"Superman" review — It’s up, up, and away for the new DC universe
“You think everything and everyone is beautiful.”
Thirty years ago, a spaceship carrying an infant child crashed into the farmlands around Smallville, Kansas, and was discovered by two kindly farmers. Raised as their own, Clark Kent’s alien heritage gives him extraordinary powers thanks to the effects of Earth’s yellow sun. Faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound . . . well, you know the rest. The story of Krypton’s last son is a tale as old as time, and James Gunn’s Superman, the latest live-action iteration of the character and the first film in a freshly rebooted DC cinematic universe, doesn’t bother showing us his origins. Instead, when the film begins, it’s been three years since Superman first unveiled himself publicly to the people of Metropolis, and by extension, the rest of the human race. He’s been zipping around his hometown and the rest of the world performing heroic acts, saving those in distress, and, now, finding himself getting involved in geopolitics in a way that proves problematic for the interests of the U.S. government and a certain bald billionaire. See, three weeks ago, Superman stopped the nation of Boravia from Jarhanpur, which might have prevented the deaths of tens of thousands of people, but when Lex Luthor has a vested interest in profiting from the war, he has set himself up for the hardest struggle of his life. Three minutes ago, for the first time, Superman lost a fight.
Gunn’s version of the Man of Steel is a colourful, boisterous, and kindhearted interpretation, a refreshing pivot from the gloomy, self-serious Superman from the former “DCEU.” Superman embraces the cheesy, cartoonish sincerity of the title character to great effect, creating a film that is not only a fabulous superhero adventure but also manages to make Superman feel more human than ever before. While lesser interpretations and understandings of the character reduce him to a stocky demigod whose love for humanity feels more esoteric and divine than anything else, this telling of the story is the most human-driven film version yet. And it works so well. An incredible lead cast and some great action set pieces tee up Superman to be a total crowd pleaser, and I am ever a sucker for its charms. This is, unfortunately, pretty far from perfect. Gunn’s lofty ambitions put too much strain on the threads holding the film together. There are some unfortunate visual choices throughout, and the expansive narrative means that the film lacks clarity in its themes and emotional structure. But with a core of such radiant optimism and hope, it’s hard not to get swept up in the joy that the film exudes.
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| Rachel Brosnahan and David Corenswet in Superman. Photo via DC Studios. |
David Corenswet takes on the cape and trunks (yes, the trunks are back), assuming the role from a long line of distinguished performers. Corenswet’s performance is earnest and vulnerable, leaning into the humanity of Superman in a way few actors before him have. Here, Clark Kent and Superman are not two identities given to the same man, but rather, Corenswet makes them almost indistinguishable. This is a Superman who cries, hurts, gets hurt, and chooses to do the good thing time and time again, even if the good thing isn’t always easy. He might be a deeply flawed Superman, but he’s also a Superman who’s deeply good. Rachel Brosnahan (from TV’s brilliant comedy The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel) plays Lois Lane, an investigative reporter, Clark’s new girlfriend, and is already in on the whole secret identity thing. Brosnahan’s version of Lois, who is electric Corenswet on screen, is a hard-nosed, “wrong side of the tracks” journalist, with a natural sense of suspicion that makes her a key player in the Lex Luthor-Boravia story that’s quickly becoming all the more dangerous. Nicolas Hoult rounds out the three leads with a perfectly dastardly interpretation of Lex Luthor. Shying away from the silliness of Gene Hackman or the tech-bro awkwardness of Jesse Eisenberg, this is a Luthor driven by pure malice. Devious and calculated, Hout’s character is constantly on edge and ready to do whatever it takes to protect humanity (and his corporate interests).
Superman is not the only hero buzzing around the skies of Metropolis in this film. Rather than starting from scratch, this new DCU is a world pre-populated with interdimensional travel, monsters, aliens, and costumed do-gooders. “Big blue,” as he’s so affectionately called by one of his superheroing frenemies, Guy Gardner, might be the strongest hero of them all, but he’s hardly the only, or even the first. He’s aided by the corporate-backed “Justice Gang” (name pending), a trio of heroes who find themselves on the more financially lucrative side of heroics. Nathan Fillon leads the team as the snarky, but aging Gardner, a low-ranking member of the Green Lantern Corps. Isabela Merced’s Hawkgirl is a done-with-it young hero who holds a pretty strong grudge towards Gardner. Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terrific, a no-nonsense inventor with a box full of gadgets and tech, is the film’s secret weapon, as he becomes a huge part of the film’s second half and has some pretty stellar character beats. The heroics that Superman and the other characters perform are often very fun to watch. There’s a big-monster take-down sequence that leaves a smile on my face, a beach-set fight that is simultaneously the simplest but also the most satisfying bit of fisticuffs, an excellently choreographed invasion of the Fortress of Solitude, and a split-perspective finale that manages to wrap everything up beautifully.
