If “doing the most” was a person, his name would be James Gunn.
It was a lot, but Gunn’s “Superman” (out Friday, July 11) is worth the clutter. The film just drops you suddenly and unexpectedly into Superman’s world with his “fostered” super-dog, Krypto, who is the most adorable nuisance ever put to screen. It slaps you in the face playfully while saying, “This is a comic book movie, enjoy!” Mild spoilers ahead.
Credit: DC Studios
Kindness is Superman’s core
I get what Gunn was trying to do here. He said himself he doesn’t want to see certain origin stories again, and we sure didn’t get that here. What we got instead were building blocks to a robust, already in-swing universe with the “Justice Gang” and 300 years of metahuman activity.
No, this is nothing like Zack Snyder’s universe, and that’s for the best. This movie doesn’t exalt Superman as some untouchable, grim deity with a dark destiny; it pokes and prods at his flaws and makes jokes of his vices (#supershit). He’s continuously put into deeply humanizing situations that feel impossible, not just to us, but to him too. He feels overwhelmingly real.
He doesn’t just save people; he tells them to control their breathing. He doesn’t just save dogs from getting crushed under buildings; he also saves squirrels. He doesn’t beat the hell out of his enemies right away; he tries to appeal to their humanity. (Not Krypto, though, he’s there to play).
Clark’s relationships are the most significant, even if they aren’t all as fleshed out as his bonds with Krypto or Lois (Rachel Brosnahan). Ma and Pa Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell) were hands-down the most soothing part of the film. We get a glimpse of them early on, but it’s really when Clark comes home that we see his roots. Everything about these scenes was superb, from Jonathan and Clark’s heartfelt conversation to Krypto playing with the cows.
It would’ve been so easy for Gunn to go full American patriotism here, but he holds back. He lets the scene speak for itself. And what it says is this person who came here, technically illegally, as a baby, is just as American as you or I. He hurts, he bleeds, he hugs his pops, and he cares deeply. David Corenswet imbues this version of Kal-El with so much slightly awkward, wholesome, puppy-eyed kindness that it makes every punch he takes even harder to watch.
Sometimes too much, and yet not enough
I wish we’d gotten more time to spend with Clark Kent, the journalist, versus the many comedic relief moments we have from Guy Gardner (Nathan Fillion). This might be where my anti-Guy bias comes out because he is, historically, my least favorite Green Lantern. Where we lacked in Kent journalism, we made up for with some classic Lois Lane reporting. In fact, the entire Daily Planet staff and cast were great, but once again, we didn’t spend enough time with them.
Credit: DC Studios
That is a recurring theme with this film and one of my fears going in: with so much going on, does this still count as a Superman movie? I’d say it does. It pulls us in different directions more than it should, with a chaotic number of villains and “distractions,” but it was still so enjoyable to witness. I laughed a lot, I even cried a little, and I was in awe more than once. That is the very essence of what a comic book is.
I don’t want to get too specific on moments, but the beach scene with Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi) and Lois Lane was insanely shot and peak comic book movie. Lois’ face reflected all of us in the audience, and Brosnahan nailed her reaction here. It gave me the same vibe as “Game of Thrones” Battle of the Bastards, I have no idea why.
The world needs Superman
One of the most striking scenes was the boiling over of the Jarhanpur-Boravia “conflict.” This was the core of the film, and it did not receive enough time to be fully fleshed out before the plot kept thickening. The Jarhanpurian people standing up to tanks and automatic weapons with shovels and cinder blocks was a pointed statement. It felt like a parallel to the excruciating number of horrendous things happening in the world right now. Much of which the United States of America is funding and making money off of, not unlike Lex Luthor in this universe (Nicholas Hoult).
Not to get “political,” but Superman has always been political. When Big Blue is on the side of a vulnerable, oppressed population who are trying to keep invaders out of their home, that means something. In the comics, our boy scout fought slum lords and Klansmen, so this version of Kal-El feels closer to home than previous iterations.
Let’s not forget the Cleveland of it all. As someone born and raised in the Land, it brought me to absolute tears to see how much of my hometown was used as Metropolis’ foundation. Watching Mr. Terrific and Superman in Progressive Field and Hawkgirl (Cleveland’s own Isabela Merced) punching monsters against the city’s skyline almost made up for the Cavaliers losing to the Pacers in the playoffs.
There’s one MAJOR spoiler-y thing that happened at the end of the film featuring Kal-El’s favorite cousin that made me squeal out loud in the theater (I was not the only one, to be fair).
All in all, I look forward to the expansion of this weird, silly universe with Supergirl, Clayface, Peacemaker (wink,) and whoever else James Gunn wants to throw at us. We should probably stop worrying about the DC Universe. It feels like it’s in caring hands.
B+
Credit: DC Studios
The film stars David Corenswet (“Twisters,” “Hollywood”) in the dual role of Superman/Clark Kent, Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”) as Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult (the “X-Men” movies, “Juror #2”) as Lex Luthor. The film also stars Edi Gathegi (“For All Mankind”), Anthony Carrigan (“Barry,” “Gotham”), Nathan Fillion (the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films, “The Suicide Squad”), Isabela Merced (“Alien Romulus”), Skyler Gisondo (“Licorice Pizza,” “Booksmart”), Sara Sampaio (“At Midnight”), María Gabriela de Faría (“The Moodys”), Wendell Pierce (“Selma,” “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan”), Alan Tudyk (“Andor”), Pruitt Taylor Vince (“Bird Box”) and Neva Howell (“Greedy People”).
Photo credit: DC Studios / Warner Bros.
Writer and editor