Superman is a film that takes big swings: it is looking to re-establish Superman and his world to the contemporary audience, introduce producer/director James Gunn’s vision for a cinematic DC Universe that can compete with the now flagging MCU, and rejuvenate the comic book genre as a theatrical tentpole after a post-Endgame malaise of films featuring third-string heroes and streaming shows that putter out after two episodes have seemingly sapped the audience’s hunger for them.
Gunn refuses to play it safe with a rehash of the Hero’s Journey and a retelling of Superman’s mythic origin.
This film opens with a short title crawl explaining the history of the DC Universe, and that Superman (David Corenswet) has been active for three years, is embroiled in geopolitics after stopping a war between two fictional nations, and has just lost the first fight of his career.
We then get the shot from the trailer of Superman rocketing to Earth from the impact of the fight and being saved by his dog, Krypto.
Both the war and the fight Superman has lost turn out to be elements of Lex Luthor’s (Nicholas Holt) complex plan to discredit Superman, replace him with a corporate controlled superpowered goon squad led by the masked Ultraman, and then kill him.
Lex is truly a worthy adversary for Superman here: equal parts the audacious mad genius of the Silver and Bronze Ages and the evil tycoon of the Byrne revamp. He’s got kaiju misdirections and his own army of metahumans who force Superman to dance to his tune until he ends up playing into his hands at his lowest point.
And this is the defining element of Gunn’s interpretation of Superman.
Gunn’s script pounds on Superman constantly: taking from him at intervals his health, his freedom, his sense of self, and even his peace of mind knowing that Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan) believes in him. He is in constant jeopardy, culminating in an incredible escape from Luthor’s personal prison dimension that plays like a science fiction descent into the underworld from Greek mythology, complete with its own River Styx.
The beating Superman takes is classic adventure story psychology: it makes the villains look unstoppable and keeps you sympathetic to a protagonist who often can be difficult to put into danger. It makes the string of victories that cap the film all the sweeter because we know how hard-won they were.
Gunn’s script is recognizable as his work, but it so strongly sketches and evokes Superman’s excellent comic book supporting cast that it doesn’t feel like it’s retreading the same ground as his Guardians of the Galaxy, with the possible exception of the big Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi) showcase sequence where his T-Spheres make short work of an enemy enclave to some cheerful pop music and comparisons become impossible to avoid.
The film is long for a comic book film, and the plot is dense with misdirections, feints, and countermoves between Lex Luthor and his cronies and Superman and his pals. Gunn does a great job of keeping such an expansive cast of characters distinct and memorable by setting up and paying off character beats with real discipline. The Kents’ simple homespun love for their child; Jimmy Olsen’s (Skyler Gisondo) irresistible allure to the opposite sex; Guy Gardner’s (Nathan Fillion) pig headedness; Eve Tessmacher’s (Sara Sampaio) seemingly endless selfie addiction; Luthor’s intellect only dimming when he’s blinded by rage at Superman; even Metamorpho and the Superman Robots get clear, concise character arcs that all pay off beautifully.
As a Superman fan what I loved most about this film is how even though it evokes the Superman comics I grew up with it really returns the character to his Golden Age roots: by the end of the film it is firmly established that Superman is a human force fighting the vast, impersonal problems with world (whether they be technocrats or dictators) that make us feel helpless just as the character was originally created to empower people who saw the rise of Hitler and Stalin from across the ocean and felt that nothing could be done.
Gunn has crafted a version of the character that incorporates the mythology of the intervening decades but transcends it and strikes at the very heart of what made the character work in the first place.
Highly Recommended.
* * * * *
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
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