superman returns

i really like brian singer. he directed many good movies. the usual suspects is one of the best murder/mysteries i've seen in the past 15 years. he really did a great job of translating xmen to the screen, and he then hit it out of the park in xmen 2. and now this.
i didn't quite know what to expect. i have never really much cared for superman as a character, so i wasn't foaming at the mouth with excitement for this movie or anything, but i was looking forward to it.
boy, was i disappointed. the basic premise is this: superman leaves for five years and then returns. where did he go? the movie doesn't really explain that well. why was he gone so long? no answer. do we at least get to see some of the cool stuff he did out in space during that time? nope. when he does return, no one is that surprised. he comes to save an airplane from crashing. the people inside the plane see him out the window and just stare blankly. no excitement, no enthusiasm, no joy that their hero has returned. and that is exactly what is wrong with this movie. its filled with alot of blank stares, bland expressions, stiff acting, and basic dialog. and seriously, do we need to rely on the same old cliche of superman and kryponite? hasn't that been done in every other single superman movie ever made? why do we have to keep going back to that dried up well?
there were some good ideas that could have been developed. the movie briefly covers the themes of adoption, fatherhood, responsibility, moving on, and maturity. each of which could have been further explored, but instead they decided to make lex luther an evil real estate salesman. gee, creative...
sure, the visual effects are great, the flying scenes looked great, the bullet in the eye thing was cool, but over all i was not expecting much, but was still disappointed.