The character of Superman has always been an earnest do-gooder. The guy is not just pretty (eyeball-meltingly pretty), but he’s relatable, growing up as an outsider (he is, after all, an actual alien), despite the support of his small-town Kansas adoptive parents. But for the last dozen years or so, DC’s cinematic Superman has been a grim, troubled loner, and there was no fun to be had in the (literal and figurative) dark world that he was constantly trying to save. Thankfully, this latest iteration of Superman replaces the moody self-importance and square-jawed determination of Man of Steel with a welcome warmth, humanity, selflessness, and, yes, humor. Not only that, but director James Gunn has finally turned on the lights in the DC Universe, giving us a surprisingly welcome technicolor brightness that brings the original comic book vibe back to the big screen.
When I first saw the trailer for Superman, I was intrigued… but I admit that I rolled my eyes with the appearance of Super Dog, a mutt named Krypto. When in doubt (I was thinking), throw in a cute sidekick critter to appeal to the kiddos. I was quickly schooled by a comic book aficionado, my buddy Steve Stav, that Krypto (again, I was rolling my eyes at his name) was indeed a real character in the comics, first introduced in 1955 according to Wikipedia. OK, fine. Little did I predict that Krypto’s inclusion would be one of the highlights (for me at least).
Beyond Superman’s high-waisted red briefs, a big change for this relaunch was the surprising (and surprisingly fresh) choice to skip ahead in Clark Kent/Superman’s story, letting us meet him and the crew three months after Clark (David Corenswet) and his plucky (and kinda punky) colleague, journalist Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan), have started dating. She’s a little cranky that Clark is getting all the journalistic “scoops” on Superman, aka basically interviewing himself and getting front page treatment whenever Superman does something heroic in Metropolis. When he agrees to sit down with Lois for an official Superman feature, he’s surprised to find that her line of questioning is not a slew of softballs. She points out that his recent actions—interfering with the invasion of a country called Jarhanpur by its bigger, more powerful neighbor Boravia—reveal that his idea of doing what is right might be interpreted as interfering with global/political relationships without the anyone else’s input. Superman pouts.
Meanwhile, Lex Luthor (bald-pated Nicholas Hoult) is furiously waving his hands around in his headquarters overlooking the city. A tech billionaire who seems like the perfect maniacal blend of Elon Musk and on/off boyfriend D. Trump, Luthor is power hungry and wants all the things… but Superman is in the way. From his high-tech lair, Luthor directs the mysterious villain known as the “Hammer of Boravia” to kick Supe around to kingdom come, while scheming to do away with him once and for all.
It is worth pointing out that there are several uncomfortable and stupefyingly spot-on parallels to the current U.S. administration and political climate. Baffling, in that this film has been in production for a couple years. For instance, there’s a prison conveniently placed in a “pocket universe” of no jurisdiction, where Luthor can lock up his political and journalistic enemies without due process. There a room full of young DOGE-y tech henchmen whom Luthor constantly screams at as they hack away. Superman’s reputation is damaged by fake news and social media harassment (the perpetrators of the hashtags made me cackle). And when Luthor’s final goal is revealed… well, let just hope it doesn’t give anyone ideas.
But if you put all those barfy parallels aside (after all, classic comic book bad guys are usually power-hungry egoists with a lot of tech at their fingertips), you have the classic plot arc, with of course a kiss at the end (spoiler!).
There is a lot going on in Superman, and some of it doesn’t work. Luthor’s modus operandi of controlling his battle-bot is to bark out commands to his minions, who furiously type them into their computers. “B12! C57! A4!” It’s like watching someone else play Battleship, and seems horribly inefficient when everything else is so high-tech. Then there’s Superman’s crystal refuge in Antarctica, populated by helper robots (apparently from his planet?) who are weirdly gendered (a “female” robot giggles and says, “He smiled at me!”). Finally, there are too many peripheral good guys and bad guys that seems to fill space while making no impression. The movie often feels bloated and busy.
But then there’s the good!
Superman is funny with loads of charm. Speaking of giggling females, I have to say that David Corenswet is super cute as Clark/Superman. He has a disarming wholesomeness with his dimpled smile and his furrowed brow, and I imagine that he’ll definitely gain a legion of fans from this role. As for the humor, I found some scenes so inventive and out of control that I was surprised to find myself cackling in disbelief (which is saying something considering the number of dull superhero movies I’ve had to sit through). Then there’s the side-trio of heavily-corporate good guys unfortunately named the Justice Gang, who step in to help Superman. Nathan Fillion (and his hair) as the Green Lantern is unsurprisingly great, but I especially loved Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific, a deadpan hero who seems slightly disdainful that he has to finish the job yet again. He’s a hoot, and would probably glare at me for saying so.
With summer movies being duds more often than not these days, Superman is an unexpected surprise. Whether or not franchises need to be rebooted every few years over and over for eternity is another discussion for another time. But if you’re going to reboot a classic superhero for a new generation, you could certainly so much worse than Superman.
