Writer-director James Gunn’s Superman starts mid-story. With minimal preamble, DC Comics’ oldest hero arrives as who he is, complete with a maniacal dog, a robot-filled Antarctic HQ, and alien lore we’re supposed to know. Gunn is safe in this assumption, taking it all as a fast-paced given. Rather than have his film ask why, it barrels ahead. And as with a fun comic book, you may find yourself eager to flip ahead too. Where next?
In truth, Gunn doesn’t stray too far from the Silver Age classics. His Superman is still Clark Kent (David Corenswet), a journalist in love with Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan); Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) is still a megalomaniac intent on ridding the world of this extraterrestrial menace (who happens to outshine him); other fun and familiar side characters, superpowered or not, are also on hand. The film’s plot finds a purpose for all of them with breakneck speed, establishing both its on-the-ground political framework (involving Superman’s role in foreign affairs) and bonkers science fiction elements (involving a pocket universe). As with every comic book movie, Gunn also relies on some super-sized action setpieces, which, with Superman, will always look better on the page than as sludgy CGI scenes. Fortunately, the film’s actors (particularly Brosnahan, Hoult, and Edi Gathegi’s Mr. Terrific) refuse to get lost in the colourful swirl. Corenswet’s performance, meanwhile, has the right earnestness, even if, like the film around him, its rougher edges are sometimes a tad too abrasive. As with all Gunn films, some of this is a matter of taste.
Whether intended or not, Superman also ends up making a few capital-S Statements. Gunn has owned at least one (“Superman is an immigrant!”), which will cause some eye-rolls. Still, while I’ll let others debate political intent, there’s no mistaking what’s on the screen—and I can’t say I didn’t enjoy it. If we must have a DC Cinematic Universe, which is the obvious underlying point here, it may as well be this one.
