‘Superman’ (review)

Since his foray into the superhero genre, James Gunn has been praised for his Guardians of the Galaxy films, his take on The Suicide Squad, and its HBO spin-off series Peacemaker.

So when he was announced to be taking over the DCEU for Warner Bros, beginning with Superman, I was psyched.

Is the new Superman a perfect film? Not in the least.

Is it an entertaining, uplifting and inspiring, action-packed adventure? It sure is.

Taking its cues from the 1978 masterpiece by Richard Donner and Mario Puzo, and still my favorite superhero film of all time,

Gunn’s Superman is as flawed as he is courageous.

Gunn has created a colorful and complex Kal-El. One who doesn’t have all the answers but still gets out there to do good for the world. He is naive at times and that can get him into trouble.

And I really like this take.

David Corenswet takes on the daunting task of bringing Superman to life this time around. Corenswet follows a long line of iconic actors stepping into the red boots and blue suit, WITH Red undies on the outside of the suit, I may add. Corenswet handles this daunting experience with grace and stoicism. He makes the Man of Steel his own while giving us exactly what we come to expect of the Last Son of Krypton. His performance is wonderful and does the character proud.

Initially, what I love about this film is it takes into account that almost everyone in the entire world knows who Superman is.

They know where he comes from and what his purpose on Earth is. Mercifully, this is NOT an origin story. It fills us in quickly with the help of some opening title cards as to what is happening in this specific incarnation of the DCU. Metahumans already exist in this universe and Supes has been here for a while. After this quick catch-up, the movie drops us right into the middle of the story. Almost quite literally, at least for Superman, that is.

This is a story about acceptance. It is nurture over nature. What it means to come from another place to an adopted home, and how it doesn’t matter where you come from. Your home is your home. More so if you didn’t initially choose it. An adopted home is even more special and important to someone because that person has turned around and chosen to stay there. They ultimately made the final decision to call it home.

I will say that this is not like Guardians of the Galaxy or even Suicide Squad.

This is a Superman movie.

This is about fighting the odds. It’s about truth and justice. This is about hope and never giving up. James Gunn style. And style this film has in abundance. There are parts of this movie where it feels like he is playing it a little safer than usual however it is still 100% James Gunn in the end. Gunn has been entrusted with setting up an all-new DC Universe, a universe that, let’s face it, should have been well-established waaay before Marvel was Spidering at Sony or X-Mening with 20th Century Fox.

I mean, Warner Bros has owned DC Comics for how long? The original Superman came out 46 years ago, and the Keaton Batman, 36 years ago. Hell, the damn Ryan Reynolds Green Lantern film was 14 years ago. DC has dropped the ball on numerous occasions. And the fact that they didn’t get a DCU off the ground by this time is a little embarrassing to be perfectly honest.

Yes, yes, yes, Snyderverse blah blah blah. Thank god that was aborted. And that’s all I am going to say about that in this review. You can mail your tears to Forces of Geek attn: Me.

Back to Superman.

Gunn relies on the audience having seen at least one of the many incarnations of the Superman story, freeing him to dive into the heart of the action. The main villain, as it should be, is Lex Luthor. Brilliantly played by Nicholas Hoult, at his scenery-chewing best. He is so good as Lex that I almost wanted him to win. His convoluted plan is so brilliantly Luthor. Over on Team Supes are the usual cast of characters, Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), Jimmy Olsen (Skyler Gisondo), and Perry White (Wendell Pierce), along with the addition of Krypto, Superman’s canine companion and all-around good boy.

Krypto steals every scene he is in, as it should be. Rounding out the cast are Justice Society of America members Mr. Terrific, brilliantly played by For All Mankind‘s Edi Gathegi, Hawkgirl played by The Last of Us’s Isabela Merced and Nathan Fillion, perfectly cast as Green Lantern Corps’ resident asshole, Guy Gardner. I said going into this that if I didn’t want to punch Guy Gardner in the pie hole every time he opened his mouth, they didn’t do it right. Well, they surely did, and man, did I want to punch him in his stupid bowl-cut hairdo face.

If I have one complaint, it is that I feel like he tried to cram too much into this first film. I understand that he wanted to hit the ground running and set up a bunch of characters and get the universe fleshed out as much as possible, so they don’t have to wait as long. I get that they have a lot of catch-up work to do.

Thankfully, Gunn has a strength in streamlining chaos and does a satisfactory job at keeping all his cats herded. The film doesn’t lose the main thread of the plot in the mayhem. I think, however, he would have been just as fine keeping this a solo Superman story and possibly introducing the other metahumans in a longer post-credit scene or scenes. Regardless, this film is still solid as steel, and I look forward to watching it again.

James Gunn’s transformation from Marvel’s MCU fratboy to DC’s DCEU guru is now complete.

James Gunn has spent most of his career making smart, slightly askew films that bend the rules of film genres and subvert the boundaries of what is normally expected in whatever film genre he decides to tackle. Taking on the ashes of the DCEU is quite a feat, and it looks like Gunn and Safran are up to the task.

This tracks as Gunn is a product of the Troma film machine, and Troma is all about never saying it can’t be done. Troma, if you don’t know, are responsible for some of the most brilliantly fucked up cult films of the 80s and 90s along with Roger Corman Productions. Films like Toxic Avenger, which is getting a new remake released this year BTW, Surf Nazis Must Die, and Tormeo and Juliet. Tromeo and Juliet was my introduction to James Gunn and I have been on his roller coaster ever since. By the way, his two Scooby-Doo films are sublime, and Slither is a near masterpiece.

I had hoped Gunn and creative partner in crime Peter Safran could effectively wash the shit taste of the Zack Snyder abomination out of my mouth forever. And much like the Boy from Krypton arriving to save the day, Gunn has handed me the new Superman movie, and I couldn’t be happier.

I heartily encourage you to see this reinvigorated incarnation of the Son of Krypton. James Gunn delivers a solid entry into the Man of Steel mythos. Overall, it is exactly what I want from a Superman film. It is ambitious, humorous, and inspiring.

*    *   *    *   *
Produced by Peter Safran, James Gunn
Based on Characters from DC
Written and Directed by James Gunn
Starring  David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult,
Edi Gathegi, Anthony Carrigan, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced