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I just came back from it and its worth its movie ticket price, but I have a few bones to pick along Ann's line of thought. I thought as a movie it worked excellently and had a provocative storyline but I felt the impact of it was cushioned a bit much for my tastes. Thus, what follows is a tad nitpicky.
Clearly SR seems to take for granted the events of Superman II where Lois and Clark have the briefest of affairs. Successively he leaves and that's the end of that. Or so we think.
I personally feel that once you stop and think about SR-- the whole thing is just dark and ugly. Tragic in the full sense (fate and everything). Since what happens is hard hitting I can't help but feel that the way it was presented was a bit of a cop out. To summarize: One, you have Clark denying her the knowledge of what has happened between them, but Lois being stuck literally with the consequences. Second you have Lois lashing out in rage under the pretense of "moving on" and being in a relationship with a nice dude who she obviously does not love (thank god she isn't married, but its not much of a consolation). Third you have Clark being relegated to a position where he has no claim on the family that he is a part of. The worst one is the first given that Clark honestly he thought he was doing what was best for her in erasing her memory. BIG mistake. The worst.
As for specific instances--I think Lois' reaction to a gifted child would probably be a lot more complicated than "I think this is your kid." Especially if she has no clue HOW she came to have his kid in the first place. I buy that in the moment she'd mention it (in the efforts of saving his life), but I hardly think it would go as smooth as it did. It's very possible Superman left and she began seeing Richard immediately and thought he was the kid's biological father. That would make the whole thing even more baffling, since the kid being Superman's would come completely out of nowhere.
Likewise, methinks that Superman is ecstatic to have a kid and while that is certainly plausible (it keeps him in Lois' life) it seems a little too altruistic for him to be content with another man taking his place as father. There is also that pesky little issue of 'hey-you-got pregnant-because-we-slept-together-but-nobody knows-it-but-me. I can feel the guilt attack coming on. And it would be appropriate.
I feel bad for Richard, but, really, he and Lois are not married and he's not even her kid's father...tragedy indeed. I hope to see where Hollywood is eventually going to stuff him.
So. The question remaining for me is: who is writing the fanfic and where can I find it? I'm desperate enough to take it on myself or to work with someone to hash it out...
Overall, I think the movie's strength was its weakness. It's cliche, but true. The movie is about Superman the hero and how larger than life he is-- the problem is that while I enjoy hero Superman as much as the next guy or girl, erasing someone's memory of an encounter that resulted in a pregnancy is a HUUUUGE faux pas. Thus, while part of me is moved by Superman reciting what his father told him, another part of me is thinking 'wow, he never really knew his own father and now his own kid is probably not going to really know him.' Son becomes the father indeed. Then I thought Lois "Will we see you around" and his reply "I'm always around" was just awful bordering on audience cruelty. I can't help but have tragictragictragic echoing in my head.
I don't know when Hollywood will roll out with another one, or if they will. The posting that the movie hasn't met expectations should scare us. If it doesn't become profitable there's a chance it might end here. Even if there is a sequel, I'm too jaded that they'll put the characters where they belong and make them face up to the consequences of what has happened in a non two dimensional manner, but I'll keep some hope on the stove just in case.
