The hate for the film is overblown. Wasn't as bad as people make it out to be. I know Singer meant well, but he didn't pull it off as well as he could have.
That's where the problem is really, I often find my biggest complaint when it comes to Bryan Singer is his pacing. He will often deliver a stunning action scene like the Plane Sequence or the White House sequence on X2 but will then drag the film out there after.
I also think at times he can often pick the wrong actor for a key role like Bosworth in Supermam Returns or Anna Paquin in the X-Men films. It's bad to say but with Lois not been written all that great in SR, she really needed an actress that could convey the warmth that Kidder did in the original films. Bosworth was so wrong for the role and I always felt Rachel McAdams would have been a far better choice. It's a shame that he cast this role wrong but of course it wasn't the only issue with the film.
Take a look at some of the spectacular scene in the movie, they're all followed by scenes that lag.
The plane sequence by far the best scene in the film (again an issue that the best scene is in the middle of the movie. He made this mistake in X2 when the White House sequence was the best thing in the film and it's at the start). Soon after it starts to drag, we're introduced properly to the awful version of Lois Lane and the film takes to much time to get going again.
The Metropolis rescue is an often overlooked scene that's that's followed by a great scene where Superman saves Lois & co in the sinking boat. But when he before lands on the island and is beaten near death it starts to drag again.
Then finally we have Superman lifting the island, which is kinda silly given how Kryptonite was used in the prior scene but it still delivers a sense of wonder. Then it's followed again by a scene that lags, is he dead?, is he not?, then suddenly oh no he isn't. Not that we believed he was but still make some suspense if you're going to do that.
I also think he completely missed the point of the love angle in the Donner films aswell with the relationship Lois & Clark had in those movies. They were friends, she wasn't dismissive of him, introducing a new character as the third character in the love triangle was a bizarre choice.
The kid was a really poorly executed idea. It just didn't work and Singer concentrated way to much on this aspect when more should have been done to create real animosity between Lex and Superman.
One of his biggest errors in my book was not making Superman a real character. I think he did a good job with Clark personally but he didn't give Superman enough time and dialogue.
The key thing for me when it comes to Singer though is I often find his films feel to long. Well his comic book films, the only one that isn't to long in my eyes is the first X-Men and we know he had restraints on that picture true i.e. time wise and the budget. I think he may be better when he isn't given large budgets and less time. I've actually just remembered how I watched a fan edit of the film that restored some of the deleted scenes, removed some of the stalker moment and reedited the film in parts to make a tighter version. It was called Superman Restored and it's much better than the cut we got from Singer. Always felt it quite ridiculous that a fan cut was better done than his own cut.
