How do you solve a problem like Superman? This legendary IP has been sitting either unused or abused for the better part of 20 years, subject to nostalgia and/or studio anxiety, ultimately unable to be the cornerstone of a DC Comics copycat cinematic universe to the MCU despite endless retooling by Warner Bros. Bryan Singer’s 2006 Superman Returns was a pretty decent exercise in retro revival that unfortunately decided to also not be an actively exciting action spectacle. And that films contrasted pretty starkly with Zack Snyder’s Dark Knight-inspired (and co-produced by Chris Nolan) 2013 Man of Steel, which leaned into what the kids call “grimdark” to present a more emotionally grounded and politically thorny portrayal of the last son of Krypton. But neither of those iterations fully worked, despite largely effective performers, massive budgets, and genuinely curious takes on this iconic character.
Does it come as a surprise then that the guy who somehow built himself into a studio mogul by making audiences fall in love with a talking space raccoon has managed to get closer than literally anyone else in almost 50 years to making Superman work? Mileages will vary. James Gunn escorted the Guardians of the Galaxy to success, and also, more impressively, recovered DC’s Suicide Squad from a disastrous outing and spun it into maybe the most creatively successful superhero movie of the recent era (if it’s not Black Panther) by interjecting some very characteristic sardonic humor and a Wes Anderson-esque emotional sincerity. It was the kind of thing that made you forget you’d been watching this intricate and sarcastic diorama by punctuating it with a suddenly, perhaps even tonally awkward, but perfectly-timed joke or a moment of confession by a character that poked you like a shiv.
Gunn’s Superman makes a lot of decisions, which is in and of itself a refreshing experience, even when they don’t work — thankfully, they work more often than they don’t. Eschewing the origin story of the Last Son of Krypton, we are introduced to Kal-El (David Corenswet) after a bruising loss to a new enemy. The Hammer of Boravia, some robot-suited representative of a belligerent Eastern European nation, has unceremoniously kicked Superman’s ass during an attempt to stave off an invasion that could start a global conflict. He’s rescued by — you guessed it — Krypto the SuperDog, the first in a series of expectation-defying choices that force this film into a very narrow aesthetic path. If there’s one certainty with Superman, it’s going to be a demarcation line between audience members that think the dog is a Jar-Jar Binks-level miscalculation vs. those who find it an idiosyncratic triumph.
As the film open, this Superman’s alter ego of Clark Kent has already been revealed to Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), they’ve already begun a blossoming but confusing romantic relationship, the world has been introduced to the Man of Steel, and they aren’t totally sure how they feel about that. Especially angry about it is Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult), the world’s smartest man, equal parts psychopath and tech bro. It’s a truly delightful and successful choice to skip the exposition and get right into the drama and action, and Gunn carries this off with an immediate burst of energy featuring quippy robots, contentious and vaguely Hawks-ian relationship banter, a superhero ecosystem that resembles nothing so much as inter-office politics, and a complete lack of fear of being perceived as glib or silly. This is not an attempt to reimagine or ground the character; instead, it’s a return to an idealistic foundation. The Superman of Superman is unilaterally a good dude, an aspirational figure who is also subject to confusion, insecurity, and even vanity. There’s an optimism to this story of a guy just trying to save the world, deploy his powers to protect and serve, and also experience a life as a relatively human man who argues with his girlfriend sometimes.
To that end, Corenswet and Brosnahan are expertly cast. Clark/Supes seems like a genuinely concerned but occasionally naïve guy who is coming to terms with a responsibility that he takes very seriously, something with which he isn’t in conflict. Corenswet plays him as earnestly funny but emotionally self-protecting, even defensive — he’s a boy scout that doesn’t know he’s a boy scout. Brosnahan’s Lois, meanwhile, is a pitch-perfect Rosalind Russell, a classical-type character who wouldn’t be out too out of place in a vintage rom-com. And completing the strong trifecta is Hoult, delivering a Luthor who is actively convincing as a psychopath as well as an entitled asshole.
More importantly, Gunn’s emphasis on these heroes as outsiders, cranks, and misfits remains a primary motivator, and it fits the Superman character perfectly. Similarly, the director’s visual aesthetic likewise proves relatively novel; as with his Guardians movies and The Suicide Squad, this is a vibrant, four-color situation. The action sequences, despite mostly featuring the standard punching and laser beams viewers have come to expect from Superman sagas, are staged with some actual verve this time out. Gunn prefers the (largely virtual) camera to careen around his characters while they do their thing. It’s not always the most coherent or the most realistic visual scheme, but it’s miles better than the ennervatingly homogenous product that the MCU generates on rinse-repeat autopilot (and that the Guardianses also separated themselves from). Taken as a whole, Superman — idiosyncrasies, SuperDog, and all — works so much more than it doesn’t, even as it obliges its duties to a studio franchise.
DIRECTOR: James Gunn; CAST: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Skyler Gisondo, Nathan Fillion; DISTRIBUTOR: Warner Bros. Pictures; IN THEATERS: July 11; RUNTIME: 2 hr. 9 min.
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