There may have been a good deal of similarities in terms of STORY, but 'shot-for-shot remake' is pushing it. In the original, Superman saved Lois - and only Lois - from an out-of-control helicopter a few dozen feet over the Daily Planet; in 'Superman Returns', he saves at least a hundred people, including Lois, from a large plane that is plummeting from the upper stratosphere. As for Supes being taken out of action via Kryptonite, there's a good deal of difference between a small hunk of it being dangled around his neck, and an entire island of the stuff that's threatening the world. I'll agree that the ditzy female sidekick was kind of stolen from the first one, but as for the natural disaster part and the flying off into space - that's what Superman DOES. He's one of the few characters that can actually DO stuff like that without people going 'oh, come ON' - he's Superman; he's REALLY that powerful, and having him show off his powers that way is, as far as I'm concerned, simply an effective use of the character. And I'll agree that we were kind of left hanging at the end, but that's a common thing with superhero movies these days - everyone's hoping to create a franchise or exploit an old one. Look at the ending of 'Spider-Man 2', for cryin' out loud - you think that's not a cliffhanger ending?