Look! It's a bird, it's a plane, it's... Superman's dog? That's right folks there's a new Superman in town and this time he brought his furry friend (well, technically he's just dogsitting). Ever since this the new Superman was announced, headed by James Gunn of Guardians of the Galaxy fame, excitement has been building for a new version of Kal-El (played by David Corenswet), especially since the last two iterations of the man in the red cape left a lot to be desired (sorry Zack Snyder fans). Even before seeing the film, it was already a nice breath of fresh air to see Superman actually crack a smile and a joke in the trailers (remember when DC comics were fun?) and not seem to take himself too seriously. However, a great marketing campaign doesn't necessarily translate into a great movie, so is this finally the Superman we the people deserve?
Right from the start, James Gunn gives us a fresh take on Superman by showing us a side of him that we rarely ever get to see, his vulnerable and insecure side. The film literally opens with Superman getting his ass kicked and leaving the audience to wonder what kind of beast could make the Man of Steel bleed? This film doesn't waste time recounting Superman's origin story either, assuming that the audience already knows the Kryptonian's backstory, which I really appreciated. This let's us get straight into the action, and minus a couple of romantic scenes between Lois and Clark, the action never stops. Despite opening on such a serious note, the film still finds a way to be light-hearted and inject a bit of humor that isn't just cheesy one-liners (*ahem* looking at you, Marvel *cough*). Superman's foster dog Krypto is the source of several laughs throughout the film as an unruly, obviously untrained yet loveable superdog just trying to have a good time.
One of my favorite aspects of this movie is the inclusion of the "Justice Gang" (they're still workshopping the name a little). Nathan Fillion is as great of a Green Lantern as fan-casters always knew he would be and Mr. Terrific (Edi Gathegi, who actually gets to play a superhero who doesn't die immediately this time) actually steals the show in my opinion. Isabela Merced also does a solid job as Hawk Girl. In fact, most of the casting is pretty on point, Rachel Brosnahan portrays Lois Lane as journalist first, girlfriend second, and really hammers that point home in the her and Superman's intense interview scene (totally ruined the nice dinner they were about to have though unfortunately). Another plus in this movie is Nicholas Hoult's dedication to playing a fully evil, incredibly jealous and enraged Lex Luthor; we can feel the hate dripping from his mouth with every line and finally a director has committed to a completely bald Lex again, no goofy wigs or unrecognizable accents, just pure baldness and a lot of evil scheming and screaming at insubordinates. My one complaint in regards to casting is the Kent's Earth parents; they seem a little simple-minded (they're supposed to be simple folk, but they went a little far in my humble opinion) and although Clark and Pa Kent have a nice moment towards the third act, it was almost unclear if Mr. Kent was even capable of speaking more than two words at a time up until that point. But hey, at least nobody runs into any tornadoes this time.
The most important thing to get right in a Superman movie is the portrayal of the man in red underwear himself and as far as that goes I think this movie really nails it. Superman's main focus above all is saving lives, even if it gets him into political trouble, and the film constantly shows him saving people (and at least one squirrel) even if that means he has to stop fighting for a minute. It is nice to see a Superman who so clearly cares about the people again, and just wants to be one of them, instead of some kind of weird Jesus allegory. That being said, that doesn't mean we don't get to see Superman (and Krypto) kick some ass too in this movie, and not only does he get to flex his laser beams on us, but he also is able to showcase his rarely utilized super breath multiple times. One of the best action sequences comes from Mr. Terrific, however, and his handy dandy floating balls (spheres, they're called spheres). In the end, not only are we left wanting more, but the movie gives us a little teaser at what's left to come and I have to say, I feel much more hopeful about how this DC world is being built (I can confirm no characters are established via email this time).
*Potential minor spoiler warning*
As far as the plot goes, there is one major change to the source material that some people could take issue with involving Jor-El, I won't go into detail but suffice it to say we hear the word "harem" more than I think I've ever heard in one sitting. I still don't know how to feel about this change to Kal-El's biological parents, and I was waiting for it to just be a "fake news" scheme by Luthor, but apparently it wasn't. It works as one of the inciting incidents in this film, but in the context of the DC universe I can see why some fans may take issue with it.
-Ryan Maples
Rating: 8
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