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| Nicolas Hoult in Superman. Photo via DC Studios. |
The success of this film is largely owed to Gunn, who clearly knows his way around the superhero genre. Gunn, serving as both writer and director here and now the co-CEO of the newly rebranded DC Studios, has been a mainstay of the comic book film world for the last eleven years, having directed all three Guardians of the Galaxy films for Marvel and The Suicide Squad for DC. Of course, Superman differs greatly from his other comic book projects because Superman has an air of boy-scout heroics and cheese that his previous films have not operated with. Gunn is a filmmaker who usually keeps things edgy, as seen in the team of outlaws and villains that comprise his films for both major franchises, and finds beauty and love in the flawed characters. While Superman is not without its moments of edgy humour, nor afraid of putting a little grim on the cape, there’s a fundamental conviction in the power of kindness that puts Gunn in new territory and keeps Superman grounded in what has always made the character work. The old school values of the comic book hero are mixed beautifully with a story that involves a messy, complicated world that doesn’t always fit with Superman’s sense of what is right and wrong.
The film stumbles by being far too scattershot in both its themes and its narrative. Superman is not afraid of being a movie that has a message, but it also is a movie that wants to be about everything all at once: immigration, security, peace, Superman’s human and alien identities, the power of journalism, online groupthink and social media, and the importance of being good in a world far too lacking in goodness. The cast for this film is a little overwhelming: from the staff of the Daily Planet and the Justice Gang (again, name pending) to the agents of Lex Luthor and the inhabitants of his pocket universe, there are a few too many players dancing around to give everyone there fair shake (did we need to do a backdoor pilot for The Authority in this film, too?). Superman’s dog, Krypto, an unruly puppy, even manages to take up some screentime here. If I’m being honest, there are many a bit too much by way of Krypto shenanigans, but at least the dog is cute. For example, Jonathan and Martha Kent are given far too little screentime, making a third-act stop in Smallville lack the emotional resonance that the tear-eyed exchange between Pa Kent and Clark tries to achieve.
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| David Corenswet in Superman. Photo via DC Studios. |
There are some questionable visual choices. The film loves ultra-wide lenses, as has been a rather ugly trend in filmmaking in recent years, to a degree that is downright distracting and pulled me out of the action several times. The blue-tinged frames and daylight-lit scenes are often inviting, but the garishness of the colours can also risk the film feeling cheap, which is a problem that crops up from time to time. The visual effects, too, are unfortunately often spotty. A chase sequence through the aforementioned pocket dimension ends up being visually sloppy, with a love of weightless CGI polygons that someone dear to me likened to the effects of Robert Rodriguez’s Spy Kids. I can’t disagree. On the topic of Lex Luthor’s pocket dimension, Anthony Carrigan’s Metamorpho is an unfortunate victim of this section. While Carrigan’s performance is strong, it’s undercut with visual effects that make the character feel goofy and a narrative inclusion that feels more out of plot necessity than in service of a good story. And yet, through it all, the hopeful energy of Superman is just infectious enough to elevate this film into something wonderful.
Superman is tailor-made to the times we live in. Itself set on an Earth that sits on the brink of war, where the severity of international atrocities is played down for the sake of America’s allies, the internet spews constant hatred, and culture and society are dominated by the rich and powerful, the film is ripe for analogues to our present reality. But when the world feels more dangerous than ever and the human race seems less inclined to kindness, Superman is a taste of something better. Led by a hero whose entire mission is to do good things for his fellow citizens of Earth, Superman offers a moral clarity that’s all too rare in both blockbuster filmmaking and the world at large. As Lois says, Superman is the sort of guy who finds beauty in everyone and everything, even in his most dastardly foes. The film is unashamed of being corny and, at moments, downright cheesy. But by embracing the camp inherent to the character, and contrasting his charm with the self-indulgence and selfishness of some of the other main players, the film shows that hope might be our best chance at survival. It’s a film that embraces optimism and a love of the human spirit. Now that’s pretty punk rock.
Superman is now playing in theatres.
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