The Evil Power of Spacey-Luthor

There is a dangerous problem one can have when creating a villain. They can make him too cool. The villain doesn't have to respond to situations with morals or ethics, and is essentially free to be a total bastard. Why? He's the villain. His obligation is to make us hate him. Well. Kevin Spacey DOES villains. Anthony Hopkins DOES villains. Villains like Hans Gruber can elevate the hero to iconic levels. But sometimes, the villain just becomes to inherantly cool, he overshadows the hero entirely.

So, Super-Man Returns features my favorite new brand of Spacey: Luthor. Lex Luthor is a brilliant man who feels that Metropolis is his city. Super Man doesn't take to that, so naturally, the two must go at it until someone loses. Luthor has to try and best Supe's noticeable power advantage with cunning, wit, and ruthless exploitation of his foe's weaknesses. Gene Hackman played a very charismatic Luthor, but I feel that Spacey will bring to the table a massively intelligent and loathesome character. So much so, in fact, I anticipate rooting for Lex.

Kick his ass, Spacey-Luthor. You've earned it.