James Gunn’s “Superman” may be the best pure comic book movie ever made. It’s got all the heart, glee, action, stakes, and thrills that a perfect summer movie should have. I haven’t had a theater experience where the crowd was clapping and cheering in this many scenes in a long time. (SIDE NOTE: The best crowd I’ve ever experienced is still a mostly drunk midnight screening of “The Shining” where Nicholson’s character was cheered throughout as the hero).
When Gunn was given the keys to manage the DC film universe, I was cautiously optimistic. Sure, I loved “Guardians of the Galaxy” and his take on “Suicide Squad” showed he clearly had a talent for making lesser known characters appealing, but it was his work with HBO’s “Peacemaker” that showed me that he had a deep love for comic books and that world was in capable hands.
I’ve spent a year seeing updates about this new Superman hit my Facebook feed, which have been consistently answered by an unbelievable amount of replies from folks upset that Zack Snyder and Henry Cavill are no longer part of the equation. By unbelievable I mean that the comments are so repetitive that I wonder if they are even real people. There appears to even be a nod to this in the film as Superman is baffled by negative social media reactions. While I enjoyed Cavill’s take on the character, David Corenswet brings a youthful charm and earnest goodness to the character that has been missed. He really loves the people (and squirrels) of the world and wants to do the best he can for them.
Corenswet is a fantastic Superman. He’s not quite the unstoppable God that he’s been portrayed in prior incarnations, but can actually get his butt kicked. He spends quite a few scenes where he’s down but not quite out. Which frankly makes the action scenes have more at stake. Why worry about Superman getting into a fight if he can throw a planet into the sun? These “limits” allow Corenswet to bring a humanity to the character that otherwise wouldn’t make any sense.
I love that we don’t need to be bogged down with a tedious origin story, and we’re thrown right into the aftermath of a battle that happened before the credits. A few folks have pointed out that this story reminds them of picking up a random issue of a comic book in the ’70s and just enjoying whatever story they are in the middle of.
I’ve been a huge Rachel Brosnahan fan since “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and Lois Lane feels like a role she was born to play. She’s gorgeous and smart and is given great things to do in this movie. More importantly the chemistry between her and Corenswet is believable and palpable. Their kiss scenes are exciting and romantic.
Nicholas Hoult does a great job with one of the more interesting versions of Lex Luthor yet. His consuming envy and hatred of Superman works well in this movie, and uses his resources and intellect to be a genuine threat to Superman.
Nathan Fillion steals plenty of scenes as Guy Gardner Green Lantern, as does Edi Cathegi as Mister Terrific (who needs his own movie). Hawkgirl is OK but she isn’t given much to do except wreck stuff.
The unexpected breakout character in this movie is Krypto, the wild misbehaving “pet” Superman admits “isn’t even a good dog.” He plays a crucial role in many of the scenes and I’m sure will inspire folks to adopt more wily mutts from the pound.
Superman is a great exciting Summer film that is worthy of seeing in a big theater with a crowd full of happy people. I can’t wait to see what Gunn has in store next.
