SUPERMAN Review

Superman must reconcile his alien Kryptonian heritage with his human upbringing as reporter Clark Kent. As the embodiment of truth, justice and the human way he soon finds himself in a world that views these as old-fashioned.

We have a new universe of DC characters with writer/director James Gunn (Suicide Squad) at the helm. Given his filmography, you wouldn’t be wrong to think that his taking on one of the most popular superheroes of all time would be a grand hit. Gunn pulls no punches, presenting his unique style of humor and storytelling with this new Superman adaptation. However, with so many different versions of the character created over the years, it remains to be seen whether this take will be a universal triumph or just palatable to a certain percentage of fans.

The casting across the board is a win. David Corenswet as Superman, Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, and Rachel Brosnahan as Lois Lane are all standouts. Each gave the necessary amount of energy and class to flesh out their characters, making them all believable. It would’ve been nice to see more Clark Kent, but it’s safe to say moviegoers are more interested in seeing the character’s heroism than his journalism skills at The Daily Planet.

The third act of the film has a tremendous display of power and abilities, with Superman facing off against The Engineer and Ultraman. When mentioned above that Gunn pulled no punches in his storytelling, this scene comes to mind. Everyone on the planet knows how powerful Superman is, but it will never get old seeing him display these strengths on the big screen, and in this film, there’s no holding back. There’s flight from multiple altitudes, pure god-like strength, heat vision, and ice breath. The choreography and camera work during these scenes are stellar as well. The shots shift from left to right extremely fast, following the aggressors’ attacks and defenses. It’s as if you’re in the fight yourself, taking on or delivering blows alongside the characters on screen. It’s something you’ve never seen before, which is enticing. From a powers standpoint, no fan would be disappointed.

However, what may be disappointing is that while these action scenes are terrific, for the most part, they hold no weight besides the ending battle in the third act. Prior to this, a major flaw in the film is that it feels as if there are no stakes during the earlier action scenes. There isn’t a sense of urgency or danger found during most of the runtime. Whether there’s a giant Kaiju monster or an alien being from another dimension, trying to defeat these foes just seems like another tedious, daunting task that must be completed, like taking out the trash, doing laundry, or washing the dishes. There are just too many light-hearted jokes from James Gunn’s humor. What’s sad is, he’s never had this issue in his past films or streaming shows like Suicide Squad or Peacemaker. Those titles were darn near perfection, and it would’ve been much appreciated if a similar tone had been approached with this new iteration of Superman.

Every other aspect of the film is fair at the very least. While the lead characters are the standouts, the supporting characters do a decent enough job, including Green Lantern, Hawkgirl, and Mr. Terrific. Perry White’s scenes were obviously cut, and he did seem miscast with Wendell Pierce in the role, though I’m a fan of his. There was a little too much screen time for Jimmy Olsen and his wannabe love interest, Eve, who’s a lackey for Lex Luthor. Their interaction was just a bit too goofy, which is also a term that best describes this entire film. Superman isn’t bad by far, but it isn’t the great home run that I wanted either. It’s right in the middle—being good, which is okay. The film overall is fun, but too much fun, not leaving any room for it to take itself seriously. This is more of a save-the-cat-from-the-tree type of Superman, which is accurate, just not my favorite version of Superman that’s rough, tough, and will punch your lights out.

My Rating : 7/10