About halfway into the film, Rachel Brosnahan‘s Lois Lane makes a cynical remark to Superman/Clark Kent (David Corenswet), telling him that he’s not really a punk rocker because he always sees everyone and everything as beautiful. “Maybe that’s the real punk rock,” he replies. This intimate conversation between Lois and Clark is just one of the many scenes in this Superman to rebuild the jolly, goody-two-shoes personality of our beloved Kryptonian. The previous iteration of the character, which debuted in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel, leaned heavily into Superman being an alien deity and as distant to human society as he could be, and since its release in 2013, the “evil Superman” archetype have made a few appearances in mainstream media. But David Corenswet’s portrayal fully embraces the character’s bright and joyful sensibilities, evoking the cheesy energy of the Silver Age version of the superhero.
Written and directed by James Gunn, Superman is the Man of Steel’s first solo movie in 12 years, spearheading the relaunched DC Universe (DCU) and reintroducing the character to a whole new generation. To the director’s credit, he understands that we are probably already sick of origin stories we’ve seen multiple times and plunges us straight into a fully realized, lived-in world, where Clark Kent is already three years in as the hero of Metropolis who’s beloved by its citizens, while other metahumans have also established themselves all over the country. There’s a lot going on in Gunn’s script that makes the film seem busy and overstuffed, especially in the first half, but he manages to make it work despite some clunkiness.
As we all already know, Clark Kent works as a reporter for the Daily Planet with his girlfriend Lois Lane and best pal Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo). Recently, Superman has come under media scrutiny for taking it upon himself to prevent a war abroad without consulting with the United States government. Meanwhile, in his obsessive quest to destroy Superman, there’s Lex Luthor, played by Nicholas Hoult in a compelling performance deserving of the “Hater of the Year” award, who uses the abundant resources of his company LuthorCorp to manipulate the public trust against the red-and-blue suited hero. After all, can a superpowered alien be really on our side?
Gunn utilizes this narrative point to drive home the fact that there is an inherent humanity and goodness in this iteration of Superman. David Corenswet captures this so well and makes the character his own. He may be invulnerable, but at his core he’s just a regular guy. He’s a dork, he makes mistakes and argues with his girlfriend. In an early scene, Clark allows Lois to interview him as Superman in her apartment, questioning his choice to intervene in an international conflict. Clark gets annoyed until finally answering in frustration that people will die if he didn’t. This Superman is sincere in saving the world on a daily basis, going so far as to save a random squirrel from harm, because he believes it’s the right thing to do.
That’s why it’s important for Superman to be in a world full of other metahumans: it helps him stand out from the rest, and also inspires others to do good. Rounding up the supporting cast of Superman is the Justice Gang, a corporate-funded metahuman team comprised of Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced), and Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi). Instead of Hal Jordan, Fillion actually plays the arrogant and cocky Guy Gardner (not the first guy that comes to mind when one thinks of Green Lantern). Merced shows her mean streak and aggressiveness as Kendra Saunders. Gathegi, with his deadpan performance, is a scene stealer as the tech-powered genius Michael Holt. Gunn specifically chose these three because they offer good contrasts to Superman. Sure they are superheroes too, but their reasons for doing what they do are vastly different.
After years of dour DC movies, Superman feels like a ray of sunshine after a long heavy storm. It’s incredibly goofy and campy, happily harkening back to the giddy feeling of watching a Saturday morning cartoon. Superman even has an unruly superpowered dog named Krypto, something that most film and TV adaptations tend to leave out due to its inherent silliness. But that’s the nature of comic books. Gunn’s use of Krypto signals his intent to embrace even the dorkiest aspects of Superman’s vast mythology, plucking various elements to make this film as fun as he can.
The result turned out to be quite a hopeful movie. Led by an amazing trio of leads (maybe the best adaptation of the Lois/Clark/Lex trinity in a long time), Superman is an excellent start to this rebooted cinematic universe, paving a bright and optimistic future for James Gunn’s DCU. It’s the kind of movie that defines and ushers in a new generation of fans, much like what Sam Raimi accomplished with his Spider-Man trilogy. And that is something I look forward to.
Rating:
The Talking Screen 