Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it’s James Gunn flying into theatres with his shiny new DCU in tow. Superman reinvigorates the Man of Steel with a complete 180 from Zack Snyder’s vision. This is an exciting, colourful, silly, emotional and just plain fun comic book movie. It’s also, most importantly, a bright beacon of hope for the future of this franchise.
The highest praise I can give Superman, is that it doesn’t just feel like a comic book movie - it feels like a comic that’s been brought to life. There are frequent moments, from action sequences to single frames of stellar production design, where I could practically see the source material leaping from page to screen. Unlike other pricey studio releases this year (Snow White’s $270 million, The Electric State’s $320 million) Superman is a big movie that genuinely fits the bill. This is exactly what a big budget superhero movie should look and sound like. There’s plenty of CGI, as you’d expect from a comic book movie, but it’s all so impressively, and refreshingly polished. From the exhilarating flight sequences, to the vibrant colour grading to the photo-realism of a very good boy named Krypto, this is one of the sharpest looking superhero movies I’ve seen in a long time.
That’s not to say this is a flawless new beginning. As Gunn is performing a franchise factory reset, there are some growing pains in resetting the stage and re-establishing a new version of Superman’s lore. There is a lot going on in the first act - bordering on too much, actually. There’s a ton of backstory, characters and plot advancement crammed into a short amount of time. It’s quite the juggling act, and while the movie doesn’t get entirely overwhelmed, it comes close a few times. There’s also some clunky expositional dialogue in favour of kicking the story into gear. However, once everything does fall into place, and the movie fully locks in on the story it’s telling, it begins to soar.
This might be the most vulnerable and human we’ve ever seen Superman. Yes, he’s still an all-powerful meta-human, but he’s emotionally grounded and flawed in a way we seldom see from the stoic Kryptonian. Gunn takes an unexpectedly tender approach with the character, exploring not just what Superman can do, but what it costs him to keep doing it. The movie itself is light and playful, but because it wears its heart on its sleeve, it also lands effectively on an emotional level. It embraces some of its sillier comic book roots, and while not all of Gunn’s trademark humour fits this iteration, it’s a refreshingly optimistic take on the character after twelve years of brooding.
David Corenswet’s performance as Clark/Superman is the embodiment of everything this character is meant to be. Cavill was great, but Corenswet does it better. Hoult’s Lex Luthor operates on the other end of the moral spectrum. This Lex feels unpredictable - always a step ahead, stewing in a bitter contempt for Superman. Rachel Brosnahan is one of the best versions of Lois Lane yet, with a dedicated sense of eagerness for her journalism career. Her chemistry with Corenswet is wonderful. They are a Lois and Clark you can really get behind. This is a big cast, and a lot of the best moments come from the supporting members. The standout, by far, was Edi Gathegi as Mr. Terrific, who is a total scene stealer.
Superman stumbles a bit before taking flight, but once it gets off the ground, it soars to new and exciting heights for DC. David Corenswet IS Superman, and despite the movies’s minor flaws, James Gunn has given this franchise the fresh start it was in desperate need of.
4/5