"But he does turn into a cartoon like Neo in The Matrix Reloaded."
Is there supposed to be a "not" in there?
Also, I'm not sure about the "icily" comment. How was her performance icy?
I read Ebert's review, and he commented that no one in the movie seemed to be having fun. That does appear to be true for several people. I mean, the piano playing guy had fun. I think Lex had fun in his evil, not-over-the-top way. But Lois & Superman/Clark? Hmmm. Not really. Lois was very torn. Clark as well. Superman seemed to go out saving the day not because he wanted to but because he needed to. There was a lot of angst in the atmosphere.
Superman did seem to be happy in his house scene monologue at the end, but it's a bittersweet happiness for obvious reasons.
Is this a fun movie? I'm not really getting that vibe. Maybe that's why it was reportedly so difficult to put together. And I don't think the sequel is going to be any easier. But the difficulty was entirely of the scriptwriter's/etc. choosing--all caused by the "Superman has been gone for 5 years" thing.
Anyway, I forgot to mention that when I went to see it, the theater music for the hour before the show was all Superman-related. Those pop songs "If I go crazy, then will you still call me Superman," etc.