Superman gets stamp of approval from US critics

The first Superman film in almost 20 years, Superman Returns, has received rave reviews from America's leading movie critics.

Superman Returns stars Brandon Roth as the Man Of Steel, Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, and Kevin Spacey as villain Lex Luthor.

Trade paper Variety praised director Bryan Singer's film as "grandly conceived, sensitively drawn and never self-consciously hip. It is sincere, with an artistic elegance and a genuine emotional investment in the material."

Writing in Newsweek, critic David Ansen writes: "From the start of this gorgeously crafted epic, you can feel that Singer has real love and respect for the most foursquare comics superhero of them all."

The Hollywood Reporter says Superman Returns is "a heartfelt Superman movie that plays to a broad audience".

Writing on influential website Ain't It Cool News, Harry Knowles writes: "Just as Batman Begins relaunched an ailing Batman, (Superman Returns) sends Superman into the stratosphere."

Superman Returns, the first movie of the franchise since 1987's Superman IV: The Quest for Peace, opens in the US on June 28.