Superman
Holy shit. I have just experience absolute, pure comic book cinema. I’ve been eagerly anticipating this movie to say the least. And by that, I mean I’ve literally never been more excited for a movie. I’ve loved all of James Gunn’s previous work at both marvel and DC, but I was a bit sceptical, as his previous projects are a bit more edgy, adult and very team focused, in stark contrast to Superman. But as set photos and trailers were released, my expectations soared through the roof. After years of Zack Snyder’s complete mischaracterisation, misunderstanding and character assassination of superman, ruining his perception in most of the public’s eye, I was ready for a take on superman in film to finally show the general audience that superman is the goat. So did Gunn deliver? Fuck. Yes.
James Gunn gets superman. Yet again, he’s cooked with a comic book project, the Gunn was not jammed, and the Gunn fired on all cylinders. This film gets superman. The character writing is by far the best part of this movie. Every single character is comic accurate and done complete justice, and feels like they were ripped straight out of the pages of some of my favourite superman comics. This movie takes clear inspiration from Superman: Birthright, as well as dabbling in Kingdom Come and Superman: Secret Origin. This pays homage to the source material and adds a bit of a new spin.
David Corenswet is Superman. He brings much needed charm and charisma to the character, as well as showing genuine emotion in an absolute stellar performance, and what I think is my new personal favourite live action superman. Lois Lane, Jimmy Olsen and the rest of the daily planet crew are all excellent, and bounce off of each other very similarly to the Christopher Reeve movies, capturing their exact vibe from the comics. Clark Kent and Lois Lane’s relationship is a very big part of this movie, and is seen in a completely different light than any other piece of superman media, even the comics, and it’s an interpretation that is both heartwarming and hilarious. Yet unlike the Snyder films, Lois is her own character and goes through her own journey, her arc completed satisfyingly by the end. The side heroes are also excellent. They were an inclusion I was initially worried about, thinking they would take away from superman’s story and make the movie too overstuffed. Boy was I wrong. Guy Gardener is absolutely hilarious, and fucking cool in action scenes, actually using the ring with creativity unlike the Ryan Reynolds film. Hopefully he’s popular enough to warrant a new green lantern movie, because that franchise has crazy, Star Wars level potential. Mr terrific is the coldest and most badass by far, being the most important side character. Absolute goat of this movie. Metamorpho, while used sparse, has cool action scenes and an emotional story. Hawkgirl does definitely get the short end of the stick, but is still fun in action scenes. Jonathan and Martha Kent are both hilarious and heartwarming, farrrrrr better than the Snyder versions (I despise what he did to Jonathan in man of steel), and Jonathan has one of the most emotional scenes in this movie that nearly had me tearing up (only almost, which I’ll get into later). The absolute standout, however, is Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor. He delivers the great hater performance of all time, and is genuinely a terrifying, calculated, comic accurate and at times hilarious villain. By far the best live action Lex. Hoult is the MVP of this movie, and an incredible actor.
James Gunn seriously knows how to both write and direct. The cinematography is genuinely beautiful, and has some incredible shots that will have your jaw on the floor. The action is intense and dynamic, all the action is very reminiscent of the hallway scene in guardians 3; the fights were a huge standout in this movie, and superman actually uses his powers in fun and creative ways. I will say, the flying scenes left a bit to be desired, and there were one or two moments where the CGI was wonky, but overall the effects looked excellent and far better than I thought they would. This is a vibrant and colourful movie, and feels like I’m watching an episode of Justice league unlimited come to life. The film is also wacky and weird, which I don’t think is for everyone. This is a very Sci fi- centric movie, and there are some cool and ridiculous concepts introduced as mundane and glossed over, which really adds to the superb world building of this movie. This is an established world, and Gunn seamlessly introduces us to concepts and characters. Although, you’ll need at least a basic understanding of superman and co going into this movie, as the film doesn’t hold your hand and throws you right into the deep end. Also, nearly all the jokes land and are genuinely hilarious, as we expect from Gunn.
Now, while I loved the film, it’s far from perfect. It’s overstuffed and a bit bloated, juggling a bit too many storylines and characters than it can handle, making the film overall a bit messy. The movie can feel like watching episodes of a superman cartoon at times, going from one story to the next, but honestly I enjoy that aspect. The movie definitely could have benefited from either a longer runtime, or a shorter one and cutting some storylines. The pacing is my main issue. The movie goes from one moment to the next fast, and has very little time to breathe, a nonstop ride. As I said, there are plenty of emotional moments through that really got me, but these moments don’t get the necessary time to be fleshed out properly, overall making me want a bit more.
In conclusion, I fucking loved this movie. It understands the character of superman deeply, as well as the rest of the characters. The action is fun and dynamic, the jokes are great, and the story is very comic inspired, feeling like I’m genuinely reading a comic book. Although, the film is very fast paced and a bit bloated, so while not a perfect movie, this is the definitive superman movie for me, and I had a massive smile on my face the entire time. I fucking loved this movie, and while I should give it an 8/10, I’m giving this a 10/10.