A new Superman movie is always cause for celebration and speculation. Like Batman and Bond, every new iteration of the character comes with a new actor, a new tone, and a new(ish) mythology), all pointed at what one hopes is a new storyline. And since comic book diehards are a notoriously fickle group of consumers, any new take on a classic character has to deliver on two conflicting notions:
- It must not be the same old thing we’re used to.
- It must not deviate from what we’re used to in any way.
So writer/director James Gunn has his work cut out for him in not just delivering a satisfying new version of the king of all superheroes, but in kicking off what DC hopes will be their new shared cinematic universe. After the previous effort fell apart despite a strong start with Man of Steel (it’s great, shut up), and while the current MCU is trying to recapture the magic of their inaugural story arc, all at a time when the world is growing increasingly tired of superhero movies on the whole, Superman is a film that has every reason not to succeed. And if it fails to serve even one of its many masters, it will fail all of them, doomed to replicate the same domino effect of pivots, rewrites, reshoots, and sequels that sank the original DCEU.
But since I think it’s cheap and limiting (and boring) to judge a movie for what might come after it, all I’ll say is this: the new DC Universe is off to a great start. And perhaps the most telling reason why is that Superman is a great movie on its own.
It is not a preview of what’s to come, nor does either of its post-credits sequences hint at any specific things to look forward to. The Easter Eggs are all in service of plot points, story beats, and, most commonly, character-based jokes. Superman is a James Gunn film through and through, and while that means it moves a bit away from the “epic mythmaking” tone of prior Superman films, it also makes the Big Blue Boy Scout the most accessible he’s ever been, without sacrificing what we’ve all come to love about the character.
The film stars with a short, punchy opening crawl to set the stage: this is a world where metahumans exist, and for the past 3 years, Superman has emerged as the most powerful among them. He regularly protects the citizens of Metropolis from a variety of beasties, often with the help of Green Lantern, Mr. Terrific, and Hawkgirl (Nathan Fillion, Edi Gathegi, and Isabela Merced, respectively), and has recently started dabbling in world affairs to mixed response from the public. The potential controversy of international meddling is seized upon by — you guessed it — Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) in an effort to discredit Supes … and then some.
Typically, Superman movies have been different than the comics insofar as the scope of their story. The films have all been about the titular hero’s mixed human/alien upbringing finding his place among humanity, while the comics, which have done his origin story to death, are more commonly about more cosmic concerns. Superman manages to balance both in a way that hasn’t been seen on screen in the past, and it allows for a more colorful, cartoonish movie than what we’re used to (this is a compliment), while also tapping into the pathos of maintaining a dual identity. Relative newcomer (and Philly native — Go Birds) David Corenswet wears this duality as well has he does the new and improved Superman uniform.
Corenswet embodies Superman similarly to all who came before — black hair, deep voice, general politeness, muscles — while bringing a unique level of humanity to everyone’s favorite Kryptonian (well, second favorite, now that Krypto the Superdog has made his way to the silver screen). He also embodies Clark Kent, albeit in a less bumbling way than a few of his performance ancestors. I like when Clark feels less like Superman putting on a bumbling show and more like the human being that every iteration of Clark declares himself to be. No love lost to Reeve or Routh, both of whom are fantastic, but that was the one aspect of their characterizations that always bothered me — Clark was a costume. But with Cavill, and now Corenswet, Clark is Clark, and Superman is just the name given to him by a world seeking to understand and compartmentalize his abilities.
Enter Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane, the unshakeable reporter whose interrogation skills might as well be laser vision for their effectiveness in penetrating a target’s defenses. An early scene where Lois (who is dating Clark and knows his true identity) interviews Superman gives us the strongest depiction of their iconic relationship to date. The conversation is genuine, and it brilliantly showcases both parties’ strengths and weaknesses relative to one another’s experience and nature. Brosnahan gives an energetic, empathetic performance that gives us a believable, fun take on Lane. She always comes across as the smartest, most capable person in the room (spelling skills notwithstanding), even when she’s standing amidst a trio of superheroes. And when she and Corenswet are tasked with romance, hot dang it sizzles.
Herein lies my one issue with the film: I could’ve used more Clark and Lois. I could’ve used more of the supporting cast at The Daily Planet. There’s a subplot with Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo) that feels convenient and undercooked. Perry White is played by the legendary Wendell Pierce, for heaven’s sake, and he gets a sum total of barely any screen time at all. Beck Bennett as Steve Lombard, the Planet’s sports reporter, gets the single funniest line in any movie so far this year, but otherwise he’s just set dressing. And Mikaela Hoover plays Cat Grant and I swear she can fix me and I would do anything for her, but she just kinda exists. Now this isn’t to say that the characters are poorly handled, but I get the sense that there’s a somewhat longer version of the film that was cut for time and pace. Perhaps this was the correct move — the pacing is near impeccable. But I do have my fingers crossed for a director’s cut. I would imagine that some of Gunn’s trademark gross-out humor was probably cut too, as it’s not a match for the tone of a Supes story, but he manages to sneak in a handful of playfully dark gags to remain wonderfully on brand.
All in all, Superman is a wild success. It’s fun, funny, exciting, romantic, hopeful, colorful, and as purely entertaining as blockbusters come. It hits every beat that we expect from a Superman story while also forging new territory in how he’s characterized and in how superhero movies are constructed, both in a vacuum and with an eye toward a larger franchise. Perhaps the best compliment I can give the film is this: It made me want to be a better man, because that’s what Superman would do.
And to that end lemme soapbox for half a second. Superman is not a “woke” film by any metric. Yes, the character is inherently political by his very nature, but there is nothing contemporarily “woke” about the film that hasn’t been in every single iteration of Superman since day one. The whole thing is a manufactured controversy created by right wing media because they make money off of getting guileless rubes all charged up over culture war bullshit that doesn’t exist. If any of these spineless pundits actually saw the movie, they’d know that there’s no accuracy to their coverage. Heck, they probably do know, but who are they to abandon such an easy grift? The real question we should be asking isn’t whether or not Superman is woke, but rather why the most powerful people here in the real world are exact copies of comic book villains.
Directed by James Gunn
Written by James Gunn, based on the creations of Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel
Starring David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Edi Gathegi, Isabela Merced
Rated PG-13, 129 minutes
