transportation systems may collapse. People are no damn good, but they will always need land and they'll pay through the nose to get it."  Before ultimately foiling the plan by chasing down cracks in the Earth, Superman is negatively affected by kryptonite strewn around his neck and left to drown in water (a pool) before being rescued by a woman.  The final scene of the movie is Superman flying through space before banking right and leaving the audience with a view of the infinite blackness as the credits role.  

Now:
Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, which was released last week, begins with John William's souring musical score and blue outlined credits flying toward the viewer.  This is followed by an explosion of the planet Krypton and the voice of Marlon Brando.  A meteorite then crash lands on Earth at the farm of Ma and Pa Kent.  As the Ma quickly discovers, an alien man who looks like a human was inside the rock.  Superman's first rescue is of Lois Lane from a flying vehicle (an airplane), followed by the speech, "I hope this experience hasn't put any of you off flying. Statistically speaking, it is still the safest way to travel."  While in a library on a boat, Lex Luthor hatches an evil plan to destroy half of North America (including New Jersey) and create new land to make billions as a real estate mogul.  This is explained via a speech in which he begins to quote his father, saying, "My father always told me to," and his female assistant interupts him, saying, "Get out."  Lex then laughs sarcastically and finishes the quote with the idea that prices of gold and diamonds may change, but people, "will always need land."  Before ultimately foiling the plan by chasing down cracks in the Earth, Superman is negatively affected by kryptonite stabbed into his back and left to drown in water (an ocean) before being rescued by a woman.  The final scene of the movie is Superman flying through space before banking right and leaving the audience with a view of the infinite blackness as the credits role.  

Then and Now:
The only major difference to the plot of the two movies is that Superman Returns supposedly takes place five years after the sequel to Richard Donner's version, except that the characters are somehow younger, and seemingly don't remember anything that happened to them in the other movies.  Nonetheless, it is a new time, and they have new emotions (and in the case of Lois Lane; a new family).  

What this means is that by doing something not very original, Bryan Singer has actually done something amazingly original - he has invented the remake sequel genre.  Superman Returns is a sequel, but before that, it is a remake.  It is a remake that continues the story as a sequel.  

This really upsets me.  After multiple writers and multiple directors exhausted multiple story ideas, the new Superman is the old one.  Bryan Singer supposedly wowed the studio with his vision for a new Superman movie.  And that vision was to make the same movie, only set it 5 years later and have some characters forget the history they once had.  

Now, I'm not saying that the film is bad.  It is truly a spectacle in every sense of the word.  The tagline for the original was, "You will believe a man can fly," and this movie fully lives up to that and then some, making you reevaluate how movies can make you feel.  And the previously mentioned airplane rescue sequence, followed by Superman and Lois's silent reunion, is one of the best movie scenes of the past few years.  Plus, the cinematography and lightning creates some wonderful images that harken back to the healthy glow radiating off of all the stars in the 50's and 60's.

It's just that after 19 years and well over $200 million, as well as an apparently revolutionary idea that finally got this movie greenlit, I expected a whole lot more originality.  I expected a unique vision, not a unique retread.  Instead of something new like the idea of the startling plot twist at the end of a film [The Usual Suspects], or a the idea of a dark and brooding character driven comic saga [X-men], we have a very late sequel/remake with a Christopher Reeve look alike that doesn't emote as well as the actual Christopher Reeve, and a Kate Bosworth with dyed brown hair that doesn't have enough (or any) sass and feistiness to channel the Lois Lane we remember.  And, here's the real kicker, is this what today's audience wants to see?  The people who grew up with the original Supe will love it, but will the PG-13 crowd?  The movie is 157 minutes long and is heavy on the type of Clark Kent that says "swell" and light on superhero action.  Is that really what people familiar with Smallville want from their Superman?

I don't know.  All I can tell you is that in Superman Returns, Superman literally returns to become trapped in the same plot from thirty years ago, but with a few modern touches.  But hey, that's okay.   Call it a $200 million trial run.  Consider what Singer and company can accomplish when the amazing flying effects are used in an actual original story.  Let's just hope that next time the screenwriters remember that Clark Kent and Lois Lane have a past.